In Lambourn, the first service at the western most end of the valley, was held at Farringdon Place Stables, by kind permission of Barry and Penny Hills. Each service, conducted by Revd Cumberlidge.

At Eastbury in the middle of the valley, Alistair and Alison Lidderdale hosted the service in their delightfully compact half-timbered yard with the horses in their boxes joining in enthusiastically. So much so that Martin Partridge did well to do justice to the bible reading, when a horse was determined to put its nose into his coat pocket.

The traditional day for beating the bounds of the parish was Holy Thursday (Ascension Day) 40 days after Easter. The rogation days fall on the four days from the fifth Sunday after Easter which itself falls on the Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. In different places these may be called Cross Days, Gang Days or Grass Days.

The term Rogation comes from the Latin, rogare, “to ask.” Rogationtide not only crystallizes the prayers of those whose livelihood depends on the harvest, but it reminds all of us of our dependence on the fruits of the earth. The Rogation Days are in fact the only days in the church calendar which are explicitly agricultural.

The last and most easterly port of call was Maidencourt Farm at East Garston, where David and June Rabbitts most fittingly invited us to have the last service on the banks of the River Lambourn under the willow trees, with the wild life and the Simmental/ South Devon beef cattle herd joining the congregation! David explained that there had been a house at Maidencourt for a thousand years. He has been farming there for almost 70 years and has seen the demise of the farm working horse and the coming of the tractor, subsequently replaced by the combine harvester. Seventy years ago there were 36 farmworkers employed at Maidencourt. At this last service, the poem 'A Winter Milking' was read by 15 year old Victoria Rabbitts..

Tony Cumberlidge decided to revive the Rogationtide tradition, which it seems has been dormant here for close on 50 years and in keeping with the Rogationtide tradition, parishioners then gathered at the local hostelry, The Queens Arms, at East Garston for socialising and complimentary refreshments, very generously provided by Chris and Jules.

 

Photos : Andrew Snowdon
Research : Ken Tarbox
Text : Sally Wright : Ken Tarbox