This was Finn McKenzie’s first year attempting the challenge of the Bike Ride and here is the story of his day.
I cycled with my dad, on behalf of Banningham St. Botolph where my grandma is an active member of the parish and where my Grandad and Uncle are buried. Grandma drummed up support for our cause throughout the village and with family and friends.
We started off from Banningham and headed toward Trimingham, visiting 7 churches along the way. Although my dad is not as into visiting churches as I am, he was full of stories at many of the churches we visited, including marriages, baptisms, and funerals. We stopped off at the grand tower of Southrepps where he was once a best man (and where I left my water bottle)!
We left Trimmingham journeying to Trunch, where we were greeted by a lovely group of volunteers. They offered us hot drinks, snacks, and a new water bottle for me. Trunch was certainly the friendliest church we visited on our ride, where we spoke to another cyclist who insisted we visit Mundesley, so we headed back up toward the coast to see the sea.
Meandering through Knapton, Paston and Bacton, we made our way up the hill to Edingthorpe. Speeding along the narrow back lanes to the church, my dad was stung on the lips by a Wasp! The closer we got the more swollen his lips became…
After speaking to the volunteers at Edingthorpe we raced to our lunch break at North Walsham, stopping at the pharmacy for some advice and Lidl for some lunch. Dad decided that he couldn’t stop now since we were only halfway through, so soldiered on.
We ventured down to the Bure Valley, having an extended stay at the picturesque riverside church at Lammas, where we were greeted by some friendly horses. Cycling along the river toward Aylsham, we stopped at the Round Tower churches of Brampton and Tuttington.
At Aylsham we were greeted by a lovely gent who offered us biscuits and told us about the year he did 50 churches!
We visited a handful more churches before returning to Banningham, where we finished our day, having reached our goal of visiting 30 churches!
We do hope that Finn and his dad enjoyed their first bike ride, and we thank him for sharing his story with us.
If you would like to share the story of your day, and some photographs, please do send them to info@norfolkchurchestrust.org.uk
