The third national Cathedrals Cycle Relay was launched at Bradford Cathedral on Saturday 24th May 2025, as twenty-five cyclists set off on the twenty-mile journey to Wakefield Cathedral via Dewsbury Minster.
The relay, which was first held in 2021 and 2022, launched in Bradford this time around to mark the UK City of Culture year, with a special opening event. In attendance were the cyclists, members of the public, and invited guests, including the newly installed Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Mohammed Shafiq.
The opening event began with a piece of music performed by Kenneth Wilson, the Pilgrim Cellist, who is performing his ‘Meditation on the Seven Last Words of Jesus’ at forty Cathedrals, cycling between them on his specially adapted cargo bike. He performed at Bradford Cathedral on the previous afternoon, but returned to play two more pieces on Saturday morning.
“i should have said that this is my first visit to Bradford, and I’m mightily impressed, and if I didn’t live in God’s own country in rural Cumbria I would like to live in Bradford!”
Following this introduction, Dr Shaun Cutler – creator of the routes, which came out of his PhD project – introduced the Cathedrals Cycle Route, and his daughter – Hannah – talked about how the baton was created. Hannah would later cycle with the baton to Wakefield Cathedral, which is being taken all the way around the country, being handed on to representatives of each Cathedral.
Shaun opened the event by saying: “I just want to say thank you to everybody. It is an absolute privilege to be here and an honour to be part of the Bradford City of Culture program as well.
“[The route] continues to be a fantastic snapshot of England, our cathedrals, [the] countryside in-between, our heritage, our religion, our spirituality, and, of course, the people as well.
“It’s had the absolute privilege of spending a night at each Cathedral. It’s rested on altars and king’s graves, but the whole principle of it everyone reaching out and it’s founded by a phrase actually said by Joe Biden that ‘sometimes you need a hand and other times you’re called to lend a hand’.
“I think that signifies the Cathedrals Cycle Route.”
The complete journey is around 2000 miles, and Shaun talked about there being fifty people who have, so far, cycled the whole thing, with over £250,000 raised for good causes by those who have cycled and asked for donations.
Hannah Cutler said of the baton: “It’s quite interesting because… the Cathedrals Cycle Route was founded during COVID times, at a point where everyone felt so close to each other, but really couldn’t be close. So we based it off the principle of a real baton, something that people pass from hand-to-hand, to each other.
“I sculpted two hands – one old, one young, [showing] that everyone contributed, everyone helped out, which was really what COVID at the time signified and what the Cathedrals Cycle Route really signifies.”
Next to speak was Dan Bates, Executive Director of Bradford 2025 – who had earlier taken time to speak to those gathered about the year so far – who gave some background to the City of Culture, including the Bradford Progress which had taken place the weekend before.
“That was a real example of how the City of Culture is reaching people: it’s bringing people to our district but it’s also helping celebrate everyone and every aspect of our district as well, so it was a really moving event.”
He went on to talk about the newly opened ‘Wild Uplands’ exhibition on Penistone Hill, the Bantam of the Opera project (in which the Dean of Bradford is involved) and the new train service launched earlier that week.
“For us it’s about pride and the perception of Bradford. We want people in Bradford to feel proud about being from [the District].”
Dan then lit the first of two candles (one emblazoned with the Bradford 2025 logo) and then, following a second piece by Kenneth Wilson (who then left to cycle to Wakefield Cathedral for his 2pm performance there), the Very Revd Andy Bowerman, Dean of Bradford, got up to speak, and told about a previous cyclist pilgrimage he did and a promise that he was now exploring doing the entire Cathedrals Cycle Route with his son, potentially over three weeks!
“I think this morning I’ve just found the next pilgrimage, just in the few moments beforehand when I was thinking – ‘okay, how far is it actually between these 42 cathedrals?’.
“I’m slightly competitive so I did then say ‘what’s the quickest anybody’s done those 42 cathedrals’ and within a few minutes of sending you on your way I’ll be WhatsApp-ing my son in Dubai and saying: “Son, I’ve got the next pilgrimage ready for us – it’s going to take just under 3 weeks!”
Finally, the Rt Revd Dr Toby Howarth, Bishop of Bradford, came to wrap up the opening event, thanking Kenneth Wilson and the Lord Mayor, and talking about the importance of pilgrimage in the Christian faith before lighting the Cathedrals Cycle Route candle and giving a blessing to those heading off on the first leg.
“I think pilgrimage picks up on the word that came out of the hymn which was just played for us on the cello, which is grace (from ‘Amazing Grace’). You probably recognised it, and for me pilgrimage is about grace. It’s about being able to travel together and pick up people on the way, and not be plagued by guilt, or shame, or whatever, but actually find these wonderful places in in the middle.”
After a quick photo call, the cyclists set off from Bradford Cathedral towards Wakefield, arriving at Dewsbury Minster two hours later at 1:30pm for a quick refreshment and comfort break, before resuming thirty-minutes later and arriving at Wakefield just after 3pm, where the baton was handed over to the Revd Canon Dr Kathryn Goldsmith, Canon Precentor at Wakefield Cathedral, and the cyclists enjoyed some much needed refreshment, as well as receiving their medals to mark the completed leg.
We’d like to pass on our thanks to all those who contributed to the opening event and to all those who cycled. The relay now continues around the country – having left Wakefield for Sheffield Cathedral on the Sunday morning – with riders returning to Bradford Cathedral on Saturday 5th July as the circuit is completed.
You can find out more about the Cathedrals Cycle Relay on the Association of English Cathedrals website and you can find details of all the legs on the Cycling UK website. You can also find the upcoming dates and times for the Pilgrim Cello meditations on Kenneth Wilson’s website.
You can read more about our section of the relay on Kenneth Wilson’s blog: