About the challenge
Our CEO takes on an epic cycling pilgrimage, visiting over 100 choirs across England and Wales in just 50 days of cycling. This mammoth challenge covers a whopping 2,700 miles, with JJ raising much-needed funds for cathedral music along the way.
Hear from JJ: “I’m raising vital funds for Cathedral Music Trust, so we can continue to support cathedral musicians and choirs through our programmes – including the Cathedral Music Support Programme and Church Choir Award. In 2024, we invested £500,000 in the sector, giving grants to 28 Anglican and Roman Catholic music departments across the UK.”
Blog
First Leg Reflections
3 June 2025
Days 1–4
*Distance Covered: 174 miles
*Height gained: 10,000 feet
*Places of worship visited: 11 (7 scheduled, 4 impromptu)
And we’re off. The first four days of fifty completed (8% of the total route…) and they were four days of absolute joy! Sunny weather, (mostly) smooth roads, and very warm welcomes. What has struck me most on this first portion of my ride is how doing the journey by bicycle gives an amazing sense of the connections between places – the architecture, the topography, the people. Cycling is giving a particular sense of how places of worship relate to the landscape – sometimes soaring above habitations, sometimes nestled on the edge of a village or next to a key river crossing. On two wheels you also get a sense of the tangible distance between places of worship, building a detailed picture of the rich tapestry of churches, abbeys, priories and cathedrals dotted across the map. I went from the modern urban reality of Newcastle Cathedral (in which, we heard a brilliant rendition of Byrd…) to historic Carlisle (where, paradoxically, the music took on a more modern hue with Leighton’s setting of the canticles). This sense of connection was particularly true in the rugged and dramatic settings of Northumberland and the Lake District that I travelled across on these first four days, taking in wonderful sights like the Angel of the North, Roman Settlements (long stretches of Hadrian’s Wall) and mountain ranges.
As the pictures indicate, the time in the saddle was wonderful, as was encountering the many and varied buildings across the North of England. What made these days particularly special, however, were the many conversations I had each day. Here’s a sample of just a few of them that I managed to capture on my phone:
Conversation with Kenneth Wilson (the cycling cellist) outside Hexham Abbey
Meeting Canon Benjamin Carter at Carlisle Cathedral
A lovely cup of tea and scone with Stephen Lockwood at Kendal Parish Church
Hearing the two organs at Lancaster Priory with Ian Pattinson
I’m hugely grateful to those who made time for me, sharing stories of the huge impact of singing; of the community formed through choirs; and of the splendour of organs, supporting and augmenting music in all these places. I am very much looking forward to many more conversations like this, which all demonstrate the broad and deep passion for cathedral music that exists across the country.
There is something about the pacing of cycling (certainly my pace… c. 11.5 mph) that is akin to the pacing of an Evensong service. You’re moving quite quickly, yes, but there’s also time and space for reflection. The liturgy of Evensong, much as the cadence of turning pedals, coaxes one into a different rhythm – forces you away from the incessant haste of digital devices, social media, 24-hour news cycles and overflowing to do lists.
In cycling across the landscape I find the pace allows for living and breathing with the rise and fall of the land – connecting better with nature and my surroundings. In Evensong, the same living and breathing happens in the repetition of well-trodden phrases, heard anew through music from across the centuries; weaving sound on top of the enduring landscapes of the North of England.
Onwards in June to the North West (including, I’m pleased to say, the Isle of Man), North Wales and the Welsh Borders!
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