Pilgrim's Progress - May 25, 2007
Ten monks donned their habits and set off from St. Peter’s Church, Chester today, as part of the St.Werburgh Festival which celebrates 1,100 years of the translation of the Relics of St.Werburgh. Chester’s Town Crier Julie Mitchell stood at The Cross and declared the emergence of the monks; featuring Cedric the Conversi aka David Pickering, from the Church, down the steps and through the city streets. The monks then walked around the city walls before having lunch at The Albion.
This was a pre-cursor to their 70-mile pilgrimage from Hanbury, Staffordshire, which will reach Chester Cathedral on the Summer Solstice, St.Werburgh’s day on June 21.
The full programme of events for the culmination of the St.Werburgh Festival has recently been unveiled (with more events being arranged across the city from June 17 to July 1 – more details to follow). The pinnacle of the Festival will be a pilgrimage from Hanbury to Chester, based on an event that occurred 1,100 years ago in 907, which will culminate in a choral service at Chester Cathedral on June 21. The Pilgrimage will start on Sunday June 17 from Hanbury and the walk will take four days before arriving in Chester.
During this time David Pickering will adopt the name of “Cedric the Conversi”; Cedric was the name of a character in Episode 11 of the Chester Historical Pageant 1937. Conversi is a bearded trainee monk.
David Pickering said:
“A full programme of events has been put together, with more details to follow over the following weeks. I look forward to a number of people walking the whole route with myself and the rest of the monks. We hope for a significant number of people and children to walk the last five miles into Chester to a reception at the Cathedral.”
David’s beard has become established after he decided not to shave from February 3, which is St. Werburgh’s Feast Day, to June 21, which is St. Werburgh Saints Day, commemorating the Translation of the Relics from Hanbury to Chester Cathedral.
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PHOTO CAPTION:
The monks walk through the streets of Chester as part of the St.Werburgh Festival.
Notes
EVENTS:
At 2am on Thursday June 21, there will be a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Chester Cathedral Green, as the sun comes up on the Summer Solstice, St.Werburgh Saint’s Day.
The pilgrims will arrive in Christ Town, Christleton on the canal towpath at 2pm on June 21 to be welcomed by Vikings and a Roman guard changing by the Newgate at 3pm.
At 3.30pm the pilgrims will walk up Bridge Street, Eastgate Street and St.Werburgh Street to the Town Hall Square where they will be met by more than 200 pupils from schools including Upton High, Dorin Park, Woodfield Primary, Newton Primary, Acresfield Primary, Mill View Primary and St. Clare’s Primary.
At 4.30pm, the Lord Mayor of Chester Cllr Jim Latham will receive the Relics of St.Werburgh and the Lord Mayor, pilgrims, children and congregation will enter the Cathedral, where there will be a Festival Service. The Lord Mayor of Chester will present the Relics to the Dean of Chester Prof Gordon McPhate.
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