THOUSANDS of people celebrated Easter at St Albans Cathedral over the course of the four-day weekend. And for the Rt Rev Alan Smith, the new Bishop of St Albans, it was the first time he had led the Easter Monday Pilgrimage on the bank holiday, inviting t

THOUSANDS of people celebrated Easter at St Albans Cathedral over the course of the four-day weekend.

And for the Rt Rev Alan Smith, the new Bishop of St Albans, it was the first time he had led the Easter Monday Pilgrimage on the bank holiday, inviting the crowd of over 2,000 pilgrims from all over the diocese to join him in a procession to the Cathedral from the Abbey Orchard in the afternoon.

Bishop Alan, who told his audience that they were there to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, led the All Age Eucharist at 3pm before introducing the South Oxhey Community Choir, under Gareth Malone, who led the singing for the service with numbers such as The Power of Love and Shine Jesus Shine.

Monday's attendance was the largest in years and it followed an equally busy Easter Sunday, when more than 1,000 people attended the Eucharist service at the Cathedral. A collection was taken for the rebuilding of churches in Haiti on the day, which raised �4000.