OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY: Week seven from Derby to Chelmsford

By Angharad Hughes, Sportsbeat

TRUE HERO: Johnson Beharry, the youngest recipient of the Victoria Cross, will run with the torch to mark Armed Forces Day

JUNE 30 - DAY 43 - DERBY TO BIRMINGHAM

Lance Corporal Johnson Gideon Beharry will carry the flame past the National Memorial Arboretum to mark Armed Forces Day. 

Johnson is a British Army soldier who in 2005, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour in the British and Commonwealth armed forces, for twice saving members of his unit from ambushes in Iraq. He is one of only six living recipients of the VC, and the youngest.

Today's torchbearers include Paralympian Leon Taylor, music legend Sir Cliff Richard, chart-topping band The Wanted and former Big Brother contestant and charity fundraiser Kate Lawler.

Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton, who kayaked 2,000 miles down the Amazon River and trekked 500 mile to the South Pole for Sport Relief, will also carry the flame.

KEY TIMINGS:  08:35 - National Memorial Arboretum, 10:45 - Tamworth Castle, 16:53 - Black Country Living Museum

FUTURE STAR: Ryan Cockbill, an aspiring Paralympic marksman, will run with the Olympic torch as part of Lloyds TSB's Local Heroes scheme

JULY 1 - DAY 44 - BIRMINGHAM TO COVENTRY

Graham Fulford, whose efforts to raise awareness of prostate cancer has so far led to 12,000 men being tested for the condition in which early detection is the key to survival, will carry the torch in the grounds of Warwick Castle - just a short walk from his house.

Aspiring Paralympian Ryan Cockbill, who won gold, silver and bronze in his first international shooting competition, will carry the flame in recognition for his work on Lloyds TSB's National School Sport Week.

Torchbearer Peter Frazier was the first person to run a marathon after a kidney transplant. Since then, the 61-year-old has run a further seven marathons, also representing Great Britain six times at the World Transplant Games, winning medals on four occasions.

"It does not matter where it is, it's nice to be, for a few minutes, the person with the flame," he said.

Today the torch is also 'returning home'. Premier Group in Exhall, Coventry, making all 8,000 torches.

KEY TIMINGS: 15:45 - Warwick Castle, 17:40 - Kenilworth Castle 

JULY 2 - DAY 45 - COVENTRY TO LEICESTER

The torch will start the day in Coventry and travel to Rugby School, where William Webb Ellis invented the game of rugby, and Althorp House, where the late Princess Diana was raised.

Among the inspirational torchbearers are 14-year old Charlotte Murgatroyd. When she was born she was given just eight days to live due to a serious heart defect.

She has since defied those predictions and raised thousands of pounds for charity. Her motto is 'live life like a lion'.

Angelo Gualtieri, a survivor of the 2009 earthquake in the Italian town of L'Aquila, is also among those carrying the flame.

He will be joined by youth worker Alan Stapleton, 37, charity fundraiser Barry Harper, 53, and award-winning BBC cameraman Bhasker Solanki, 52, whose work has won him praise from Amnesty International.

Promising mountain biker Alice Barnes, part of Lloyds TSB's Local Heroes scheme, will carry the flame through Kettering.

KEY TIMINGS: 07:05 - Coventry Cathedral, 08:55 - Rugby School, Rugby, 16:08 - Foxton Locks, Foxton, Leicestershire

ORGANISER: Youth Sport Trust head Sue Campbell will run with the Olympic flame on day 46 of the torch relay (Youth Sport Trust)

JULY 3 - DAY 46 - LEICESTER TO PETERBOROUGH

The Olympic torch visits Leicestershire for the second time this year - this exact leg of the relay was recreated in April in a full dress rehearsal.

Among the torchbearers is Baroness Sue Campbell, the head of the Youth Sport Trust, whose National School Sport Week, supported by London 2012 sponsor Lloyds TSB, has been delivered to over four million young people in the past three years.

Local fundraiser and sports volunteer Mike Russell, 77, will take the flame through his Peterborough hometown, a gentle jog in preparation for his 21st London Marathon next year.

Members of Team GB are also expected to feature prominently with the flame calling in at Loughborough University, where the team are holding their pre-Olympic preparation camp.

KEY TIMINGS:  07:15 - The National Space Centre, 08:15 - The Great Central Railway, 09:20 - Loughborough University, 15:10 - Rutland Water, 17:20 - Burghley House, 17:50 - Nene Valley Railway 

JULY 4 - DAY 47 - PETERBOROUGH TO NORWICH

From Peterborough to Norwich via a stop in Cromer, famous for its legendary crab, its another busy day in the life of the torch.

Volunteer firefighter Tony de Matteis, from Peterborough, is one of those invited to be a torchbearer after being nominated by his daughter Sonia.

She described him as the city's unsung hero who, for 26 years, had "given up his spare time and put his life in danger for Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade".

He said: "I'm so honoured to have been chosen, and very excited," said de Matteis, a prison governor in Cambridgeshire.

Inspiring youngster Sam Hills, 14, will take the flame through Market Deeping while 77-year old Norman South in honoured for a lifetime's dedication to sport.

He played FA Cup football as a youngster, has run cricket and football sides for decades and now organises carpet bowls tournaments, raising £30,000 for various charities.

KEY TIMINGS: 07:10 - Peterborough Guildhall, 16:30 - Cromer Pier 

JULY 5 - DAY 48 - NORWICH TO IPSWICH

The flame will spend its second day in East Anglia, with a  photo call in front of the famous beach huts of Southwold.

Triathlete Abbey Thorrington, who narrowly failed to make the Olympic team, will carry the flame in Lowestoft while 12-year old Megan Newton was nominated by her school to take the torch through Ufford.

Ipswich football club chief executive Simon Clegg, who was instrumental in London winning the Olympics during his time in charge of the British Olympic Association, carried the flame earlier this month in the Lake District.

He will be on the roadside to cheer colleague David Baynes-Robinson, who is head of education and welfare at the club.

"The Olympics is an ideal, rather than just a sports competition, and to be involved with it is astonishing," said Baynes-Robinson.

KEY TIMINGS: 06:45 - Norwich Castle, 07:10 - Norwich River Wensum, 10:30 - Lowestoft Ness Point, 11:35 - Southwold Beach Huts, 17:45 - Ipswich Marina 

JULY 6 - DAY 49 - IPSWICH TO CHELMSFORD

Several members of the Beijing Olympic organising committee will run with the flame today as London 2012 thanks them for their help and assistance in the last four years.

Bharat Thakrar, one of the first torchbearers to be revealed last year, will run with the flame at the Olympic mountain bike venue at Hadleigh, in recognition of his work as a youth councillor and community worker.

Joseph Farquharson, just 12, will run with the flame through Colchester after being nominated by his school for his commitment to Olympic values.

KEY TIMINGS: 06:30 - Christchurch Park Ipswich, 14:30 - Hadleigh Farm Games Venue, 15:45 - Basildon Sporting Village

© Sportsbeat 2012