Plough Sunday!

County Durham is a very agricultural area in Northeast England (see our earlier post on the Wolsingham Agricultural Show). There is a tradition here to start the new agricultural year on the Sunday after Epiphany by bringing a plough (not plow) to the local church for a blessing. In Durham, they take it up the hill to the Cathedral! Our friend Justin has participated for years and encouraged us to come along this year. So of course, we did!

They start outside of town and come in right by our local pub, Ye Olde Elm Tree, which is where we met them.

Justin took the lead in navigating it down the hill into town.

From there we went up to the Cathedral where the crowd grew, and the Morris dancing began!

They even invited some children to learn some basic Morris Dancing. Children and sticks, what could go wrong? (Actually, it was a bit of a disaster, but funny….)

People tie ribbons to the plough for good luck before it is blessed.

Then, the priest came out to lead the procession into the Cathedral for the Blessing of the Plough.

It all finished with a traditional sword dance.

Thank you Justin, for bringing us along to this unique cultural tradition in rural England! Happy Plough Day everyone!

11 comments

  1. What fun! Do carry on the tradition when you return to Rochester, brunch afterwards at the club, everyone bring your own ploughing!

  4. We needed plow (not ploughing) today!!!
    Miss you guys so
    glad u are taking advantage of local culture

  7. They still use an old fashioned ploug? Must be hard to push it up the hill!
    Looks like you had a great time sharing an old tradition with your new friends in Durham County.

  8. Love it! Made me think of waking up the groundhog with wooden spoons and pots in Essex CT as a child. Local traditionals like this are so beautiful!

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