Airton

Quaker Services: Quakers in Airton have regular quiet meetings for worship every Sunday at 2pm in the ancient Quaker Meeting House by the Green on Calton Lane. Worship lasts for an hour. All are welcome. Refreshments in the Barn follow each meeting. Drop-in art and craft sessions are held every Thursday 10am to 2pm, and everyone is welcome. The Meeting House is open every day of the week. There is also bunk barn accommodation for up to 12 people, and meeting space may be hired. For more, email airtonbarn@gmail.com or call 01729 900018.

Austwick

Church News: Thursday, March 28 (Maundy Thursday) – 6.30pm Eldroth Last Supper; Friday, March 29 – 2pm Good Friday Devotions at Austwick. Sunday March 31 (Easter Day) 9.30am Austwick Easter Day Holy Communion; 9.30am Elroth Easter Day Holy Communion (TBC) 11am Easter Day Holy Communion Clapham. 4pm Keasden Short Easter Service and Easter Egg Hunt.

Events and meetings: Austwick Street Market & Cuckoo Festival needs volunteers for street market entrances, collecting money as people enter the village. Contact email janheap@hotmail.co.uk

Austwick WI: Meets in Austwick Parish Hall on the second Thursday of the month and all are welcome.

Bolton Abbey

Rector’s message: This Sunday we celebrate Easter Day. It is a time of great joy and hope for us all. Just three days ago, all seemed lost when Christ was crucified. But, just three days later, Christ is raised from the dead giving hope to us all. This year we are reminded from the Gospel of Mark that, not only has Christ been raised from the dead but that he has “gone before us to Galilee”. Today on Easter Sunday, through mutual encounter with the living Christ, we are called into a new future – to build the Kingdom of God here on earth. Although this work has already begun there is much still to be done. As we renew our work, we can, again, proclaim with confidence ‘Christ is risen, Alleluia’.

Church news: The extra services during Holy Week are on Good Friday at 7pm The Eucharist of the Last Supper with Footwashing and Watch after the Blessed Sacrament until 9pm. On Good Friday there will be a children’s service, hopefully outside, with hot cross buns and an Easter egg hunt. At noon the Three Hour Devotion, including the Liturgy of Good Friday, you may come and go as you wish during this service.

Bolton Abbey Village Hall: Annual general meeting will be held on April 24 at 4.30pm in the hall. Everyone is encouraged to come to see and understand how the village hall works and encouraged to ask questions. There will be a cup of tea/coffee from 4pm.

Bradley

Bradley Methodist Church: On Good Friday hymns, prayers and quiet reflection will be held at 10.30am. Afterwards tea, coffee and hot cross buns will be available to be enjoyed. Easter Sunday Service with Communion will begin at 10.30am. Tuesday, April 2, is when soup and sandwiches will be served between 11.30am and 1.30pm at a cost of £4. Monthly coffee morning is on Saturday, April 6, between 10am and 11.30am.

Coniston Cold and Bell Busk

St Peter’s Church Coniston Cold: On Easter Sunday there is a service of BCP Holy Communion at 9.30am to which all are welcome. This is a prayer book service with readings, prayers, hymns, a short sermon, and communion. St Peter’s Church services are normally at 9.30am on the second and fourth Sunday of each month (BCP Holy Communion), and at 4pm on the first and third Sunday of each month (Compline Evensong). For any enquiries about weddings, baptisms, or funerals please contact Rev Andrew Steer on andrew.steer@leeds.anglican.org

Earby

All Saints’ Church: On Saturday, March 30, we are holding a short service of light for Easter Eve at 7pm. On Sunday March 31, Communion for Easter Sunday is at 9.30am, followed by refreshments. Everyone welcome.

Farnhill and Kildwick

Farnhill Parish Council: The next meeting of the parish council will be held tonight (Thursday 28), starting at 7.30pm. The first 15 minutes of the meeting will be set aside for public participation. All members of the village are welcome to attend.

St Andrew’s Church: There will be a Good Friday service starting at 2pm tomorrow (29); an Easter Communion service using the Book of Common Prayer on Sunday (31), starting at 8am; and an All-Age service of Holy Communion, starting at 11.am, also on Sunday. St Andrew’s is open to visitors on most days, when the building is not in use, from about 10am until about 2pm.

Farnhill & Kildwick Institute 2025 Calendar Competition: The competition to find photographs of the two villages for inclusion in the 2025 calendar is now open. See the calendar page on the Institute’s website for details.

Gargrave

St Andrew’s Church: Maundy, Thursday, March 28, 7pm Holy Communion Service with stripping of altars; Good Friday, March 29, 2pm, Reflective Service; Easter Sunday, March 31, 11am Easter Day Communion.

Upcoming events: March 30 Craft & Chat Coffee Morning 10am-12:30pm; Saturday, April 6, Auction of Promises, 2pm-4pm, at Coulthurst Lodge, Markhouse Lane. Bid by silent auction for a range of events including fabulous dinner party, afternoon tea, gardening advice, round of golf, a celebration cake and more. Complimentary cheese and wine served. All welcome. Proceeds to St Andrew’s Church.

Flea Market and Craft Fair: Broadway Fairs will be hosting the Easter Sunday event village hall, from 9.30am-3.30pm. Light refreshments available until 3pm. There will be lots of stalls selling a great selection of items ranging from collectables, bric a brac, books, gifts, jewellery, jigsaws and crafts. Admission 50p. Please bring along cash as most stallholders do not have the facility for card payments. Further enquiries please call Sheila on 01757 229805.

Giggleswick

St Alkelda’s Church: The events of Holy Week reach their climax in the next few days. This evening (Thursday) there is a service of Holy Communion at Settle Parish Church, remembering the Last Supper Jesus had with his disciples. On Friday morning the Journey to the Cross will be enacted in four scenes around Settle, beginning at St John’s Methodist Church at 10.30am. After its conclusion, at Settle Parish Church, Giggleswick with Settle Mothers’ Union will serve hot drinks and hot cross buns. At 6pm there is a service in St Alkelda’s using music from the Taize tradition. On Easter Day the 8am service of Holy Communion takes place once again, and is followed by another at 9.30am when the Easter hymns will be sung. Come and join in this celebration and enjoy the refreshments and fellowship that follow.

Grassington

Grassington Town Hall: Friday, April 12, 5.30pm, magic show with Rob Hutchinson, suitable for children age four-ten with a magic show, balloon modelling & more. Tickets £5 (children only). Friday, April 19, at 7.30pm, Grease sing-a-long. Grease-inspired cocktails, a Rockin’ Rydell Costume Contest and lots more fun. Tickets £5 from grassingtondevonshireinstitute.org or ticketsource Weekly What’s On: We have about 20 different sessions running weekly for all ages and interests. Tai Chi, indoor bowls, pilates, kids dance and music theatre, lunch club, arts and horticultural activities.

Grassington Hub: Coffee morning Settle Wildlife & Hedgehog Rescue, Saturday, March 30. Church House, 9am-noon. Grassington Hub Community Cinema present Oppenheimer on Written for the screen and directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer thrusts audiences into the mind of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), whose landmark work on the Manhattan Project created the first atomic bomb. Saturday, April 27, doors open 6pm, film starts 6.30pm, at The Octagon Grassington. Tickets £5 are available in advance from Grassington Hub, Ticketsource.co.uk or at the door. Grassington Singers and Buckden Singers present: Upper Wharfedale Spring Sing. Ticket price includes refreshments. Grassington Town Hall, Sunday, April 28, 3pm. Tickets £12 from the Hub or online at ticketsource.co.uk. Nidderdale Community Orchestra Spring Concert. Music from Dvorak, Vaughan-Williams, Bizet, Britten and others. Includes a special performance of The Nidderdale Suite which is a mixture of composition and recorded sound from the local environment. Grassington Town Hall, Sunday, May 19, 6pm. Adult £8, Student £5, 12 years and under free. Tickets available from Nidderdale Plus, Grassington Hub and online at ticketsource.co.uk. Grassington Hub Daytime Activities: Monday, 2pm-4pm Knit n Natter. Drop in, no need to book, free. Thursday 1.30pm-3.30pm Family History at Grassington Hub. Drop in, no need to book, free. Events are free, but donations towards refreshments would be welcomed. Call the Hub on 01756 752222 for more information.

Kelbrook

St Mary’s Church: On Sunday March 31, Communion for Easter Sunday is at 11am. Everyone welcome.

Kirkby Malham

Church News: On Maundy Thursday (28) at 7pm there is a service of Holy Communion to help us reflect on the events of Holy Week, and then on Easter Day (31) at 10am we will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus with great joy. Church will be beautifully decorated with flowers, and the music group will be playing. Do come and join us, everyone is welcome. St Michael’s is open from 9am to dusk every day of the year, and facilities for visitors to make themselves a hot drink and information about the interesting history of our 15th Century church are available. There are resources for prayer in the Lady Chapel which visitors are welcome to use. We welcome enquiries about Weddings, Baptisms (Christenings), and Funerals; for more information please see our website https://www.kirkbymalhamchurch.org or contact Revd Sue on sue.mcwhinney@leeds.anglican.org

Hellifield

Wesley Centre: There will be a drop-in lunch today from noon. A warm space will be held tomorrow, 1pm-3pm, and the community pantry is open, 2pm-3pm. The Easter Sunday service will be from 2pm.

Hellifield House: Bingo will be held this Sunday at Hellifield House. Children’s Bingo from 4pm and adults from 6.30pm. The Slimming World group meets on Mondays at 7 pm.

Institute events: Line dancing on Fridays, 1pm-3pm. Contact Jane on 07971 656461 for details. Coffee Morning this Saturday from 10am. Heli arts meet on Tuesday, April 2, 2pm-4pm. The Mothers’ Union will meet on Wednesday, April 3, 2pm-4pm, in the Institute Yorke Room. The Games Session is held on Wednesdays in the Main Hall, 2pm-4pm. For board games and cards. Messy Monkeys is held on Wednesday, from 10.30am. Phone Amanda Belt on 07398 284126. The Craft Group meets on Thursday, April 4, 1pm-4pm in the Institute Yorke Room. Phone Carol on 01729 851660.

Horton-in-Ribblesdale

Church news: A huge thanks to everyone for giving up their time to make and bake for the recent St Oswald’s Marmalade Festival. £445 was raised on the Saturday and almost the same on the Sunday. With home deliveries the total reached an amazing £838. People seemed to enjoy the lovely coffee, cakes and biscuits too and catching up with friends and neighbours, old and young. There was also an impromptu organ recital by Dr Francis Ashworth, organist at St Mary’s RC Church, Burnley. He and his family were training for the 3 Peaks Challenge in May. Another group led by Andy Eastham of Longridge played jazz on the piano and on the Sunday some students from Prague heard singing and ventured into church during the last hymn. The group was on a day trip to the Dales by train from York University. Thanks to Gillian and Linda Parrington for creating this now annual event and inspiring everyone to make and bake too.

The villagers and congregation of St Oswald’s were very sad to learn of the recent death of Shirley Pate MBE. Shirley, nee Morphet, lived at High Birkwith Farm and she funded the alterations to the Lady Chapel at St Oswald’s in memory of the Morphets. The Lady Chapel is now a space for quiet with chairs and carpet rather than pews, and information to inspire prayers on the table. Shirley married and lived at Redmire in Wensleydale where she was a member of the Deanery Synod, and later moved to Oxfordshire to be nearer family. Thanks are extended to everyone who has donated funds to purchase lilies in memory of loved ones or arranging flowers and pedestals in church for Easter. The names of those remembered will be on display by the alter pedestal. Thanks also to anyone who has provided eggs for the Easter egg hunts.

The cross will be carried through the village on Good Friday. Please meet at the pavilion on the playing fields at noon for the procession through the village to St Oswald’s where there will be prayers and readings and hot cross buns to follow.

Don’t forget to change the clocks on Saturday night, spring them forward by one hour.

A service of Holy Communion will be held in St Oswald’s on Easter Sunday at 11am.

Rev Canon Ian Greenhalgh will be undertaking a sponsored cycle ride/run on April 19 and 20. It will mark the tenth anniversary of the diocese of Leeds and also will be Ian’s 75th birthday. Together with his son Tom, they will be cycling and running 75 miles to raise money for the work of the churches in the Bowland Ewecross Deanery.

Long Preston

Long Preston Parish Council and Annual Parish Meeting: Takes place on Thursday, April 4, at 8pm in Long Preston Village Hall. All registered electors are welcome to attend and participate. This meeting is preceded by the ordinary parish council meeting at the earlier than usual time of 6.30pm. Time is given at the start of the meeting for electors to ask questions or make statements that relate to the work of the council. The notice and agenda for both these meetings is posted on the parish notice boards and on the parish council website.

Martons Both Thursday, March 28 - Maundy Thursday 7pm.     All Saints’ Church, Broughton -Holy Communion (stripping of the altar and “The Watch” until 8.30. p.m.)

Friday, March 29  Good Friday 9.15 am.     St Mary’s Church, Thornton-in-Craven      The Good Friday Liturgy (followed by Stations of the Cross); 10.45 am.     St Peter’s Church, East Marton  The Good Friday Liturgy. 

Sunday, March 31 - Easter Day 9.15 am.     St Mary’s Church, Thornton-in-Craven       Holy Communion; 10.45 am St Peter’s Church, East Marton     Holy Communion 5pm.    All Saints’ Church, Broughton    Holy Communion. 

Settle

Settle Parish Church: Last Wednesday evening we were pleased to welcome Rt Rev Anna Eltringham, Bishop of Ripon, who led the final plenary session of Ewecross and Bowland Deanery’s well attended, informative series of Lent Meetings. The four speakers from previous weeks, Dr Colin Renwick (retired, local GP), Jonathan Kerr (Strategic Officer, Age UK, North Craven), Gareth Whitaker (Headteacher, Settle College) and Leon Fijalkowski (Director, Pioneer Projects) joined Bishop Anna as she reflected on how as Christians we might engage more fully with the issues of concern – health, ageing, young people and wellbeing – in our local, very rural community. She mentioned research involving populations in the “Blue Zones” across the world from California to Japan where community, faith, lifestyle – diet and exercise – have helped increase longevity and quality of life. Here in North Craven it may be possible to ensure that we maximise the benefits of our surroundings so that all ages of the population receive support to maximise their life expectancy and quality of life. Last Friday afternoon the church was packed with children from Settle Primary School, their teachers and families as the school’s Collective Worship team retold the Easter Story at their end of term service.

Followers and supporters of Settle Orchestra came along to Holy Ascension and enjoyed a wonderful programme of music on Saturday afternoon. Their Colombian Conductor, Maca Barbosa, studying for a Masters Degree at Royal Northern College of Music, introduced music from her homeland which apparently had presented some challenges in style for our local musicians. However their performance was amazing and the perfect tonic for a damp Spring day in the Dales.

We look forward to their summer concert on Saturday, June 29, at 7.30pm.

Palm Sunday saw the congregations of the Castleberg Benefice walking from Holy Ascension through Settle to St Alkelda’s for a dramatic reading of the Passion and service of Holy Communion. Sadly we didn’t have a donkey to lead the procession with Rev Julie Clarkson but 2 friendly dogs joined instead.

Tonight, Thursday March 28, Rev Julie Clarkson leads the Maundy Thursday Service and Vigil at 7.30pm. Settle’s Good Friday, Passion Play, ‘The Journey to the Cross’ begins at St John’s Methodist Church with scenes from The Last Supper at 10.30am then moves on to the Millennium Gardens (Garden of Gethesemane), Settle Market Square and ends in Holy Ascension graveyard.

Afterwards coffee and Hot Cross Buns will be served in church for cast and folk who have followed the play around the town. Later at 2pm on Good Friday, Rev Julie will lead a meditation following the Stations of the Cross around the church. And for a quiet reflective time there will be a Taizé Service at St Alkelda’s, Giggleswick at 6pm. On Holy Saturday, Holy Ascension has a Service of Light at 7.30pm which will start outside the Church doorway.

Rev Julie leads the Churches Together in Settle and District “Sunrise” Service at 7am on Easter Day. This will take place on the grassy area behind the Friends Meeting House. Afterwards early risers are invited to join the Friends for breakfast. Do join us for the Easter Day Parish Communion at 11am for this very special celebration.

Skipton

Easter Services at Christ Church Skipton and St Mary’s Carleton: Thursday, March 28, 7.30pm: Holy Communion followed by Vigil until 9pm ending with a short Compline at St Mary’s. Following the Communion Service there will be a time of silent reflection until 9pm; people are free to stay for as long as they wish and may leave quietly at any time. Friday, March 29, 3pm, Stations of the Cross at Christ Church; 7.30pm Service of Readings & Hymns at Christ Church. Saturday, March 30, at 7.30pm, Easter Vigil Service at Christ Church (this includes the Fire, lighting of the Easter Candle, the Vigil and the Renewal of Baptism Vows). Easter Sunday Services Sunday, March 31, at 9.30am, Eucharist at Christ Church, 11.15am Holy Communion at St Mary’s. Organ Recital Monday, April 1, at 11am, soloist Robert Marsh, organist at Christ Church, Skipton. Refreshments from 10.30am. Wednesday, April 3, at 9.30pm Eucharist.

Skipton RBL: This year on June 6 will mark the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings. The operation began the liberation of France and the rest of Western Europe and laid the foundations of the Allied Victory on the Western Front. Events are taking place in Skipton to mark the occasion which will be advertised closer to the date. Whilst there is no formal wreath laying at the War Memorial some people may wish to purchase a Wreath with the D-Day 80 Wreath Badge. To purchase this, you can order this wreath on 0300 123 9110. We now have the final figures for the 2023 Poppy Appeal. In the area we raised £35,000. We were slightly short of this figure but a branch member made a donation to take the total up to the final figure. I thank everyone for their generous support. Businesses and schools who obtained a poppy box will have received a thank you card giving the amount collected. Your support will make a big difference to those in the Armed Forces Community.

Thornton-in-Lonsdale

St Oswald’s Church: Has visiting vicars and speakers to take services commencing at 9.30am every Sunday during their interregnum. Maundy Thursday, March 28, Easter 7pm team service at St Oswald’s Church. Easter Sunday, March 31, 9.30am at St Oswald’s Church. The PCC of St Oswald’s Church would like to thank all who supported their church jumble sale which raised £665.55. St Oswald’s is holding a gift day on Saturday, April 6, from 10am to 4pm. Other fund raising events are planned to help maintain this historic Grade II* listed building throughout the year. All support gratefully received.