Ride and Stride 2021

Horses, bikes, walking boots, dogs – all these and more were in the mix this year, and social media posts gave a good flavour.

All Saints Church in Westbury shared this Facebook post:

We completed the Ride and Stride - well the Stride anyway. 10.5 miles round 5 churches. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed visiting all our churches in one day. Thank you to all who took part and all who hosted us along the way. The coffee and "Heroes' were very welcome at Holy Trinity! Thanks also to all our sponsors. Not sure of the total amount, but somewhere in excess of £200! So well done everyone!

St James Ludgershall said:

What a glorious day we ended up with for our belated Ride+Stride walk! Well done to all our walkers, thanks to Holy Trinity and St Mary’s for opening for us, and to Dale and Errol for driving us home again(plus Ray our standby driver too!) and thanks to our sponsors for your support. Beautiful day in creation.

And the Benefice of St Bartholomew added:

It was a pleasant day for being out today. Across the benefice, we had a group from Semley and 3 groups from the Donheads on foot and bike. Congratulations to our 86-year old who was seen pedalling up a particularly steep hill. One family even took a bantam with them!

The Donhead people met at St John's Charlton for a group photo at 10am. Those on foot went to the churches in the Donheads and Semley. Those on bikes ventured further including Sedgehill, and cycling up the Chalke Valley and back.

Thank you to everyone who sponsored us all so very generously. We are adding up the total amount sponsored and you can add to it if you wish. Send us a message and we shall contact you.

Thank you to all the churches who put out refreshments, especially at Semley where the home-made oaties were delicious.

St Mary’s Lychett Matravers went on an epic cycle ride, saying:

It was great to be part of the annual 'Ride and Stride' in aid of the Dorset Historic Churches Trust, this Saturday. Well done Cathy and James for cycling to 17 different churches around hilly Purbeck. Thank you to all those who sponsored us, and to those who supported the St Mary's Church Open Day.

And in Weymouth, lay chaplain Neil Biles visited 12 churches with his wife Jacky.

Not to be outdone, parish magazines featured the event in print soon after it had taken place.

From St John’s Wimborne:

St Johns Bikers (cyclists) joined other Dorset church groups to help raise funds for supporting our historic church buildings in resourcing their communities. Adrian Harding shares: ‘We so enjoyed Ride and Stride 2021 with the St John's family. Perfect weather for cycling: not too hot. 15 miles completed finishing off at Michael’s Colehill. Will definitely try to make it an annual event. Many thanks to Keith Loveless for undertaking the admin. Professional job. Wonderful morning.’ You can still support this excellent cause by making a donation via the dedicated Just Giving page: Keith Loveless is fundraising for Dorset Historic Churches Trust (justgiving.com) 50% of our Team’s funds raised will be gifted to our church for our Lighting & Kitchen projects.

From the Quintet Benefice in Dorset:

The Riders of Gussage set sail from the memorial on the 11th of September on a beautiful autumn morning. 11 cyclist friends from Gussage All Saints and our dear friend from Bournemouth with Martin Trott being our back up and cycle shepherd. At Wimborne St Giles we were joined by Brendan Garnsworthy. We covered 17 Churches ,40 miles and one pub. A fantastic day which raised 500 pounds for the Dorset Historic Churches trust and our church. The most important part of the day was the friends who took part in the ride and we supported each other along what at times was a challenging cycle ride and we had a really social day with great comradeship. Thank you to those who took part and those that sponsored us.

Meanwhile, in Edmondsham:

A very happy day was had with 24 walkers, one cyclist and three dogs around our local churches being sponsored by their friends and families to support not only the Dorset Historic Churches Trust but also a contribution to the church of their choice. Until all the sponsorship money is collected, we won’t know exactly how much was made but we already have had some very generous donations for which we are very grateful. Our walk took us from Edmondsham Church through the woods by Castle hill to Cranborne for a short break before setting off over the fields to Wimborne St Giles where we had a picnic lunch and comfort stop. Our pilgrims did as much or as little of the walk as they felt they could do so some left us at Cranborne while others joined in for the next leg of the walk with the same thing happening at St Giles. The remaining hardy folk carried on over Harley Down to Gussage All Saints. The “mix and match” approach gave a good opportunity to chat as we journeyed with friends we already knew and to make new friends. The chatting certainly helped to pass the time and we reached each church before we knew it. The welcome we received at All Saints revived our aching limbs and tired feet! Our thanks also go to our “car transporters” who kindly gave up their day to ferry people back to their starting points through the day. Another successful “Ride & Stride” day, enjoyed by all and possibly to be repeated next year.

And from the Queen Thorne:

Saturday 11th September was the Parish Ride and Stride Day and the weather could not have been better for it. Representing the village, we know that Viki Jackson and Rowlie McBeath completed the course, and our admiration and thanks go to both of them. Rowlie on his bike and Viki running round all the benefice churches! A reminder that Viki is also competing in the London Marathon this month, we wish her well especially as she is running for such good causes, Cancer Research and Mind.