Saturday morning we were up at a quarter to six so we could catch the six forty-four train from Dover as we were heading to the Olympic Park for a morning of Paralympic action from the main stadium. So, we got seats on the train, and waited for departure. What was good to see was groups of young people getting on the visit the games. The on-train manager began his announcement ‘Ladies, gentlemen and Brownies’ which brought a smile. As we journeyed through Kent we collected more and more passengers; until at Ashford it was pretty much standing room only. Great to see.
We all got off at Stratford and made our way up from the platform and following the signs through Westfield towards the first ticket check and then the security checks. It was all done pleasantly, with everyone smiling, and so well organised that there was hardly any delay. Once through security, we had a couple of hours to kill before the events started in the athletics arena. We walked over to the base of The Orbit; Jools got a coffee for us, and we sat down to take in the views.
I wanted to get some shots of the other venues, so I headed off past the stadium and over the multi-coloured walkway towards the velodrome and basketball arena. And everywhere people were smiling. But also everywhere was corporate branding, Cadbury’s stalls selling snacks and treats, and lots and lots of Coca-Cola stalls. And if you had no money, you could only use Visa cards; Something that still rankles with me. But, there were other, non-branded places to eat: fish and chip shops, curry stalls, Chinese places and so on.
I made my way to the velodrome and basketball arenas to get my shots. And then there was just time to head back to meet up with Jools so we could take our places in the stadium for the beginning of the morning session on the track and field. The stadium is wonderful, with great views even from where our seats were near the back. As ten o’clock approached, the atheltes made their way out onto the track to be presented, and then the competitions began. Shot-put, discus and various sprints on the track. And as time went on more and more events were happening; the long jump began, with the crowd clapping along as each competitor prepared for his run up. All wonderful stuff.
And at just before half eleven, the T42 200m final was due. This is for athletes with one or more limb missing, and was won in spectacular fashion by Brit, Richard Whitehead in a time just 5 seconds slower than the Olympic 200m; and this by a man whose legs had been amputated above the knee. As he did his lap of honour,t he emotion of it all became too much and my eyes began to water. It was that kind of moment.
We headed down onto the concourse to find something to eat; Jools had curry whilst I queued for a Spanish sausage. £8.20 for the sausage and a bottle of Coke; about the same at Wembley, but eye-wateringly I imagine if you had a family to feed. We went back to ours seats and watched more of the events, before deciding that we should catch the one fifteen train back, as we did not have tickets for the afternoon session. We walked back through huge crowds, and followed signs to the station. So easy that we arrived in time to catch an earlier train. After changing at Ashford we were in Dover by two and home ten minutes later.
After coffee I lay on the sofa listening to the football on the radio; Norwich were on playing at White Hart Lane, and were unlucky not to win, coming away with a 1-1 draw and high praise from the commentators.
That night we watched The Proms; it was another one of the #Hooray for Hollywood’ nights, and Seth McFarlane was on again singing songs from the great MGM musicals. Wonderful stuff.
Saturday night the flu came back and I got little sleep. So on Sunday morning the last thing I felt like doing was driving up to London. We had tickets to see the wheelchair basketball, but it really wasn’t going to happen. Jools asked what I thought, and I said I really couldn’t face going. So, after making that decision, we went out for a walk instead, over to the woods and Kingsdown and back. On the way back I went to the glade and was greeted with more butterflies than I have seen there, dozens of red admirals; I got close and waited for one to land in front of me and the camera; then got my shots.
Back home, I checked the shots, had lunch then settled down on the sofa to listen to the football; and snoozed on and off all afternoon. It was a pretty good way to spend the day. Once the games finished, I cooked steak and ale pie for dinner. So ended the weekend with Jools testing out her new brazier, and into the evening burned several weeks of garden waste.
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