THOUSANDS of people turned out to celebrate the life of St Alban in a spectacular pilgrimage led by extravagant giant puppets and children in colourful costumes. Saturday s event took pilgrims from the place of Alban s trial at the Verulamium Museum, to t

THOUSANDS of people turned out to celebrate the life of St Alban in a spectacular pilgrimage led by extravagant giant puppets and children in colourful costumes.

Saturday's event took pilgrims from the place of Alban's trial at the Verulamium Museum, to the site of his execution at the Abbey, where celebrations continued throughout the day.

Award-winning puppets and over 200 children dressed as Roman soldiers, roses, angels, monks, lions and even the executioner's eyeballs, led the hour-long procession to bring to life the story of Britain's first Christian martyr.

The activities on offer following the pilgrimage included bouncy castles, circus skills workshops, drumming, chariot racing, medieval food and tours of the Abbey.

Two big services at the Abbey - Eucharist and Evensong - also took place during the day.

One of the organiser, the Rev Anna Matthews, said of the day: "It went really well and we were pleased that the rain held off - there were lots of happy punters around."

She continued: "There was a really good atmosphere. People came from all over the place but there were a lot of locals there and it was a really good celebration of St Albans' saint. But Alban also belongs to the whole of Britain as he was the first Christian martyr.