9.30 a.m. Sunday. It is a warm, bright morning. A scattering of men in dark suits stand around outside the Orange hall on Carleton Street. They are holding folded collarettes. Inside a plaque on the wall commemorates those "who died as a result of terrorist action against Ulster." One man says he has been walking the route "every year" since 1958. He has no desire to give offence, he says.
10.05 a.m. The street outside is getting crowded. Pastor Kenny McClinton is telling an American television crew that people on the Garvaghy Road are trying to set up "a pocket of the Republic inside sovereign territory which is British, and having failed to do it with the bomb and bullet for 30 years they are now setting out to do it by stealth.
He says he represents the Ulster Civil Rights group and is there as a supporter of the Orangemen's right to parade.
10.18 a.m. It is announced that the District Master, Mr Harold Gracey, will speak to the Orangemen on the public address system. They are asked to listen attentively and not applaud at the end. A helicopter hovers.
Children with the Star of David Accordion Band hesitantly rehearse Nearer My God to Thee while the boy with the triangle tries to see whether he can fit both ends into his nostrils at once.
10.25 a.m. Mr Harold Gracey addresses the approximately 1,200 Orangemen gathered on the street outside the hall. They "merely want to come from the church as we have done for two centuries, he says.
Nothing must be said, he insists, which could be the cause of valid complaint. He explains that only the Portadown district lodge will walk down the Garvaghy Road, and only one band.
He wishes everyone well and hopes no one will be injured when they return to the hall at 1.45 p.m.
The bell of St Mark's Church chimes 10.30 as the Rev Dwane Russell thanks God for the beautiful day, appeals for His protection and urges that nothing be done which would bring "disrespect or discredit on our colours" along the way.
Mr Alistair Graham, of the North Parades Commission, explains to reporters he is there as an observer and sincerely hopes there will be restraint on the Garvaghy Road.
10.34 a.m. There is applause from onlookers as the parade sets off, led by a colour party of three, one carrying the Portadown standard and two carrying ceremonial swords.
Crowds line Market Street, mostly families with cameras and dogs, clapping as the Orangemen march at a quick pace to music from the Edgarstown Accordion Band. One swordbearer misses his step, and winks at someone in the crowd as he finds it again.
Turning at the end of Market Street, the parade is led back up the other side of the street. The music of the two bands clashes as they pass.
10.45 a.m. The parade passes Magowan's Buildings as a large RUC contingent stands outside. Crowds applaud as it passes. A young girl, standing on the pavement with a camera to her face, calls "Dad, Dad," to a man in the parade. An Orangeman waves at her.
As the parade turns into the Corcrain Road an RUC woman says into her walkie-talkie that they estimate there are 1,800 in the parade, and two bands.
10.50 a.m. An old man on crutches and wearing a sash stands stiffly to attention as the parade passes the Hampton Court estate. People applaud. Already the green opposite is full of bonfire materials for the 12th.
Just opposite is the Obins Street area. There the residents are hemmed in by lines of police and army personnel as the parade passes by. It used to pass through that area until the mid-1980s.
Farther on Craigwell Road is blocked off by soldiers. The windows on Corcrain Orange Hall are boarded up. "I R A" are the letters on its three lower windows.
11.02 a.m. Passing Ballyoran, which is blocked off by army Saracens and jeeps, the Edgarstown band plays Nearer My God to Thee at a quick-march pace. Then the music stops. We are approaching St John's Catholic Church.
Soldiers and police stand along the route. Drumcree Church can now be seen across the fields, behind St John's.
11.10 a.m. Music starts again as the parade heads up the Drumcree Road into open country.
11.15 a.m. The parade turns towards Drumcree Church, passing the house of the rector, the Rev John Pickering.
11.30 a.m. The parade arrives at the Church of the Ascension, Drumcree. The UUP leader is there to greet it.
Mr Pickering greets the parade leaders as they enter his church. Some go to the parish hall as numbers are too great to fit in the church itself. Bowler hats and umbrellas are lined up inside the door.
Green Party TD Trevor Sargent is in the church as an observer. He is sitting on his own. "An Irish-speaking Protestant, I'm disliked by everyone, he jokes.
He goes on to say he was "quite upset" by the aggression of the security forces on the Garvaghy Road earlier that morning.
11.40 a.m. The service begins with Mr Pickering reading a statement from the Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Eames, urging those present "to reflect the ethos of your culture with respect and dignity."
He calls for members of the order attending the service "to act with dignity, restraint, and honour" when they leave the church. On no account should they respond to situations in any way which would "increase the apprehensions of the province, increase the problems of the police or attempt to make use of church property in ways which will question the integrity of the church."
The first hymn is O God our help in ages past our hope for years to come, number 27. All sing.
After the creed they pray for members of the royal family, the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, members of the security forces, lasting peace "in this area, in Garvaghy, in Portadown, in our country, and all the world."
12.10 p.m. Mr Pickering gives his sermon, taking as his theme the Gospel reading and the storms of life.
"Drumcree is now known all over the world," he says. It is where "this country nearly came to the brink of something awful in 1996," but he would like to think of Drumcree being "a turning point for Northern Ireland, where peace would begin and spread from, to every corner of our country.
And he urges the congregation to imagine they are walking on water to Jesus, not to be "full of fear and sinking like Peter." Peter found the rescue he needed through faith in Jesus Christ.
12.20 p.m. The collection plate is passed around as they sing Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?, number 42. Mr David Trimble takes up the collection in one part of the church. Then they sing God Save the Queen. Mr Harold Gracey rises to do the thank-yous.
He expresses particular gratitude to Mr Pickering, saying he is "like a rock standing at the top of this hill." He appeals for no shows of triumphalism, and explains that just members of the Portadown lodge are walking back down the Garvaghy Road.
They will meet up with everyone else "when we arrive safely at the other side" at Shillington Bridge.
12.45 p.m. The Portadown district Orangemen form up six abreast. Mr Trimble stands to one side, towards the head of the parade, to see them off. A helicopter still hovers above.
Everyone seems relaxed and calm. "Left, left, left, right, left," shouts a voice and they are off. Ahead police and soldiers with jeeps and Saracens have sealed off a side road.
1 p.m. Riot police and soldiers have sectioned off a roadway to the parade's left as it heads towards the Garvaghy Road.
From there army jeeps and Saracens are lined up opposite some houses, where people can be seen standing behind the venetian blinds looking out.
A middle-aged man stands with his arms folded, directly in front of a policeman who holds a riot shield in front of him.
The only sound from the Orangemen is of a single drum beat. The parade crosses the hill down towards the main Garvaghy Road area, where for the first time it can be seen that a cordon of jeeps and Saracens has formed along each side of the road, with soldiers and policemen.
Residents have been kept some distance back from the road, by further jeeps and security personnel.
A young woman sitting on a wall shouts at the parade as it passes, "Youse bastards." As the parade moves farther along the road the surface is littered with broken glass, stones, bits of brick and some empty cans.
The noise of bin-lids being banged together can be heard for the first time as the parade passes a site where the Womens' Justice Group has set up camp.
This noise intensifies as the parade marches through. Metal poles are also being walloped by residents, held well back, while over-head the noise of the helicopter fails to drown out catcalls and whistles from angry residents.
People can be seen holding up "re-route" signs behind police and army lines as they shout abuse at the passing Orangemen.
"Scum, f...ing scum," shouts the young man, giving a two-finger salute. "No talking, no walking, reads a sign on a pole. Women lean out of an upstairs window in one estate banging saucepans against the front walls of their houses. The murals are mostly obscured by army jeeps and Saracens.
1.09 p.m. The parade arrives at Woodside Gardens heading for the Loyalist Wall. "Tiocfaigh ar La" reads a graffito on a wall.
Just ahead an enthusiastic crowd has gathered, already cheering and clapping as the parade gets nearer. The people standing alongside begin to sing The Sash as the parade passes and the Edgartown Accordion Band, which has been silent - apart from a drumbeat - through the Garvaghy Road, begins to play a march.
As the parade approaches the Shillington Bridge the road is lined on each side by thousands of cheering people who become wildly enthusiastic as the colour party gets nearer. Mainly families, and probably families of the Orangemen themselves, they cheer loudly.
Some have stickers on their lapels which read "No compromise, no surrender".
"Victory," shouts a woman as the parade passes. Seeing a reporter, a man points out how dignified it was as a parade. And a woman standing beside him urges: "Tell the truth."
1.20 p.m. The parade passes the Cenotaph on Market Street where poppy wreaths have been laid in memory of those who died at the Battle of the Somme. "Willie, how about ya," shouts a man on the footpath to a member of the colour party. Willie winks back.
1.25 p.m. The parade turns into Carleton Street. Opposite the Orange hall there Mr David Trimble is talking to somebody on a mobile phone. He will not make any comment to the press.
"No serious difficulty?" he asks a member of the accordion bald.
"No, it was generally well marshalled by the security forces, who deserve a lot of credit," replies the bandsman.
And as the Orangemen gather Mr Cecil Allen, a lay chaplain with the Orange Order, leads prayers from an upper window in the Orange hall. He thanks God for His presence with them through the day and "for safe deliverance through Garvaghy". God Save the Queen is played.
A drummer girl sits against a wall, dehydrated. An elderly Orangeman brings a Lucozade bottle full of water to her.
1.55 p.m. Most of the Orangemen have dispersed. The Orange hall doors are closed as the remainder leave. Mr David Jones, press officer with the Portadown District Lodge, hands out a statement which reads that once again the Orangemen of the area have shown they can parade with dignity.
They have always stressed, it reads, that they do not wish to offend "our nationalist neighbours and fellow countrymen and women.
The Orangemen's only wish is to "celebrate our cultural heritage which we cherish so much." They wish to point out that "the Orange part of the Irish Tricolour which flies from every lamppost and telegraph pole along the Garvaghy Road is supposed to represent the Orange tradition within these islands."
In the light of that they cannot understand "the hostility shown by our fellow citizens towards our cultural heritage."
The statement ends with an appeal: "Surely the time has now arrived when the citizens of both communities should reject the extremists within our midst and work towards a better understanding of our cultural diversity. "It finishes, "God Save the Queen."
2 p.m. The street outside the Orange hall is almost empty as the bells of St Mark's chime the hour.
