CROWDS cheered as the Queen’s Baton was carried through Southampton.

Ten bearers travelled through the city - starting from Mount Pleasant Junior School where the relay in Southampton started.

They went through Palmerston Park, past Guildhall Square, the Bargate and then to Westquay Esplanade - passing the baton on in the relay.

The baton has been around the world and is in the UK ahead of the Commonwealth Games starting on July 28.

Gus McKechnie, from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, carried the baton - and previously was a bearer for the Olympic Torch when it came to Southampton ahead of London 2012.

He told the Echo: “It was an amazing experience - when I got hold of it the band started playing when the Saints Go Marching In, so it was just incredible.

“I work for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, so it’s been such a great experience and honour to do it in Southampton.

“It’s about ten years since I got to carry the Olympic torch during the 2012 Olympics, so to have carried both, I’m a very lucky man.”

Tony Fern, 85, a running coach who was awarded Citizen of the Year in 2005, said: “I was proud, I have coached for 50 years at Southampton. It was quite nice and quite exciting.”

Tony was a long-distance runner for the Tipton Harriers, with whom he won various medals between 1964 and 1968 for long-distance running.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is a 294-day journey across the Commonwealth, which began on October 7 last year.

The baton has travelled across the world to various countries in the Commonwealth and has as its last destination the city of Birmingham where the Commonwealth Games will take place from July 28 to August 8.

Its final destination in Southampton was the waterfront where it was loaded onto a hovercraft bound for Portsmouth.

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