Back in 1994 I had the great pleasure of visiting the 15th Commonwealth Games in Victoria Canada. In 2002 it was Manchester and then In 2006 it was Melbourne.

Back in 2002, I had the great pleasure of looking after the music on Commonwealth Games Radio. The music was to be mainly black music with a sprinkling of great classic songs from other genres.

Later this summer the City of Glasgow will welcome the world for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Back in 2002 it was the City of Manchester who had the pleasure of hosting the Games.

Having attended the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada and taken part in the 2002 Games in Manchester, I suggested to my boss at BBC Radio Manchester that we should claim the Games wherever they were in the world and that we should always send a reporter. He thought it was a great idea and selected me to go to Melbourne, Australia for the 2006 Games.

2002 was a joyous time in Manchester and for me in particular. I had the great pleasure of hosting the Prelude to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the then City of Manchester Stadium. I have to say, "it don't get no better than that."

Back in 1994, I won a bursary to visit the Commonwealth Games in Victoria Canada. My winning pitch for the bursary was to see how the games were put together and how they were covered by the media, so that if the Games ever came to Manchester, I would know what was required.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games took place in Glasgow, Scotland. In preparation for those Games, the Australian Netball team played a game at the Wright Robinson Sports College.

Well as you probably know if you are a regular visitor to mikeshaft.com, I have had some exciting times in my life. But I have to say I have just had an amazing few days working with the Presenter group at the Sainsbury's School Games in London. The events took place at the Excel centre and the Main Olympic Stadium.

One of the ways of finding specific stories on mikeshaft.com is to search by name. I have done the search of Commonwealth Games and the list is unbelievable. Some of the stories are rather tenuous but every story on my love of the Commonwealth Games is included here! I hope you enjoy! More searches on other topics will follow.

20 years ago, the BBC created a truly magnificent radio station to cover and celebrate the Manchester Commonwealth Games. The station was led by Tim Pemberton now Head of Religion at the BBC. In a wonderful party to celebrate the 20th Anniversary, many of these individuals got together to party. These are a selection of the photos of that glorious day!