IT was the biggest gathering ever seen at Blackburn Cathedral, when so many people -- more than 7,000 -- were packed shoulder-to-shoulder inside that all the chairs had to be removed to get everyone in.

But, as they were on their way there 30 years ago this month, brotherly love took a back seat as one of the thousands of men demonstrating his condemnation of the permissive society clashed with a banner-waving protester who thought it was all a giant display of humbug -- and a Lancashire Evening Telegraph cameraman captured the incident (see picture).

The remarkable occasion back in January, 1971 -- it even made headlines in America -- followed a call by the Bishop of Blackburn, Dr Charles Claxton, and Lancashire's Chief Constable, Bill Palfrey, for a protest against evil.

"It is an appeal for people to stand up and be counted in a march for God's sake and reaffirm their faith in a code of conduct," the Bishop said.

The call went out in churches throughout the Blackburn Diocese for people to unite against "the deterioration of morals and standards typical of our day and age."

Thousands of churchgoers of all denominations responded.

It developed into a "March of Men" -- though some women did take part -- under the slogan "For God's Sake" which was borne on banners by many taking part as five different processions, each marching to the music of a band, heading by different routes for the Cathedral for a noon service. The group led by the Bishop and the Chief Constable, striding side by side ahead of a line of mayors from all the surrounding towns, was clapped by women onlookers who began singing: "Onward Christian Soldiers."

But not every bystander supported the event. At the Church Street entrance to the Cathedral grounds, a small peace group staged a demonstration and unfurled a giant polythene sheet marked with the words "Vietnam, Drugs, Race and War."

A lone member of Global Tapestry, described as a non-violent international revolutionary movement, carried a banner bearing a quotation from William Blake -- "Rather murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires" -- which, he said, was in protest against the "Puritan backlash" of the march.

Women standing nearby said this was "disgusting" and demanded that he move elsewhere.

But there was no budging 67-year-old retired insurance broker George Hobson, of Cheshire, as he protested in the Cathedral grounds against police chief Palfrey and Lancashire Constabulary.

He carried a banner proclaiming: "Palfrey is a humbug and a liar" and "If Palfrey is in, then God is out" and, despite being greeted with jeers and laughter, handed out leaflets to marchers on "The need to clean up the Lancashire County Police."

But one marcher found it unfunny and left the procession to bash Mr Hobson's placard with his own "For God's Sake" banner as a police officer went to intervene. In the scuffle, Mr Hobson's placard fell to the ground and the handle snapped beneath the policeman's foot. Struggling free, he picked up the placard and held it above his head, undaunted.

"That damned policeman broke my banner," he said afterwards.

"I have taken his number and he will be hearing more about this."

But, delighted by the response and by the support for a mass rally attended by more than 2,000 men four months later in Blackburn's King George's Hall, the Bishop of Blackburn was determined that many more would hear the "For God's Sake" message -- and planned an even bigger march and rally at Blackpool to coincide with the start of the TUC's conference at the resort the following September.

He set a target of 15,000 taking part and, making use of the TUC's initials, banner slogans such as "Time U were Converted" and "Take Up the Cross" were proposed.

Yet just five weeks before the event, it was cancelled out of the blue -- with no real explanation.

The Bishop went away on holiday as a statement was issued saying that it had been "found inadvisable to proceed" and members of the organising committee agreed to say no more as they agreed that if they said what the reasons were "it would be quite liable to be misconstrued."