A lovely sunny afternoon in May, and the Barnham end of the Blackbourne Team, with a few extras, head off to bless fields, seed, soil and water - and a few piggies along the way - for Rogation Sunday. We met at Barnham Church, where we said our first prayer of blessing, and then set off, crossing the main road very carefully! Oh, the power of holding up the traffic!

After a very short time we found ourselves walking on farmland, admiring the beautiful views as we went along. After a short stop to bless the stream as we crossed it - the only water we were going to pass - we carried on through areas which had an incredible history. I had expected the farming background, but had no idea about the testing of tanks during the First World War!

Not everyone was pleased to see us......!

We planned to walk about 4 miles, and halfway round we were more than ready for the coffee and squash that were provided - thank you ladies! After this break, we were offered the opportunity to take a slight detour to see the baby pigs! I think this was probably intended largely for the smaller members of the group, but I didn't see many adults turning down the offer!

Teeny tiny piggies!

Many of us, I suspect, would have stayed with these tiny creatures for hours. But time pressed on, and we set off for the second half of our walk, taking us back to Barnham. We stopped to bless the fields and the seed, and to admire the amazing blue skies we found ourselves walking beneath.

Blue, blue, blue skies.........

All too soon we found ourselves heading back to Barnham, and to a well earned tea. We were all fairly warm, and a little tired, but we had enjoyed ourselves and blessed all that required blessing. The walk also showed me once more, should I ever need reminding, just how lucky I am to live in this beautiful area!


Thanks go to all who arranged the walk, and to those who provided the refreshments. And well done to all the smaller members of our party, who managed to walk the whole distance!