The Commonwealth Games countdown is ticking with under a month to go until athletes representing 72 teams compete in Birmingham.
In the run-up to the games, a baton relay will be held around England, starting in Cornwall and finishing in the host city of Birmingham. The baton will be carried by Batonbearers recognised for their contribution to their communities.
The North East is the mid-point of the 29-day England relay, which is due to start in the South West at the Eden Project, Cornwall on Monday July 4. Batonbearers in the North East will include Alan Holmes, whose grandson Matthew died of a brain tumour last year. Alan, who will take the baton through Blyth, Northumberland campaigns and raises money for cancer charities in memory of his grandson.
Read more: Northumberland man to run Blyth Commonwealth Games Baton Relay leg
The North East leg will begin in Saltburn on Thursday July 14, when it is due to take a ride on the town's Cliff Tramway. The baton will be rowed along the River Wear in Durham and is due to go past the Tommy Statue in Seaham, County Durham, on the first day of the North East section, before heading north to Northumberland.
Over two days in the North East, the baton will visit Durham, Saltburn-by-the Sea, Redcar, Middlesborough, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Seaham, Sunderland on 14 July and South Shields, Whitley Bay, Blyth, Alnwick, Gateshead, Newcastle along with villages and towns in between.
Commonwealth Games 2022 Queens's Baton Relay route from Cornwall to Birmingham via Newcastle
The route starts in Cornwall on Monday July 4 and finishes in Birmingham on Thursday July 28, 2022. Birmingham's Alexander Stadium will host the opening ceremony and track and field events. You can view a route map here.
Monday July 4
- Eden Project - Plymouth - Bournemouth
Tuesday July 5
- Stonehenge - Bath - Bristol - Cheltenham
Wednesday July 6
- Aylesbury - Windsor - Southampton - Portsmouth
Thursday July 7
- Guildford - Canterbury - Folkestone - Dover
Friday July 8
- Gravesend - Tilbury - Basildon - Hemel Hempstead
Saturday July 9
- Kings Lynn - Great Yarmouth - Bury St Edmunds - Cambridge
Sunday July 10
- Northampton - Leicester - Nottingham - Lincoln
Monday July 11
- Skegness - Loughborough - Buxton
Tuesday July 12
- Sheffield - Huddersfield - Bradford - Leeds
Wednesday July 13
- Hull - York - Robin Hood's Bay - Whitby
Thursday July 14
- Saltburn - Durham - Seaham - Sunderland
Friday July 15
- Marsden - Blyth - Gateshead - Newcastle
Saturday July 16
- Carlisle - Lake District - Blackpool - Bolton
Sunday July 17
- Salford - Manchester - Northwich - Knowsley
Monday July 18
- Liverpool - Keele - Newcastle-under-Lyme - Stoke - Shrewsbury
Tuesday July 19
- Ironbridge - Lilleshall - Stafford - Leek
Wednesday July 20
- Uttoxeter - Burton upon Trent - Chasewater - Tamworth
Thursday July 21
- Bodymoor Heath - Atherstone - Nuneaton - Coventry
Friday July 22
- Kenilworth - Gaydon - Broadway - Worcester
Saturday July 23
- Redditch - Kidderminster - Hednesford - Walsall
Sunday July 24
- Wolverhampton - Halesowen - Dudley
Monday July 25
- Wednesbury - Tipton - Sandwell - Spider - West Bromwich
Tuesday July 26
- Solihull
Wednesday July 27
- Birmingham
Thursday July 28
- Birmingham - Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony
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