The Great Ripon Raft Race

I enjoyed myself so much at the St Wilfrids Day Parade at Ripon the other week that I decided to have a return trip for the Great Ripon Raft Race.  The event takes place in the canal basin where local teams compete against each other on home made rafts, or as in the picture, baths.  The event is organised by Scuba Diving For All, a charity which enables people with physical difficulties to dive and swim.  The picture shows two of the teams at the turning back point, as you can see one of the baths is taking on water, and went down like the Titanic shortly afterwards, the crew did survive though.

Juggler - Ripon Market Square

This juggler was part of the St Wilfrid's Day entertainment in the market Square, Ripon, last Saturday.

St Wilfrid - Ripon

A solemn looking St Wilfrid about to turn the corner into the market square at Ripon. I had to abandon picture taking at this point as the rain was just too heavy, there was still quite a crowd waiting to see the procession pass through the square, and I did manage to catch up with St Wilfrid a little later when the rain eased off.

St Wilfrid's Feast Procession - Ripon

Not Bradford I know, but I thought you might like to see some pictures of the annual St Wilfrid's day parade in the cathedral town (oops, city) of Ripon which lies about thirty miles north of Bradford.
The cathedral at Ripon is dedicated to St Wilfrid and the parade is led by an actor playing the part of the Saint on horseback, followed by musicians, dancers and colourful floats.  The parade lasts around three hours as it zig-zags its way through the narrow streets until it finally arrives at the cathedral where a special St Wilfrid's Day service is held. 

Reredos - Ripon Cathedral

My wife and I spent a couple of hours in the in the town of Ripon on our return journey from Berwick-Upon-Tweed last week.  The town is around thirty miles north of Bradford and has a really interesting cathedral.  This is the reredos which stands behind the high altar, created in 1923 by Ninian Comper and depicting contemporaries of St Wilfrid. 

Brompton Bikes

     These keen cyclists were in Ripon Market Square earlier today.  The couple, from Yeadon (about five miles North of Bradford) enjoy riding along the country lanes around Ripon and Fountains Abbey but no longer wish to cycle very high mileages.  The bicycles are made by Brompton and fold up into a package small enough to be taken onto a bus or train or fitted into a car boot.  I have an older version of one of these bikes myself and find them quite enjoyable to ride but not really a substitute for a full sized machine.