Churches have been welcoming the Tour de Yorkshire as it snakes through the diocese over the Mayday Bank Holiday weekend.
On Stage One, from Beverley to Settle (on April 29) and Stage Two from Otley to Doncaster (April 30) , some of the world’s top competitive cyclists have been racing through some of the area’s most beautiful villages - and at Pateley Bridge the church did more than hang out the bunting.
Vicar of the United Parish of Upper Nidderdale, Revd Darryl Hall was shown on BBC Look North (on Friday April 29) at the top of St Cuthbert's Church, Pateley Bridge lowering a wooden cut out cycle onto the top of the church tower looking out across the town. He commented, “ Church and community stand side by side in their celebrations, this is our way of sending a wave of blessing to cyclists and visitors as they whizzed past on Friday.”
It came at the end of a week of celebrations for the United Parish of Upper Nidderdale . The celebrations started at Coldstones Cut for the beacon lighting ceremony for the Queen's 90th birthday. Darryl and Methodist Superintendent Reverend Mike Poole were asked to bless the beacon as it was lit. (Pictured left 
is the Reverend Darryl Hall with his friend Gary the Gorilla who also attended the lighting ceremony.)
The celebrations continued with an evening of ‘fun, food fellowship and flag waving’ to mark both the Queen's 90th birthday and St George's Day. Guests were treated to a concert entitled 'Best of British' led by local choir, Treble Clef.
And the weekend of celebrations concluded with the annual Lambing Festival which had record numbers attending. The Revds Mike Poole and Darryl Hall led worship at St Chad's, Middlesmoor together as the church looked beyond its four walls seeking to bless the rural community and pray for both livestock and livelihoods.