CAMPAIGNERS who embarked on a 20-mile pilgrimage to protest against quarrying near an ancient monument hope the event will be the first of many.

About 30 people set off to walk from Catterick to Boroughbridge, in North Yorkshire, on Friday, through an area known as the Sacred Vale.

It consists of huge henges created 5,000 years ago at Thornborough, Nunwick, Hutton Moor, Cana and Catterick and is completed by the Devil's Arrows stone row, at Boroughbridge.

The pilgrimage came to an end on Saturday and included a meeting with Sir James Graham, of Norton Conyers, John Sheehan, of the Council for British Archaeology and Ray Blyth, of the Yorkshire Gardens Trust.

The pilgrimage was an attempt by pressure group Heritage Action, which is campaigning against plans by Tarmac Northern to extend quarrying at Nosterfield, near to Thornborough Henges, to put the Sacred Vale on the tourism map.

They have created the Sacred Vale Trail, complete with its own map featuring places of religious significance. It is hoped that the pilgrimage will be the first of many for the area.

Spokesman George Chaplin said: "It is not just about the henges. We are heralding the fact that there is a tremendous wealth of religious monuments that go back thousands of years in the area.

"The whole idea with the Sacred Vale is that we are not trying to make major changes, we are trying to make the most of the existing sites."

Bob Nicholson, Tarmac Northern estates manager, said: "There is no conflict between Nosterfield Quarry and the idea of an educational and tourism trail linking prehistoric sites."