The day started bright and sunny,I remember the day well, May 31st 1982, my mother's 69th birthday, what a brilliant birthday present, to meet and greet Pope John Paul. St Albans and Parishioners from St Williams, Dormanstown, Sacred Heart, St Augustines, St Bedes, Marske and Our Lady's, Saltburn chartered a train, to take us to York for the Historic visit of Pope John Paul. Our spiritual leader was Fr Dan O'Neil. We arrived at Redcar Railway Station at 5.30am and boarded the train.When we passed Stead Hospital, word must of got out, we were on our way, because nurses were outside, waving us off.With it being a through train, in no time at all, we were pulling into York Station. What greeted us will be remembered forever,all of York was packed with people, making their way to the Knavesmire Racecourse, with no traffic and all shops open, along the route.The organisation at the racecourse was fantastic and one must admire, the way all the crowds were handled.Each Parish had a ticket, of a certain colour and each colour, was allocated a section, which was fenced off on four corners. These each had a gateman supervising, each held about 3000 people comfortably.There was eight in our party and we had brought picnic tables and chairs and loads of food and drink, including a case of Lager.We settled ourselves down, in time for the first Mass of the day, on an Altar in the far distance to our right. The heat began to build up, into what was going to be a scorcher.Time seemed to fly, as we took in the sheer size of the crowd, which stretched out on both sides and behind, as far as the eye could see, people were on hill tops in the far distance and a visit to the toilets, which were very clean, and plenty of them, passed the time, till it was time for the second Mass at 12 noon. After Mass we were treated to a Concert by Jimmy Saville,( who had arranged to bring many disabled people, in specially designed double decker buses) , Mary O'Hara and the Bachelors, after which, the Choir led us in Hymn singing. After our meal, we found we were very low on Lager, so we ventured out on a trek, for fresh supplies. We found an off licence opposite and came back fully loaded with drinks, including soft drinks.We had bought yellow flags, along the way in and the organisers,wanted everyone to wave these flags, as a welcome to the Holy Father.As the afternoon wore on, a Helicopter could be heard in the distance and all eyes were looking towards the noise, as one, everyone waved their flags, only to be told this was the Press. The heat by this time was intense and shortly after the Pope's Helicopter came into view, it landed amongst a great sea of yellow. The cheering and waving of an estimated million people, was very emotional.When the Pope finally made it to the stage, he wasn't very far from us and greeted us, in his broken English and his voice rang out, crystal clear. He was greeted by the Bishop of Middlesbrough, Bishop Augustus Harris and Clergy and was introduced, to three married couples, who he invited to renew their wedding vows. He then spoke for quite some time, about marriage and the family.He then boarded his famous Pope mobile and drove round each section, where everyone could see him at close quarters, it was a sight to see, him being driven past hundreds of thousands of waving people, with Bishop Harris alongside.Many photographs were taken that day (send us yours) and he looked in perfect health and enjoying the occasion. People cheered, till they were hoarse,tears of joy were shed that day, such was the occasion. All too soon, he bid us farewell and to the waving crowd, boarded his Helecopter. The crowd were still cheering and waving, as the Helicopter disappeared out of sight.The day was far from over, as we made our way, tired but happy, back to the station. The sheer numbers trying to board trains, meant patience was the order of the day.As we shuffled along, all of York were just a mass of people and one can only thank the people of York, for their friendliness and understanding. The Pubs along the way, had their windows open and supplied drinks in plastic glasses, so you drank as you walked, threw the plastic glass into the waste bin and got another, further down the queue. We finally got our train at 10.00pm having left the Racecourse at about 5.30pm. What's your memory, of that fantastic day, let me know, visit the guest book,then you can say, YOU WERE THERE