Aughton church

On Friday I went in the evening to Aughton church. Every year there is a service there  to remember Robert Aske, the leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace. He was born in the village and was put to death at York on 12th July 1537.

This year's event was special as Carole Readman had written a moving cantata which told the story of this Yorkshire uprising. She conducted the Weighton Waytes who sang magnificently and whose Tudor costumes were equally magnificent. The church was full of local people who are still proud of the man who worshipped in the very church where we sat and who died for his religion.

In the interval we ate [everything was free and contributed by local supporters] from groaning tables of food ranging from potted salmon and asparagus to honey cakes and jelly.

As we came out it was dusk and a little eerie -  one could imagine what it was like all those years ago when national politics and the long arm of Henry VIII affected the family who lived in this remote part of East Yorkshire.