Durham and the Miner's

When I proposed a weekend trip to the medieval town of Durham Scott wanted to know what we would see there. Upon finding out that there is a castle and cathedral he could barely hold in a groan. However, being a good sport, he agreed to go, and this past Friday we set off across the fells for Durham. We did know that there was some sort of "event" going on. We did not know that it was the annual Miner's Gala, which attracts a crowd of about 100,000! This Gala is actually the largest union gathering in the UK! On Saturday there was a parade consisting mainly of banners from the different miner's unions accompanied by brass bands, followed by union members. At the end of the parade route there are some large rugby fields where everyone gathered for food, games for the children, and union speeches. Once the speeches were over everyone turned around and marched back out of the town. On the 2nd floor of our hotel dignitaries gathered making our hotel the hot spot for the bands to stop and perform along the route. From the time the first band marched past our hotel until the last strains of music passed about 8 hours had elapsed. There were 4 new banners being dedicated, so there was also a service at the cathedral including the banners and brass bands representing those towns. On Friday evening as we settled in for tapas at a local restaurant our server recommended that we stay away from the rugby fields where everyone congregated to have lunch and listen to speeches. She described the coming party,  "There's banners, and bands, and drinking. And it usually ends quite badly."
Saturday morning at breakfast the first of the bands passed by our window. I have to say that we definitely enjoyed the bands and the beautiful banners. The "people watching" was also quite interesting.

Durham is on the east coast of England, but just as far north as we are in Whitehaven. It's not surprising to see bagpipes as both towns are very close to Scotland.

Sure glad these guys were around!

All in all, it seemed like a pretty fun celebration!