FORGET Greenwich's Millennium Dome, all roads lead to Canterbury for the dawn of the the New Millennium.

So say Christians, who will be walking through Preston next month as part of a massive pilgrimage to mark the 'true meaning' of the Millennium.

Eight trips are taking place under the banner of Pilgrimage 2000, starting at eight holy sites in Britain. Each route will take in towns and cities, and local Christians are being invited to join members of the walk from Holywell when it passes through Preston on December 11.

The pilgrims will stop off in Fulwood on the night of December 10, where Christians have promised to accommodate and feed them. Tom Stacey, spokesman for Pilgrimage 2000, said: "This event is for those people who seek to be touched by the holy spirit at this Millennium. It is an alternative, an antidote even, to all the razzmatazz which seems to be engulfing the Millennium.

"The purpose of the pilgrimage is to provide people with a chance to take part in an act of homage and witness to the founder of our Faith at the start of the 2000th anniversary of the year of his birth."

Once the pilgrimage has passed through Preston, it will move down the country, at an average of 14 miles a day, before merging with pilgrims outside Canterbury. From there everyone will go to the ruins of St Augustine's Cathedral - where pilgrims in the middle ages travelled to - to hold vigil until midnight on December 31, when a service will be held.

The route through Preston, like the other seven routes, is based loosely on the network of roads used by Pilgrims in the middle ages when they travelled to Canterbury.

Tom added: "We believe those who take part in Pilgrimage 2000 will remember it all their lives.

"We hope to remind people of what the Millennium is all about, more than just an excuse to have a party."

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