Crowds have flocked to the Bolton Arena and all the other Commonwealth Games venues this week for the famous sporting competition.

But what, if anything, does the Commonwealth mean in 2002? Iain Sawbridge reports.

THE Commonwealth Games has been a wonderful sporting occasion for thousands of people in the North-west and millions around the world.

But, how much a member of the Commonwealth do you actually consider yourself?

These days, the emphasis is all on being European. But the notion of the Commonwealth -- though formed in 1931 -- is one that goes right back to Imperialism and the conquest of much of the world by the British Empire.

It is, after all, the British Commonwealth, as the presence of the Queen at the Opening Ceremony should have reminded us.

The organisers of the Games, not to mention Prime Minister Tony Blair, see them as the centrepiece of the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

But, it could be considered tantalisingly close to a celebration of a foreign might long lost by England.

What, for example, do you understand to be the meaning of the words of "Land and Hope and Glory", the anthem adopted by the English teams?

When atheletes stand proudly in gold medal position on the rostrum, the anthem celebrates more than just a sporting conquest.

The plea "make me mightier yet", for Jonathan Edwards , Paula Radcliffe and other English athletes, is not just an ambition directed towards next week's European Championships.

For, the song harks back to a previous age and England's insatiable appetite for more colonies.

However, very few of our victorious athletes know the words to the anthem. The anachronistic colonial message has very much been lost.

The athletes are not alone in this, either. A snap survey in Bolton town centre showed that very few people know the words to this national song, let alone recall the original meaning.

"I know the first line" smiled John Dobson, aged 24, from Leigh. Claudine Fearon, aged 31, from The Haulgh, shook her head and said "I haven't a clue".

For others the familiarity of the tune alone was rousing enough.

Lisa Peacock, aged 30, from Farnworth, did not know the jingoistic words but could "name that tune" (and even the English composer, Elgar) and with not a little pride.

"It's our national anthem and no-one else's," she stated, echoing a point made by Tom Spencer, aged 64, from Heaton. "People listen to it because it gets you going," he insisted.

When we asked what exactly the Commonwealth means, most people said vaguely "something to do with the old Empire".

Few could name more than 10 of its 72 nations, including the four home nations. In spite of this, the enthusiasm for the sporting events was undiminished.

They exhibited great pride at the successes of our national team, despite a few reservations about the quality of the opposition.

These perhaps are not without justification.

However, just as the Commonwealth Organisation provides a political forum for many smaller nations outside the UN, the Games provides an opportunity for smaller countries to gain international representation on a sporting front.

"The other countries involved" as Coleen Flynn, aged 17, from Halliwell observed, "don't see it as disrespectful", and very much relish the challenges the games present.

Kim Collins catapulted the Caribbean islands St Kitts and Nevis into the limelight by winning the 100m sprint.

At the other end of the spectrum, James Donaldson from the Norfolk Islands came last in the Marathon -- over an hour behind the nearest competitor -- but still received an outstanding ovation from the Manchester crowds.

In the end, it is all about national pride, and about national representation.