On Boxing Day, my family and I had the pleasure of taking part in the annual pilgrimage from Ripon cathedral to Fountains Abbey. This event celebrates the 13 monks who walked to the valley where Fountains Abbey is now and began to build their own settlement. As a family that is not very religious, we were interested to see what this event would be like and how many people would be there.  

The pilgrimage began at 10:15am and as my family and I waited for the walk to begin, I looked at all the people who were taking part. Many more people were there than I had expected, and families and groups of friends stood together talking, often accompanied by a dog. When the Dean came out of the cathedral, he said a few words and then handed a wooden cross to a boy to carry, to lead the pilgrimage.  Then, we set off along Kirkgate and began the 3-mile walk.  

As the crowd was so large, the beginning of the walk went rather slowly, until everyone began to find their own pace and therefore had more space to walk. I walked at the front, just behind the boy carrying the cross and talked to various people during the walk. That was what I enjoyed the most during the walk , talking to other people in Ripon. Not everyone was taking part in the event was doing it for religious reasons- many, like myself, just wanted to take part in community event.  

At around 12 o’clock, we arrived at Fountains Abbey and waited for the service to start. The service began at 12:30 and was really enjoyable. It was neither too long or too short and contained many pleasant, well-read readings. The Abbey was completely full for the service as many more people had driven to the Abbey to enjoy the service, as well as those who had undertaken the pilgrimage. The Stray Brass Ensemble played before the service, and they set the mood perfectly for such a lovely event. 

In conclusion, I really enjoyed taking part in the pilgrimage. Even if you are not religious, I would still recommend taking part as the walk felt more like a community event than a religious ceremony. However, the service in the Abbey was also extremely well done so I would definitely recommend attending that. If you want to do something on Boxing Day, I would definitely recommend this event.