The Olympic Flame is coming to Solihull!
We're really excited that the Olympic Flame will travel down the Solihull High Steet on Sunday 1st July, when it passes through the borough as part of the Torch Relay.
The Flame comes to Solihull on day 44 of its journey to the Olympic Stadium in London and you will be able to line the streets and give it a big Solihull welcome.
Head to our Torchbearers page to find out more about some of the people nominated to carry the Olympic Flame through the borough.
The Route
The Flame convoy - what to expect
Line the streets – join us in Solihull town centre
After the flame - join us in Solihull Town Centre
The Route
The Flame will enter the borough at 7.32am at Solihull Lane (B4025), before travelling down Streetsbrook Road towards Solihull town centre. It will then join Solihull High Street 8.06am.
After leaving the High Street, the Flame will travel on Church Hill Road and Prince's Way and then onto Blossomfield Road, passing Tudor Grange Leisure Centre at 8.20am, before continuing along Blossomfield Road and onto Marshall Lake Road.
At 9.16am the Flame will then pass through Earlswood on Shutt Lane, before leaving the borough at 9.30am.
After leaving Solihull the Flame continues through Redditch, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth and finally Coventry.
The full route of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay can be viewed at www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelay.
A map of the Flame's route through Solihull can be downloaded. Please note there are some parts of the route where the Flame will not be visible - these are marked as 'convoy mode' and shown as orange and white stripes.
The Flame convoy - what to expect
The Olympic Flame convoy will be made up of three separate parts. The Torchbearers carrying the Flame will be in the third part, so once you've found your spot to watch the Relay from, make sure you stay for all of it!
The three parts of the convoy are as follows:
- A pre-activation convoy of small vehicles from the three main sponsors of the Torch Relay - Coca-Cola, Samsung and Lloyds TSB.
- The sponsor vehicle convoy
- The Torchbearer convoy - this is the part where you will see the Flame!
There will be a short time delay between each part of the convoy. Please note, the pre-activation convoy may pass as much as an hour before the Torchbearer convoy.
The Torchbearer convoy should be clear to identify; as well as being the third part of the overall convoy, the Torchbearers themselves will be wearing white a gold uniforms and carrying a gold Torch. The Torchbearers will also be surrounded by six security staff, dressed in grey uniforms.
A rolling road closure for the length of the route will be required between 6am-10am – full details can be found on this temporary traffic regulation order notice.
Please note, there will also be additional road closures near the town centre to allow for the Race for Life, which takes place later in the morning on Sunday 1 July. Details of those road closures are on this site.
Line the streets - join us in Solihull town centre
The arrival of the Olympic Flame in the borough is our moment to shine and Solihull High Street will be an ideal spot to line the streets and cheer the Relay on.
There will be plenty of places opening early in the town centre offering breakfast and drinks, while some shops will also be opening earlier than they usually would on a Sunday.
Free parking will also be available until 10am in all Town Centre car parks on the morning of the Relay.
Toilets will be available in Mell Square by the post office, while there will also be access to toilets in Touchwood.
Starbucks in Touchwood will be open from 5.45am if you are thirsty. They also have a lift to the first floor which makes a great viewing area for people with mobility problems - as long as they buy a drink they are welcome!
All Touchwood entrances will be open from 6.30am, while Giraffe, Costa, John Lewis Café, BB’s and Greggs will all be open from about 7am and serving breakfast until 11am.
After the Flame - stay in Solihull!
After the Flame has left the town centre, there will be a community parade along the High Street of music, dance and entertainment.
There will also be plenty more to see and do in Mell Square, with a Community Games area, table tennis, table football, air hockey and the chance to try out something new in the Solihull Active sports village.
BBC Radio WM will also be based in Solihull town centre for the morning, with presenter Joanne Malin broadcasting live from their Torch Relay bus from 7am-10am.
Finally, the morning will be rounded off with this year's Race for Life, which starts in Malvern Park and ends in Mell Square - the race starts at 11am.
Keep checking this page as we get closer to 1 July for lots more information and make sure you join us for our moment to shine.
Thanks
We would like to thank the following organisations and groups for their help in celebrating the arrival of the Olympic Flame.
Enterprise: our contractors are working extra hard to make sure the route of the Torch Relay looks fantastic. Thank you to all of their staff for doing such an excellent job.
Animated Dance: this dance group will be performing in Solihull town centre on Sunday 1 July.
