Ripon Pancake Race 2014

A fun British tradition is the Pancake Race on Shrove Tuesday, commonly known as Mardi Gras in America. I went to Ripon Cathedral which was hosting an event this year.

The cathedral getting ready

Pancake making before the race

According to the internet,

The event at Ripon has been a regular fixture since the 1990’s when an ancient tradition was revived. It marks Shrove Tuesday, the day of celebration and finishing off the eggs before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a period of fasting and spiritual reflection in the church’s calendar, when traditionally Christians give up certain foods such as meat, eggs and fish.  Lent lasts for 40 days, the period that Jesus Christ fasted in the wilderness at the start of his ministry. 

The cathedral has a Pancake Bell which rings at 11 a.m. to signal the start of the festivities. The bell has tolled on Shrove Tuesday for some 600 years, though for most of the time it was a call to the locals to be "shriven" of their sins in confession (hence the "shrove" in Shrove Tuesday). In 2008 the race wasn't held because of a mountain of health and safety paperwork. The next year public demand was so strong that the obstacles were overcome.

This year, racers included some of the clergy and the local authorities. Children from local school came to participate as well. Some ladies (and a few gents) dressed up in old-fashioned clothes, including white aprons and bonnets, to race down the street. Toward the end, it seemed like individual groups and families came up for a go.

People getting ready to race

Here's a video of the racers in action!

Ripon Cathedral Pre-Christmas Visit

I know I should have posted this last week, but things were challenging. A stomach bug has been going around the schools. J and L had it and chose alternating days to throw up. So I would have posted this for the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The spirit was willing but the stomachs were weak.

Ripon Cathedral was just gearing up for Christmas festivities, which included Lessons and Carols on the 23rd and 24th of December, the usual array of services for Christmas Day, and a procession from the Cathedral to Fountains Abbey on Boxing Day (which is December 26). The stomach bug kept us from attending any of these but hopefully next year we can do a few.

The main Christmas Tree

A side Christmas Tree

J went to visit his favorite part of the church, the crypt chapel. The crypt is the original Saxon church built by St. Wilfrid back in the 600s. It has a little window J loves looking through.

No stained glass back then

He went on to the choir section. He climbed up to look at the Bible in front of the lectern. He proceeded to give some prayers or a homily, I'm not sure which. He asked me to sit in the choir stalls while he did his thing. I had the opportunity to photograph some of the intricate and fascinating woodwork.

J at the lectern

Centaur with elephant carrying a turret!

Spooky monkey

Rabbit chased by griffin (said to be an inspiration for Lewis Carrol's Alice stories)

Not sure if he's stealing the door or bringing it for installation

The organist started up but that did not phase J at all.

The organ as the choir sees it

After J finished, we went upstairs to the Treasury, where many of the sacred vessels and other valuables are kept.

Assorted sacred vessels

A larger assortment of smaller vessels

Other valuables include the cathedral's library. Many different books on theology and pastoral care are shelved within easy reach of small hands. Luckily, the children weren't too interested. Not enough pictures, I think. The treasury did have a fun spiral staircase down, which we could not descend though we did see the Nativity set waiting to come out.

Let our people go!

In addition to the extensive library, several archeological artifacts are kept here. The Ripon Jewel has an ale named after it. The ale isn't very good though it is offered at the cathedral's gift shop (but only in bottles to take away, not for consumption on the premises).

Click to enlarge

Roman era finds; click to enlarge

Saxon era belt strap; click to enlarge

We finished our visit to the cathedral with a visit to the gift shop, where we found a replacement Nativity Set since ours has been misshelved after the move. We're sure it's in the house somewhere. This new set is very kid-friendly and L has been playing with it.

Looks like the angel is putting the star on Jesus' head!

The wood figures are nice and sturdy and less destructible than others we have seen. I remember fondly playing with our childhood nativity set. Since I was fifth of six children, the nativity we had was a compilation of a few nativity sets. Some of the figures were much larger than others. We had a sheep that was as big as one of our oxes. And we had at least five kings. Not all of them had their noses, but a chipped nose isn't enough to get you thrown out of the collection. Ah, those were the days. Especially when the Star Wars and G.I. Joe figures would join in the action!

Movie Review: Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

As part of Ripon Cathedral's Summer Organ Festival 2012, they showed The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) with live organ improvisation by Alexander Mason. In spite of the stress and weariness of moving (we had to switch houses here in England, more on that in a later post), we decided to have dinner in Ripon and my wife would take the children home while I went to the movie.

We had dinner at the Unicorn Hotel's pub, part of the Wetherspoon chain. It was classic pub fare and we all enjoyed our meals (even if Lucy had a hard time choosing what to eat). I had a Daleside Old Boat Ale that was quite smooth to drink and went well with my chicken roast dinner. I should say that the pub is decorated following the theme of Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. The unicorn is the one who fights the lion in one of the book. We saw a full-size unicorn (though it was not live) and Tweedledum and Tweedledee behind the bar (though they were not serving drinks). Dinner finished just in time to get the kids in the car and get over to the cathedral.

The movie was back-projected on the screen that was about 15 feet above the ground. The copy of the film was a bit rubbish. It was a DVD with a grainy print and the title cards were often off an edge of the screen (either top or left), making them hard to read. Though maybe the projector was not aimed just right at the screen.

On the other hand, the organ playing was magnificent. Alexander Mason is an award-winning organist who teaches music and composition in addition to performing many free-lance improvisations, though improvising for the 90 minute running time of the movie is quite impressive. He was charmingly polite and was grinning from ear to ear at the end of the performance, partly from satisfaction at a job well done and partly from the warm applause.

A face only a mother/movie fan could love

As for the film itself, it is quite amazing. At the center of the film is Lon Chaney's performance. Known as the man of a thousand faces, this face is one of his most iconic. The make-up conjures feelings of horror and sympathy. He gives Quasimodo the hunchback a lot of pathos, especially through is expressive movements. The other actors are equally good (though they don't have the challenge of performing through so much make-up). Patsy Ruth Miller's Esmeralda is enchanting and innocent. It is easy to see how she catches each man's heart.

The set decoration is quite impressive, especially when the viewer can look from the projected image of the film's Notre Dame to an actual cathedral. The movie's set is spot on. All the locations are convincing. The plot is fairly thick with characters and events, but doesn't become confusing or overly simplified, in spite of a relatively brief running time.

This movie is definitely worth seeing and I am glad that I saw it in such special circumstances.

If you are looking for a better print, check this out at Amazon:



The movie is also available on YouTube, the print seems similar (the title cards are easier to read), though the music is orchestral with some choral elements thrown in. It looked pretty good, at least the first five minutes that I watched.

Candlemas 2012 at Ripon Catheral

On Thursday, February 12, Ripon Cathedral hosted a Candlemas service. Here's the write up from their web site:

Candlemas is one of the most ancient feasts of the Church, and occurs 40 days after Christmas, on the 2nd February. It is also known as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, in reference to the episode in Luke's gospel (2:22-40).
This ancient festival has been celebrated at Ripon for centuries. A visitor to the Cathedral in 1790 declared that the whole building was "one continued blaze of light all afternoon".
This year, the Cathedral will once again shine with the light of thousands of candles, symbolising Jesus as the light of the world.

I went last night by myself with the promise that I'd take pictures for Jacob to see. He loves Ripon Cathedral, mostly because it has a "basement" which is actually the remains of the original church built by St. Wilfrid in the 7th century. Our candlelit procession did not go through there, though we did see the rest of the cathedral as we processed, including some elaborate candle displays. No photography was allowed during the service, which was fine with me.

Pre-liturgy cathedral

Chi Ro in candles

Main altar candle display

The procession was part of the Eucharist service. The Church of England Eucharist follows closely the Catholic liturgy: processional hymn, greeting prayers, Gloria, liturgy of the Word, homily, petitions, offertory, liturgy of the Eucharist (which was written up in the booklet as "liturgy of the Sacrament"), Lord's Prayer, Communion, and dismissal. The procession happened just before the Gospel reading. They must have spotted me as Catholic and, as a gag, gave me a fast-melting candle. My candle was reduced to a mere stub by the time the procession and the Gospel were done. Everyone else had a good four or five inches of candle left (and unwaxed hands).

Remains of the candle-some of the wax made it onto my hand!

It looked like they used an impromptu altar rail for communion. I didn't go to receive, being Catholic and all, so I'm not sure. I did see the rails as we processed.

Before the dismissal, the priest noted the presence of the mayor of Ripon, who was dressed in full mayoral regalia, including his chain of office. I was unable to photograph him, but if you've seen the famous painting of St. Thomas More, you have an idea of how the chain of office looks. If you haven't seen it, you are about to:

Ecce homo!

The mayor in turn invited the town crier to perform his public duty in the cathedral. Ripon's town crier is famous because he stands in front of the courthouse and blows his horn every evening at 9 p.m. to show he is on duty. The tradition is 900 years old! He also escaped from my camera's lens, though someday I will come when the weather is more clement and see him at the courthouse.

After the service was over, I was able to take some pictures of the church.

Last night for the Nativity set

Candles on a bench

Another bench of candles

South transept

North transept

Cathedral at night

Side of the cathedral at night

We are now switching our dinnertime hymn from "We Three Kings" to an ordinary time hymn. Jacob has requested "Amazing Grace," so that will be our song until Lent starts in about three weeks. Farewell, Christmas season!

Ripon Cathedral

On our visit to Ripon, we went to the cathedral. Like a proper functioning church, they only asked for a donation from visitors. They did have one scheme to get money. If you want to take pictures, you buy a pass for £3, which was okay with me.

The Ripon Cathedral is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Wilfrid, in that order because St. Wilfrid built the original Saxon church in honor of St. Peter in the mid-600s AD. He was also a missionary and abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Ripon. The crypt of the current church is what remains of St. Wilfrid's work.

The crypt was built to be like Christ's tomb

Part of the ceiling of the crypt is tombstones patched together!

So this cathedral has been in existence through quite a bit of English history which is reflected in its architecture and its contents.

The medieval screen has had modern figures placed in it, including kings and bishops who have had an impact on the cathedral or on Ripon. The first bishop of Ripon, Archbishop Charles Longley (1836 AD), is right next to James I, King of England who gave Ripon its royal charter in 1604.

Medieval Screen includes ancient and modern folks

Archbishop Longley on right with James I to his left

Beyond the Medieval Screen is the Choir Stalls built in 1494 with many wonderful and playful carvings. One carving of a griffin chasing a rabbit is thought to have inspired Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, since his father was a Canon from 1852 to 1868. So yes, Lewis Carroll was a son of a gun. [Editor's note: apologies to all for the bad pun]

Griffin gets his rabbit, not how it worked out in the book

Lucy would sing a carol in the choir stall if she could stay awake!

The end of the choir stalls behind the medieval screen has some of the organ pipes and a mysterious mechanical hand that was used to help conduct the choir. It acts as a metronome to keep the choir on the same beat as the organist.

The high altar at the back has a fabulous stained glass window. Much of the glass throughout the cathedral is quite impressive.

High altar with statues and stained glass

Some of the more recent work is less impressive, such as this decorative metalwork from the 1940s:

Umm, yeah, right, what can I say? It speaks for itself.

There is also an art exhibit in the church with various works sprinkled throughout. They have varying merits. Here are some of the best in my opinion:

Lucy liked this dragon a bit too much!

Interesting take on the loaves and fishes. The fish appear to be made from bread!

Tombs of the Markenfields can also be found in the church. Sir Thomas Markenfield was buried in 1398. His descendants were Royalists who took part in the Rising of the North in 1569. During the Reformation iconclasm, the hands were destroyed and the face obscured on the tomb.

Sir Thomas and his wife are buried here

Also of interest right by the tomb is the Mothers' Union Chapel, featuring toys and other things to distract children. This is the first cry room I have seen in a cathedral!

Lucy's favorite spot (luckily it wasn't the dragon)

While we were visiting the cathedral, Jacob asked when we were going to pray since we were at church. Bless the boy, we stopped right there and said an Our Father and gave thanks for the wonderful visit to this glorious cathedral.

Jacob also showed his holiness by imitating the columns from the Decorated architectural period (1250-1350 AD). Often the bases of columns would have a face, like such:

He has a load on his mind

Jacob hardly ever looks this serious

We also visited Jacob's other favorite feature, the potty. Getting directions from the lady was a little difficult since she was expecting the word "loo." Once we were clear, we went across the street to a garden, quite idyllic and peaceful.

No cafeteria, but what a gift shop!

We look forward to bringing visitors to see this wonderful cathedral. And the gift shop is well stocked with interesting and worthwhile items. Personally, I think any church that has its own beer is great. Another good way to raise money!