GALLERY: Royal Engineers take centre stage at Ripon Freedom WeekendNative Riponian becomes city’s fifth female mayor since 1604Warm welcome at evensong for new Bishop of RiponThe newly-appointed Bishop of Ripon received a warm welcome at a special choral evensong service yesterday.
For the Rt Revd Anna Eltringham the service, at which she and six others were installed as canons of the cathedral, provided an opportunity to meet for the first time with civic dignitaries from across the region and the cathedral’s clergy, choir and members of the congregation.
The service, attended by the Bishop of Leeds the Rt Rev Nick Baines and the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Ms Johanna Ropner, saw the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson carry out the installation ceremony in the quire (pictured below).
Bishop Anna’s consecration took place at York Minster in June, but she did not fully take up her new post until this month. when she and her family moved north from Surrey, where she was part of the Oxted team ministry in the Diocese of Southwark.
The Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Ms Johanna Ropner, pictured following yesterday’s service with the Bishop of Leeds the Rt Revd Nick Baines and the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson.
Bishop Anna, who studied business and anthropology at Durham University, said in April after her nomination was approved by Downing Street:
“I have felt drawn back to the north of England for a number of years and have a strong sense of God’s call to this particular role.
“God has laid a number of things on my heart in recent times, including a passion for climate-care and justice; care for the wellbeing of clergy and all God’s people; a vision for a church that serves as much beyond as within its buildings; and children and young people at the heart of it all.”
The Bishop of Ripon is one of five episcopal area bishops in the Church of England Diocese of Leeds and has responsibility for a large area, including the Yorkshire Dales and the towns of Ripon, Harrogate, Settle, Skipton, Wetherby and Richmond.
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Dignitaries gather for Ripon’s mayor making ceremony
Local dignitaries, alongside representatives from the Royal Engineers, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and North Yorkshire Police, gathered at Ripon Town Hall to see Councillor Sid Hawke elected as the city’s mayor for a third term in office.
Ripon City Council’s annual meeting and mayor making ceremony was held last week and this coming Sunday Cllr Hawke will be installed as mayor at a civic service to be held in Ripon Cathedral.
He will be accompanied by his wife Linda, who will be mayoress during his mayoral year.
Local dignitaries pictured during the mayor making Ceremony
Speaking following his election, Cllr Hawke, said:
“I am proud to be elected as the mayor of this wonderful city for a third time and thank my fellow councillors for their continuing confidence in me.
“I would also like to thank the many people who supported me throughout the past year, particularly in helping to raise thousands of pounds for my chosen charities Ripon Dementia Forward and Harrogate and District Mind.”
Born and bred in the city, Cllr Hawke is semi-retired and has previously served in the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in Ripon.
He was elected to represent the Ure Bank ward on Ripon City Council in 2002 and became mayor for the first time in 2008-2009.
His recently completed second mayoral year proved a busy one, including the Queen’s platinum jubilee in June, the mourning of Her Majesty’s death in September, the subsequent proclamation of King Charles III and coronation celebrations – all of which involved major civic events in Ripon.
On being elected as mayor for the third time, Cllr Hawke matches fellow Independent councillors Eamon Parkin and Pauline McHardy, both of whom served three terms in mayoral office.
At the mayor making event Cllr Parkin was elected to serve as Cllr Hawke’s deputy.
Main picture: The Mayor and Mayoress of Ripon Councillor Sid Hawke and his wife Linda (middle row, centre) with Serjeant at Mace, David Coates, councillors and the Dean of Ripon the very Revd. John Dobson, following the mayor making ceremony.
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More than 4,000 gather for Ripon’s Remembrance SundayMore than 4,000 people gathered at Spa Gardens and on nearby city streets, as Ripon remembered the dead of two world wars and other conflicts this morning.
Civic services were held at the war memorial and in Ripon Cathedral.
Spa Gardens, which like all other parts of the city was ablaze with thousands of red hand-knitted poppies created by the Ripon Community Poppy Project, provided a fitting backdrop for the ceremony at the memorial.
It was here that Andrew Cowie, president of the Ripon branch of the Royal British Legion, read out almost 400 names that appear on memorials at the gardens and in the cathedral.
Ripon’s civic Remembrance Sunday service attracted a large gathering in Spa Gardens and along city streets leading to the cathedral
Wreaths were laid by the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Eamon Parkin, Ripon councillor and chairman of North Yorkshire County Council Stuart Martin, other dignitaries and representatives of all branches of the armed forces and the emergency services.
Members of the Royal Engineers are pictured in Spa Gardens prior to the start of formal proceedings
More than 200 Royal Engineers from Claro Barracks, were present, alongside retired service men and women and members of the Ripon Branch of the Royal British Legion.
The service included hymns played by Ripon City Band and the Last Post played by a bugler, which preceded the two-minute silence.
A lament by a lone piper, was followed by a prayer read by the Dean of Ripon The Very Revd. John Dobson, for fallen soldiers, sailors, air crew and civilians, who laid down their lives in conflicts across the globe.
A prayer and a blessing were read out respectively, by the Dean of Ripon, and the Bishop of Ripon.
The ceremony concluded with the National Anthem and a blessing from the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt. Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley and was followed by a march past from Spa Gardens to the cathedral, where a Remembrance Service was held.
Soldiers of the Royal Engineers took the salute as they passed Ripon Town Hall en route to the cathedral service
The march past was led by the Royal Engineers – whose regiment has enjoyed the Freedom of the city since 1949 and continues to maintain a significant presence in Ripon.
Soldiers and all of those who followed behind them, were saluted, and applauded as they passed the town hall.
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