Traditional longsword dancers welcomed hundreds of visitors to the Plough Sunday service at Ripon Cathedral held on Sunday January 10th.
A tractor and plough were parked on the Cathedral’s west front, and were blessed, by the leaders of Sunday’s service, the Bishop of Ripon, Rt Revd James Bell (pictured centre) and the Dean of 
Ripon, Very Revd John Dobson (pictured with the Revd Stephen Burgess, Chair of the York and Hulll Methodist District on left of picture).
The service, to pray for the rural community and celebrate farming, was jointly organised by the diocese , the cathedral and the Methodist Church. It brought together a congregation of more than 300 including civic leaders, local politicians, farming representatives, landowners and young farmers - who first enjoyed hot beef and pork rolls along with the longsword dancing from the Highside Longsword group making their first appearance at a Cathedral. Longsword dancing, like Morris Dancing, began when farm labourers who were laid off in the winter found new methods of earning money through travelling from village to village and performing.
Introducing the service Bishop James (picured left) said that these were challenging times for farming, and among the wider concerns was the need for food security in the future. "We are living in a particularly challenging time, not least because of dairy prices and the challenges of farm prices, but now, lo and behold, climate, and all the flooding that's arrived - you can see fields under water and questions about the viability of some of the crops - so it's always good tocelebrate our food producers but particularly at this challenging time we want to give them our backing and say our prayers and say our good wishes are with you."
During the service, members of Coniston Cold Young Farmers brought forward a ploughshare to be blessed, and thecollection was divided between the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) and Ripon Cathedral.
The preacher was Graham Lilley, Chairman of the Yorkshire Farming Community Network, while prayers were led by David Burke of RABI.