Four national flames, kindled² last week, were united in a cauldron（大汽锅，铁锅） at a ceremony in Stoke Mandeville - the spiritual home of the Paralympics.

 

A flame lit from that cauldron is being carried 92 miles from Buckinghamshire to London's Olympic Stadium.

 

The Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are among those attending Wednesday's opening ceremony. 

 

Crowds gathered in the market square in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to watch the start of the relay on Tuesday night and thousands more turned out overnight to cheer on the torchbearers along the route.

 

Running about 90 minutes late, the flame, which is being carried by some 580 torchbearers in total, is next due to arrive at Britain's first traditional Hindu temple, the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple in Brent.

 

It will then visit Lord's Cricket Ground, London Zoo and the Abbey Road crossing made famous by the Beatles among other famous landmarks³ in the capital. 

 

In Trafalgar Square later, former boxer⁴ Michael Watson, wheelchair racer Dame⁵ Tanni Grey Thompson and Paralympic swimmer Chris Holmes will carry the flame.

 

 

About 3,000 invited guests, including Paralympians, representatives from disability groups and local residents, attended Tuesday evening's ceremony at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

 

Some 150 local residents took part in a lantern procession and formed a guard of honour for eight torchbearers who carried flames representing England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

 

The children who were invited to take part in the procession, together with their parents, had gathered at Stoke Mandeville last week to make the lanterns out of canes⁶, tissue paper and sticky tape.

 

One of those involved was 12-year-old William Lansdown from Hazlemere in Buckinghamshire, who has Down's Syndrome⁷ and attends a sports group for disabled children.

 

"The lanterns looked brilliant," said William's mother, Lynn. "It was a great atmosphere, with the emphasis on families taking part and not just disabled people. 

 

"The fact that so many children were involved made it special, given the theme of inspiring a generation to do more sport."

 

Earlier, performers entertained the crowds ahead of speeches by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Sir Philip Craven, Lord Coe, chairman of Games organisers Locog, and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

 

Eva Loeffler, the daughter of the founder⁸ of the Paralympic Games, Dr Ludwig Guttman, paid tribute to the role the Stoke Mandeville Games - and her father - had in defining the modern Paralympic movement.

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