Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Queen's baton relay route revealed
Find out when it's coming near your area
Last updated 26th Jul 2022
With just months to go until Birmingham hosts the Commonwealth Games, we now know more details about one of its signature events.
The 2,500 mile final leg of the 2022 Queen's Baton Relay route has been revealed, which includes 180 towns, cities and villages up and down England. It'll start with a five day tour of London coinciding with the Platinum Jubilee on 2nd June.
The baton relay will then finish with a tour across the West Midlands before marking the start of The Games at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham for the opening ceremony on the 28th July.
Thousands of so-called 'Batonbearers' will be taking turns along the journey - between 40 and 130 each day of the route - through England. They've been chosen for making a difference to their local communities.
It will have taken 294 days and trips to each of the 72 nations that make up the Commonwealth by the time the final mile has been completed at the end of July.
The route;
London
Thursday 2 June – Monday 6 June: London
South West
Highlights in the South West: Eden Project, St Austell (4 July); sunrise at Stonehenge, Salisbury (5 July); Roman Baths, Bath (5 July).
Monday 4 July: St Austell, Plymouth, Exeter, Portland & Weymouth, Poole, and Bournemouth
Tuesday 5 July: Devizes, Bath, Bristol, Easter Compton, Hereford, Gloucester, and Cheltenham
South East
Highlights in the South West: A relay through Windsor (6 July); Canterbury Cathedral (7 July); White Cliffs of Dover (7 July).
Wednesday 6 July: Stoke Mandeville, Maidenhead, Eton & Windsor, Aldershot, Winchester, Hambledon, Southampton, and Portsmouth
Thursday 7 July: Guildford, Tonbridge, Canterbury, Folkestone, Deal, and Dover
East of England
Highlights in the East of England: On the water at Lee Valley White Water Centre, Waltham Cross (8 July); Venetian waterways, Great Yarmouth (9 July); Cambridge Pride, Cambridge (9 July).
Friday 8 July: Gravesend, Tilbury, Basildon, Southend-on-Sea, Maldon, Waltham Cross, Luton and Hemel Hempstead
Saturday 9 July: King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Bury St Edmunds, Hinxton, and Cambridge
East Midlands
Highlights in the East Midlands: City of Caves, Nottingham (10 July); Loughborough University (11 July); Altitude44 High Ropes, Skegness (11 July).
Sunday 10 July: Northampton, Corby, Rutland, Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln
Monday 11 July: Skegness, Boston, Grantham, Loughborough, Derby, Bakewell, Matlock, and Buxton
Yorkshire & The Humber
Highlights in Yorkshire & The Humber: English Institute of Sport, Sheffield (12 July); Going underwater in a shark tank at The Deep, Hull (13 July); a walk to the historic York Walls (13 July).
Tuesday 12 July: Sheffield, Rotherham, Huddersfield, Bradford, and Leeds
Wednesday 13 July: Hull, Beverley, Market Weighton, York, Malton, Scarborough, Robin Hood’s Bay, and Whitby
North East
Highlights in the North East: Travelling by speedboat in Stockton on Tees (14 July); abseiling from a wind turbine in the Port of Blyth (15 July); Angel of the North, Gateshead (15 July).
Thursday 14 July: Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Redcar, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Durham, Seaham, and Sunderland
Friday 15 July: South Shields, Whitley Bay, Blyth, Alnwick, Gateshead, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne
North West
Highlights in the North West: Blackpool Tower Ballroom (16 July); Media City, Salford (17 July); Bellevue Sports Village, Manchester - 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games legacy (17 July).
Saturday 16 July: Carlisle, Lake District, Blackpool, Preston, Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton
Sunday 17 July: Salford, Manchester, Stockport, Northwich, Wigan, and Knowsley
West Midlands
Highlights in the West Midlands: Travelling by coracle on River Severn (19 July), wakeboarding at Chasewater (20 July), Black Country Living Museum, Dudley (24 July), abseiling from Galton Bridge, Smethwick (25 July)
Monday 18 July – Liverpool, Keele, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent, and Shrewsbury
Tuesday 19 July – Ironbridge, Telford, Newport, Lilleshall, Stafford, Stone, Rudyard, and Leek
Wednesday 20 July – Uttoxeter, Burton upon Trent, Lichfield, Burntwood, Chasewater, and Tamworth
Thursday 21 July - Bodymoor Heath, Atherstone, Market Bosworth, Nuneaton, Bedworth, Rugby, and Coventry
Friday 22 July – Kenilworth, Whitnash, Warwick, Gaydon, Stratford-upon-Avon, Broadway, Pershore, Upton-upon-Severn, Malvern, and Worcester
Saturday 23 July – Redditch, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Codsall, Rugeley, Hednesford, Cannock, and Walsall
Sunday 24 July – Wolverhampton, Halesowen, Stourbridge, Dudley, Brierley Hill
Monday 25 July – Oldbury, Wednesbury, Tipton, Cradley Heath, Rowley Regis, Blackheath, Bearwood, Smethwick, and West Bromwich
Tuesday 26 July - Castle Bromwich, Fordbridge, Chelmsley Wood, Marston Green, Hampton in Arden, Meriden, Berkswell, Balsall Common, Knowle, Dorridge, Cheswick Green, Hockley Heath, Dickens Heath, Shirley, and Solihull
Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 July – Birmingham
The route will take the baton from coasts to cities, with the expectation it will attract the crowds as it passes through communities, with special events held to coincide with the occasion.
B2022
Phil Batty, director of ceremonies, culture and Queen's Baton Relay, said; A lot of work had gone into planning the route, adding it "symbolises connecting people from every corner of the Commonwealth, celebrates Batonbearers who take on challenges and marks the countdown to the biggest sporting event in the West Midlands' history".
He added: "We hope communities across the country join the excitement, attend events near them, line the streets to cheer on our incredible Batonbearers and celebrate the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games."
Dame Louise Martin, Commonwealth Games Federation president, said: "The Queen's Baton Relay symbolises hope, solidarity and collaboration across the Commonwealth at a time when it is needed most."
She added the relay "continues to inspire people wherever it goes and creates huge excitement" for the forthcoming sporting showcase.
Nigel Huddleston, minister for the Commonwealth Games, said: "The 2022 Queen's Baton Relay is coming home.
"Travelling the length and breadth of England, the baton will bring the excitement of the Games to every region of the country.
"The relay marks the final countdown to the biggest sporting event to be held in the UK since London 2012, and I hope people come together and line their streets to celebrate this historic moment."
Andy Street, West Midlands' metro mayor, praised the Batonbearers, "each with inspiring backgrounds, who will carry the baton on its journey through England after being put forward as a result of their contribution to their local communities".
With 78 days to go until the start of the Games, the baton still has some way to travel yet and is currently in the Caribbean.