Romans march again

8:26am Wednesday 19th September 2007

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THE Romans marched through Middlewich again at the weekend 2,000 years after they first arrived.

Crowds watched the legion stride through the town as history was brought to life at the third Middlewich Roman Festival.

Car parks were full and caterers ran out of food due to the popularity of the event.

Dave Thompson, one of the organisers, said: "We don't know the exact numbers that attended but we're pretty confident it broke all records.

"The park and ride bus company said they didn't stop and the Pochin and Middlewich Community Church car parks were full - people were parking up the road.

"The caterers had a good weekend and had to keep sending out for extra food." Visitors enjoyed a packed programme on Saturday and Sunday including a parade by the Roman legion, gladiator fights, an interactive archaeological dig, falconry and a Roman encampment full of crafts.

Dave said: "The gladiators were quite an experience because it's about as lifelike as you can get without actually killing anyone."

"But the biggest hit of the weekend was the virtual dig. We expected to do three or four sessions a day but the heritage society and volunteers ended up doing seven each day and more than 200 kids took part."

He added: "We'd like to say a big thank you to Pochin and Middlewich Community Church for giving us permission to use their car parks. We also want to thank all of the volunteers because without them we couldn't have done it and we hope they enjoyed it."