The final leg of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay route has been unveiled, and it will pass through five Manchester boroughs and cities - Bolton, Salford, Manchester, Stockport and Wigan.
Starting with a five-day tour of London, coinciding with the Platinum Jubilee, the 2,500 mile journey will be taking in 180 towns, cities and villages up and down England. Thousands of so-called Batonbearers will be taking turns along the journey – between 40 and 130 each day of the route – through England.
On June 2, the baton – which contains a message from the Queen to be read aloud at the Games’ opening ceremony – makes an early landfall in England, spending five days in London, coinciding with the monarch’s 70th year on the throne. It will then be taken to the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, before going to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and then tours of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
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Returning to England on July 4, there will be a 25-day tour of the nation signalling the last stage of its global travel programme. The relay concludes at the 17th-century Grade I listed manor of Aston Hall in Birmingham on July 28 – the day of the opening ceremony.
The baton arrives in the north west of England on July 16, and will pass through MediaCity in Salford and Bellevue Sports Village, one of the legacy venues from the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, during its time in Greater Manchester.
Phil Batty, director of ceremonies, culture and Queen’s Baton Relay, said a lot of work had gone into planning the route, adding it “symbolises connecting people from every corner of the Commonwealth, celebrates Batonbearers who take on challenges and marks the countdown to the biggest sporting event in the West Midlands’ history”.
He added: “We hope communities across the country the excitement, attend events near them, line the streets to cheer on our incredible Batonbearers and celebrate the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.”
The Commonwealth games baton route through England in full
Thursday 2 June to Monday 6 June: London
Monday 4 July (South West) - St Austell, Plymouth, Exeter, Portland & Weymouth, Poole, and Bournemouth
Tuesday 5 July (South West) - Devizes, Bath, Bristol, Easter Compton, Hereford, Gloucester, and Cheltenham
Wednesday 6 July (South East) - Stoke Mandeville, Maidenhead, Eton & Windsor, Aldershot, Winchester, Hambledon, Southampton, and Portsmouth
Thursday 7 July (South East) - Guildford, Tonbridge, Canterbury, Folkestone, Deal, and Dover
Friday 8 July (East of England) - Gravesend, Tilbury, Basildon, Southend-on-Sea, Maldon, Waltham Cross, Luton and Hemel Hempstead
Saturday 9 July (East of England) - King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Bury St Edmunds, Hinxton, and Cambridge
Sunday 10 July (East Midlands) - Northampton, Corby, Rutland, Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln
Monday 11 July (East Midlands) - Skegness, Boston, Grantham, Loughborough, Derby, Bakewell, Matlock, and Buxton
Tuesday 12 July (Yorkshire & The Humber) - Sheffield, Rotherham, Huddersfield, Bradford, and Leeds
Wednesday 13 July (Yorkshire & The Humber) - Hull, Beverley, Market Weighton, York, Malton, Scarborough, Robin Hood's Bay, and Whitby
Thursday 14 July (North East) - Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Redcar, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Durham, Seaham, and Sunderland
Friday 15 July (North East) - South Shields, Whitley Bay, Blyth, Alnwick, Gateshead, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Saturday 16 July (North West) - Carlisle, Lake District, Blackpool, Preston, Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton
Sunday 17 July (North West) - Salford, Manchester, Stockport, Northwich, Wigan, and Knowsley
Monday 18 July - Liverpool, Keele, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent, and Shrewsbury
Tuesday 19 July - Ironbridge, Telford, Newport, Lilleshall, Stafford, Stone, Rudyard, and Leek
Wednesday 20 July - Uttoxeter, Burton upon Trent, Lichfield, Burntwood, Chasewater, and Tamworth
Thursday 21 July - Bodymoor Heath, Atherstone, Market Bosworth, Nuneaton, Bedworth, Rugby, and Coventry
Friday 22 July - Kenilworth, Whitnash, Warwick, Gaydon, Stratford-upon-Avon, Broadway, Pershore, Upton-upon-Severn, Malvern, and Worcester
Saturday 23 July - Redditch, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Codsall, Rugeley, Hednesford, Cannock, and Walsall
Sunday 24 July - Wolverhampton, Halesowen, Stourbridge, Dudley, Brierley Hill
Monday 25 July - Oldbury, Wednesbury, Tipton, Cradley Heath, Rowley Regis, Blackheath, Bearwood, Smethwick, and West Bromwich
Tuesday 26 July - Castle Bromwich, Fordbridge, Chelmsley Wood, Marston Green, Hampton in Arden, Meriden, Berkswell, Balsall Common, Knowle, Dorridge, Cheswick Green, Hockley Heath, Dickens Heath, Shirley, and Solihull
Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 July - Birmingham (full route through the host city will be announced in due course)
