Cheers to a new year

London Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony  -  PA Photo from the web

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.     Oprah Winfrey

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.   Ralph Waldo Emerson

With best wishes for a happy, healthy, peaceful and secure 2013.

Hope and Glory

Saturday evening was the 'Last Night of the Proms' on BBC TV - the Proms being an annual series of summer concerts in the Royal Albert Hall in London, presented by the BBC.  Like most things British, it has over the years developed a whole host of somewhat eccentric customs that go with it, most of all on the last night. The second half of the closing programme always features a number of patriotic songs, including Rule Britannia, Jerusalem, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No 1, to which 'Land of Hope and Glory' is sung and of course the National Anthem. It usually concludes with a spirited rendering of Auld Lang Syne - leavened with flags and fancy dress and much whistling, clapping and bouncing up and down (at least by those in the standing area on the floor of the Hall). All pretty harmless and jolly good fun.

I've watched it every year for most of my life and, in the same way that the Grand National horse race seems to signify for me the start of spring/summer, the Last Night of the Proms always seems to herald autumn, the end of 'play time' and a shift of mood. (No doubt because it also coincides with the start of a new school year, a key feature of much of one's formative life!)

This year it seems even more significant, since the summer has been one long festival on our small island - the Jubilympics, if you like. I hope we don't all feel a collective hangover now it's all over, though I suspect many people will feel a bit bereft. It has all been compelling viewing on TV and even more fun for those of us who have been able to join in some small part of the excitement.  I think it's made us Brits feel quite a lot better about ourselves. There were plenty who thought we wouldn't be able to pull it off, but we did - and in some style, I feel. It's quite hard to encapsulate what it has meant, but one way and another we've seen the best of ourselves, with generous and smiling volunteers; inspirational athletes - both Olympians and Paralympians; tremendous, symbolic pageants during the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations and the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies (and we do that kind of ceremonial very well). It has all felt wholesome and healthy, bringing people together in a very positive way. I so much hope that some of it sticks - in particular the breaking down of barriers between people and the respect for those who are different from ourselves (different backgrounds, different abilities). I think we've seen that humanity really is beautiful and that individually and collectively we can achieve so much. 

Personally I'd be happy to see: more of us getting fit and enjoying sport; a continuing realisation that those with disabilities (of any kind) are no less 'able' and should not be rendered invisible in society; and a shift away from the instant gratification and fame of the 'celeb' culture, towards genuine validation of the power of effort, commitment and dedication to achieving goals over a sustained period of time. I shall start with myself.... this time of year always seems better than the New Year for making resolutions.

And for those who do feel bereft.... may I remind you that 'Strictly Come Dancing' and 'Downton Abbey' soon return to our TV screens. If you want sport there's plenty of footie  - and Andy Murray in the final of the US Open today! And there's Saltaire's own Festival too.

(Photo taken from my TV screen - fuzzy but atmospheric!)

Olympics?

And now for something completely different... or perhaps not!

I went to Kettlewell last weekend to visit their annual Scarecrow Festival. It was my first visit and I was very impressed. There were scarecrows all over the village - a trail, in fact - and they were not just your average kind of scarecrow but really imaginative and topical little tableaux. Inevitably there were a fair number of nods to the Olympics... the Olympic torch, the cyclist Bradley Wiggins (winner of the Tour de France 2012 and Olympic gold medallist), Boris Johnson (London's mayor) stuck on a zip-wire (click here for video of that hilarious incident), James Bond with his parachute, me in my raincoat! Aren't they terrific?

Kettlewell is a lovely little Yorkshire Dales village.  I did a 'tour' of it in 2010 - click the Kettlewell label below for those photographs, of the village and the Upper Wharfedale valley.

Heading home, happy

As the crowds headed home, the evening light on the main Stadium was really pretty.  A perfect end to a perfect day...

There has been much to celebrate in this country these last few weeks (and hopefully the good times will continue throughout the Paralympic Games at the end of this month. Let's not forget those.) There was a thoughtful write-up in The Guardian the other day - here. Worth a read. I'm glad - and proud - to be British, with all that that means... and we do for once seem to be celebrating and enjoying the rich mix of cultures that we have here. I'm equally glad to able to enjoy the global sharing and insight we experience through each other's blogs. Talking of which, now the Olympics are over, I might actually have time to catch up on everyone else's posts!

Gloriana

An extra treat for me was seeing the Royal Barge, The Gloriana, moored in the Olympic Park. You will recall that it led out the huge flotilla of boats during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant, rowed by 18 oarsmen and women, including our former Olympic heroes Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent. The rowbarge also had a role in transporting the Olympic Flame up the River Thames.

The boat was privately commissioned by Lord Stirling, inspired by Canaletto's paintings of 18th century barges on the Thames, as a gift and tribute to the Queen. It will have an ongoing role in promoting the River Thames and our other inland waterways, in celebrations and to support charitable events, especially those involving young people.

It's really beautiful, and a tribute to British craftsmanship. Under the guidance of master boatbuilder Mark Edwards, over 60 craftsmen from all over the UK were involved in its construction. It is made in part from sweet chestnut timber from Prince Charles's estate.

The buildings in the background on my photo are the temporary Water Polo arena, with the Aquatics Centre behind it.

Orbit

One of the most controversial installations in the Olympic Park is the giant tower - the Orbit - designed by Anish Kapoor. Intended as a statement piece, I was really prepared to hate it - but surprisingly I actually quite liked it. I liked the way it looked different from different angles. It didn't really look as though it could stand up, much less allow spectators to travel to the top (from where, apparently, the view over London is amazing). What I didn't like was the fact that tickets cost an extortionate £15 and had to be pre-booked. But the sculpture itself had a more benign feel in actuality than it has in photos - it almost seemed to have a personality, like some kind of ET creature watching over the Park. As a photographer, you could spend hours trying to decide on the best angle of view!

Park Live

On such a beautiful day we really didn't want to be inside all the time so it was great that there were lots of open areas to walk, sit and relax. In the centre of the Park, on either side of the river, there were two huge TV screens showing the key events live.  Just like on 'Henman Hill' or 'Murray Mound' or whatever they choose to call it at Wimbledon, the atmosphere here was terrific, with huge cheers and rounds of applause whenever one of the Team GB athletes did something special.  The day we were there, there was lots of track cycling from the Velodrome.  Jessica Ennis (a Yorkshire lass) was starting her heptathlon in the Athletics Stadium, which she eventually won in superb style.  The local press, by the way, are making much of the fact that if Yorkshire was a country (which some folks would probably like!) we'd be way up there in the medals table (15th I think) with five golds, two silvers and three bronze medals.

In and around the Park there were all sorts of street performers and people dressed in bizarre costumes.  I'm still not sure what these folks were doing, but it was a lively dance with flags ... and large fake moustaches!  I just caught them as I was on my way out towards the end of the evening.

Basketball

There was, of course, some sport to watch....!

This was the warm-up, in the Basketball arena.  There weren't really that many empty seats for the match itself!

The competing women's teams in this heat were Brazil and Canada - a close-fought game that Canada won 79-73. (Photo taken on my iPhone as it has a slightly longer zoom!)

 

We had not anticipated entertainment during the (many) intervals in play. It was great fun. This was a team of stunt basketball players; there were also cheerleaders and 'extreme skipping'! The crowd did Mexican waves with great gusto and a roving camera meant that spectators might find themselves on the big screen... kissing, waving - even playing the bongos (with a kind of overlay on the screen that meant when people waved their hands up and down it looked like they were playing drums). The atmosphere was fantastic. I can only imagine what the Athletics Stadium must feel like with 80,000 spectators!

Architecture

There was much to admire in the architecture of the various venues, both the permanent ones and those that will be dismantled afterwards (like the Basketball Stadium - see below). The Athletics Stadium (see yesterday's post) has its own majesty; it is, come to think of it, a bit like a crown. The Aquatics Centre, designed by Zaha Hadid, is thrilling - but positioned so that it was extremely difficult to photograph in its entirety. My own favourite was the Velodrome, designed by Hopkins Architects. I found its swooping form [a hyperbolic paraboloid ;-) ] to be most pleasing, somehow evoking the sport taking place inside.... and how exciting that has been for Team GB! 

Another view of the Velodrome

The BBC studios, made I think from recycled containers, were right at the heart of the Park - and the BBC's superb coverage of the Games has been right at the heart of most of our lives these last two weeks.  (I don't know what we'll all do when it's over!)

The Basketball venue is a temporary structure that will be dismantled later - but was no less stylish for all that.  In front of it is one of the many food outlets... there was plenty of choice, though a lot of it was not (paradoxically) very healthy stuff.  OK, confession time... I had a cheeseburger and fries from McDonalds!

There are some wonderful photos, by Edmund Sumner, of the various venues here, in this slideshow. (How I wish I'd had more time and could have visited again when there were fewer people.)

Olympic flowers

Quite possibly the most surprising and refreshing aspect of the Olympic Park was the mass of wildflower meadows and gardens in full bloom. The site has a river (the Lea) and several other waterways running through it and they have really made the most of these, transforming what by all accounts was previously a boggy and blighted wasteland into something very attractive. Most of the main thoroughfares (which did get incredibly busy) were at a higher level and so you could sit by the water and walk amongst the trees and flowers in relative peace. Because we've had a wet summer, there weren't many butterflies in evidence; a pity, as normally a flower meadow like this would be humming with insect life. But even so I was really thrilled by the way the site has been designed with such thought and care - and it will outlive the Olympics themselves as the meadows will seed and reseed afterwards.

There's a short video on the BBC website that has some interesting shots and information about the transformation of the site.

We're there!

Getting into the Olympic Park entailed a brief but good-humoured (and no waiting) trip through airport style security, staffed by young armed forces personnel. They were drafted in due to the well-documented failure of the security firm originally employed to provide enough staff. I think the troops were enjoying themselves - it was probably better than a tour in Afghanistan!
Then came the first glimpse of the Athletics Stadium - and the Aquatics Centre, jutting out on the left edge like a giant Mexican hat.
On the right, my granddaughter, looking a bit bemused so far....

Prelude

One of the things I've got much better at, as I've got older, is enjoying the build-up to an event as much as the event itself. I've been looking forward to these London Olympics ever since we knew we had won the bid in 2005. And finally, last Friday, we were on our way!

This is the walk to the Olympic Park from Stratford station. Most people were heading in the same direction at that time in the morning but, even so, the way it was all organised was impressive. There were literally thousands of volunteers - some even had their own 'umpire's chairs' to give them an overview of the flow of foot traffic.

Everyone - volunteers and spectators alike - seemed in such good spirits. And as we got nearer and nearer I had butterflies in my tummy such as I haven't felt since I was a kid waiting for Christmas! Those threatening rainclouds gave us a good soaking a bit later on but I didn't even mind that.

The predominant purple and pink 'branding' was a bit of a shocker - but after a while I began to realise that it was probably chosen to stand out from the national teams' colours.  Not many countries have pink flags!

Icons

I'm back from a fantastic long weekend in London.  A combination of extended time with my beautiful granddaughter and family, plus a day at the Olympic Park, made it a weekend that I will remember forever. Long-time readers of my blog will recall that a trip to the Olympics was what I had hoped for ever since I realised that London 2012 would happen in my 60th birthday year.  My daughter tried and tried to get tickets and eventually managed to secure some for the women's basketball heats.... not our first choice of sport but who cares?  It was the Olympics!

I have to confess that I was so excited and so caught up with the crowds and the atmosphere that I really ended up taking only snapshots.  (Parts of the Park were so busy that if you stood still too long you risked causing a pile-up of bodies!)  I will post some photos of the Olympic Park over the next few days.  I also ventured into central London one day, mainly to get a picture of this most iconic of scenes - Tower Bridge, one of the most recognisable symbols of London, adorned with the Olympic rings (and, of course, a red double-decker bus).  Sorry  - no David Beckham in a speedboat, or James Bond and the Queen in a helicopter passing through but you can't have everything.

The BBC at Salford Quays

So, the Olympics London 2012 has started... Fabulous opening ceremony last night.  Well done Danny Boyle and thousands of volunteers!  My favourite bit was Mr Bean. He just cracks me up.  But the whole evening was amazing.

I'm excited about my trip to London next week - though to be honest the whole Olympics thing hasn't up to now really had a lot of impact in this neck of the woods, apart from the brief passing of the Torch through the area.  I think the Chinese athletes were based in Leeds for a while to acclimatise and train.  In Manchester, they are hosting some of the Olympic football tournament at Old Trafford so there is a bit more of a buzz there.
Manchester is also now the home of a large section of the BBC, in its new headquarters in Media City, Salford Quays.  It's an impressive regeneration project around the old docks on the Manchester Ship Canal.  ITV Granada are also building new studios there, moving from central Manchester.  If you look closely you can just about see the Olympic logo on the side of the building on the left.
Of course, most of the Olympics coverage comes direct from London.  The BBC, along with other major broadcasters, have studios actually in the Olympics Park.