This article: After a weekend's rest, the marchers proceeded to Harrogate. In this solidly Conservative, prosperous town the marchers were greeted warmly by the civic authorities and were fed by the Rotary Club. They were given sleeping quarters by the Territorial Army, a change from the school and church halls, and occasional workhouse accommodation, that was provided at most overnight stops. It was becoming evident that local Conservatives were often as likely to provide practical assistance as Labour, whose local parties were constrained  by the attitude of the party's national leadership. The marchers' claim that theirs was a unique situation, arising from specific actions (the closing of the shipyard and the blocking of the proposed steelworks) that could be remedied by immediate government action, may also have alienated local working-class communities. Cross-party support was important in maintaining the march's non-partisan ethos, a factor that led Riley to refuse a donation of £20 from a communist group, stating: "We are determined at all costs to preserve the non-political character of this Crusade".At Harrogate Wilkinson rejoined the march, as it proceeded through southern Yorkshire towards Chesterfield in Derbyshire. The march was attracting wide publicity; in London the government worried that King Edward might exceed his constitutional limits and receive the marchers. The cabinet issued a statement that emphasised the constitutional means for expressing  grievances, and condemned marches for causing "unnecessary hardship for those taking part in them"—"crocodile tears", according to Wilkinson. In reaching Chesterfield on 17 October, the marchers had travelled 70 miles (110 km) during the week, and were at the approximate half-way point in their journey. That day, the Bishop of Durham was gratified and the marchers correspondingly disappointed, when in a letter to The Times the Bishop of Jarrow denied that his blessing on the march had indicated his support for the venture. The blessing was, he said an act of... contains an answer for the question: What was the full name of the person who said his blessing was and act of Christian duty?, what is it ?


Bishop of Jarrow