Strange feelings as Olympic Torch visits Shrewsbury

Something a bit odd happened to me during the course of Wednesday morning this week. A strange feeling overcame me. It feels a bit weird. I'm not sure how long it will last. I may need to seek medical help writes Dave Burrows.

You wouldn't know it to look at me, but some people say I'm quite grumpy. Given how much I have to be grumpy about, I'd argue I'm actually remarkably chipper. But there we are: grumpy is how I come across.

But on Wednesday morning I decided to wander through Shrewsbury ahead of the Olympic Torch's arrival in the town in the afternoon. At the bottom of Wyle Cop I looked into the display window at Tanner's Wines, decked out with a huge torch display.

It raised a smile. Walking up the Cop in bright sunshine (the weathermen said rain. Lots of rain. And I'M the pessimist?) I noticed a lot of Union Flag bunting. My smile widened. It hurt my face a little.

I diverted onto Dogpole. There, I saw people still in the process of hanging up their bunting, along with two or three HUGE flags. I stopped and watched. A warmth spread through me. I put it down to the unexpected sunshine.

Across the road from the bunting-hangers, a chap was mowing the lawn outside what used to be the council offices. Can't have people watching the relay tutting at the length of the grass. That made me smile some more. By now I knew something serious was happening to me.

It continued as I walked through town. The torch was over an hour away but people we gathering. Crowds would normally annoy me. Not this time. I stood with them for a bit. Chatted to a couple. Strangers. But they happily chatted back.

Then I joined the people on English Bridge waiting for the convoy. Just a few when I arrived. By the time the torch was due it was packed. Old, young, somewhere in the middle. Smiling, Chatting. Laughing. I smiled, chatted and laughed with them.

Then the torch-barer arrived to a huge cheer. Right before me the Olympic Flame was passed on to the next runner. It was a simple act. But it felt huge. It felt special. It felt, for goodness sake, emotional.

It was soon over. Like all such things the build-up far outweighed the moment. But it was a moment in history and I saw it. We all saw it. More than that, though, that build-up had awakened something in me. The world doesn't seem such a bad place at the moment. I even feel (whisper it) patriotic. Proud, for the first time in a LONG time, to be British.

Shrewsbury looked stunning in the sunshine. The crowds that lined the streets did us proud. From reports I've heard I'd say the same was true in the rest of Shropshire.

Floreat Salopia. And Rule Britannia.