Diary Date: Plough Sunday Service – An Invitation
Everyone is warmly invited to the Plough Sunday Service at Ripon Cathedral on Sunday 10 January which begins with refreshments at 2.30pm, before the service at 3.30pm.
It is being led by James, Bishop of Ripon, the speaker will be Graham Lilley, Yorkshire Chairman of The Farming Community Network and representatives from the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, TFA, CLA and NFU will attend. Show Director, Charles Mills will read one of the lessons and Young Farmers from Skipton will take part in the service which celebrates and supports the region’s farming community.
The service is a collaboration between the Cathedral, the Anglican Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales and four Districts of the Methodist Church.
For further details contact Kate Dale, Co-ordinator, Yorkshire Rural Support Network – kated@yas.co.uk or 01423 546217
ENDS
18 December 2015
EDITORS’ NOTES
Plough Sunday
The observance of Plough Sunday in its present form goes back to Victorian times, but behind it there is a much older observance, associated with the first working day after the twelve days of Christmas. Ploughs were brought into parish churches to be blessed before work began the following day on ‘Plough Monday’. In days when work was scarce in winter, the observance looked forward to the time of sowing with the promise of a harvest to come. In medieval times some communal village ploughs were stored in the parish church. At the end of the Christmas season when there was no work, and therefore no wages nor free meals, the ploughmen would haul the plough around the parish begging for silver and threatening to plough up the garden of any who refused!
Although the nature of farming has changed over the centuries, Plough Sunday is seen as a way of celebrating rural life, especially the work of farmers and all who care for the land.
Yorkshire Agricultural Society
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society was established in 1837 with the primary purpose of holding an agricultural show and for the furtherance and support of farming in the region. This ethos continues today, through its flagship events, the Great Yorkshire Show (Tues 12 – Thurs 14 July 2016) and Countryside Live, (Sat 22 and Sun 23 October 2016). Year round it has an active programme of events and activities supporting the farming and rural communities, particularly in the North of England. It also runs Fodder, the award winning regional food shop and café. The Society is based at the Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, N. Yorkshire. For more information see www.yas.co.uk
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