Walking day

A walking day is a type of church parade. Walking days are most common in the North West region of England, where they are an annual event for many towns and villages.

There may be several churches involved in a local walking day. The churches hire bands to provide music: for instance brass bands, pipe bands and marching bands. The police provide an escort and control the road traffic, but some police forces are now refusing to provide escorts out of public funds, and this may threaten many of these traditional events.

Children play a big part through their churches, schools, the Boys' Brigade, the Scouts and the Girl Guides. Processions are often led by a young lady, who has been crowned the "Rose Queen" for the year. The Queen may be particular to a church but can represent the whole village too. Indeed, some Rose Queens and May Queens have festivals of their own. For example, there is the "Lymm May Queen", "Knutsford May Queen" and the "Thelwall Rose Queen"

Walking days are particularly common in the Warrington and Wigan areas. They are held annually in most districts, including:

* Grappenhall
* Orford
* Padgate
* Penketh
* Stockton Heath
* Stretton
* Warrington
* Winwick
* Rainford
* Ashton-in-Makerfield

Some walking days, including those held in Warrington, Padgate and Stockton Heath, are followed by a fair.

Warrington Walking Day itself dates back to 1834, and is perhaps the largest in terms of attendance and participation. Churches now walk in ecumenical groups from each area. Most businesses in the town used to close for the day, but as Warrington has expanded, many firms have national and international business that demands attention. A detailed history of Warrington Walking Day can be found in the University of Sheffield [http://www.shef.ac.uk/nfa/history/worlds_fair/articles/warrington.php National Fairground Archive]