From cycling 58 miles and visiting 40 churches to a 22 mile countryside tour, this year’s Ride and Stride brought people together to explore the countryside, discover new churches and raise money for their local church and the Hampshire and the Islands Historic Churches Trust.
For Philip Andrews, Churchwarden at St Mary’s, Sholing, Ride and Stride has become an annual challenge for the last four years. This time his route took him 58 miles through the Hampshire countryside, visiting 40 churches in Eastleigh, Winchester, Romsey and Totton, including Winchester Cathedral and Romsey Abbey. This year’s Ride and Stride was blessed with beautiful weather.
A keen cyclist, Philip cycles to work every day and takes part in a number of charity cycling events throughout the year.
He said, “It’s a good combination of getting out on the bike, good exercise and seeing a bit of the countryside, visiting these lovely churches as well as raising money.”
Philip documented his Ride and Stride journey by taking a photo of himself outside each church he visited – although with 40 churches on his route, his phone battery eventually gave out!
He continued, “It’s great to visit the churches and to look inside. It gives you a spiritual strength to carry on with the journey. You see the different styles of architecture and buildings and the way Christianity is represented in the churches, and you have some interesting chats with people too. There’s a sense of pride in looking after the buildings and the grounds and hopefully we can help to continue to maintain them in such good condition.”
Nic Townsend and Judith Gammon took part in Ride and Stride for St Mary’s in Abbots Ann. Starting from All Saints in Upper Clatford, they cycled 22 miles around the Andover villages including Monxton, Grateley and Thruxton and visited 13 churches.
It was their second year taking part and, having completed the same route the previous year, they decided to do it in reverse this time.
Judith said, “It was a lovely opportunity to get out on my bike, to do a bit of exercise and to find out about these churches that I hadn’t seen before. We are fortunate to have these beautiful settings around us, and it was good to meet different people.”
There were some challenging uphill sections, but the riders were rewarded with a warm welcome at many of the churches along the way.
“It’s nice to see other church communities. In some places, they were doing harvest flowers, or they were sitting waiting for us to arrive, and committing to their church at the same time. When you get to the church, there is that time of peace and quietness that helps while you’re cycling around.”
“Ride and Stride is a really good way to get people together, to get people out in the community, to visit places that they haven’t been to before. You have to seek out some churches because they are down country lanes, but when you get there, you realise just how important they are to their communities.”
She is already planning for next year’s event.
A group of riders and striders from Ampfield, Chilworth and North Baddesley Churches also took on the Ride and Stride challenge.
While the walkers visited the churches within the benefice, the cyclists ventured further afield to Farley Chamberlayne and Mottisfont.
Among them Francois Hugo, who first took part in Ride and Stride in 2001. As an Area Representative for Romsey Deanery and long-distance cyclist, he has previously visited all 33 churches in the deanery.
He said “Motivation is partly to raise funds for the Trust which has made a significant grant to our church and does so for other historic churches. Then there is fundraising for our benefice, as half the sponsorship funds raised are given to the church selected by the participant.”
“It’s an enjoyable day’s ride on scenic country roads around the deanery and seeing attractive, mostly old, churches, and having occasional conversations with people in them too.”
It wasn’t just Ride and Stride that got people on their bikes this year.
Maggie from Love Church Bournemouth took on a very different cycling challenge, riding 5 miles from St Swithun’s Church to her home on Hengistbury Head.
At 88, Maggie is registered blind and had not been on a bike for more than 20 years.
She completed the challenge on a tandem with her supporter Matthew.The ride raised money for two causes close to her heart; SPEAR Bournemouth, a church-run project helping 18 to 24-year-olds back into work, and NCF Uganda, which provides education for children.
She was supported by the prayers and encouragement of church members, and the ride was completed with a celebratory lunch.
