Bishop takes to the road on big day
On one of the most important days of his life the new Bishop of Bath and Wells the Rt Rev Michael Beasley is choosing to spend some hours meeting some of the nearly 900,000 people who live in the diocese.
He will be installed as the 80th Bishop at Wells Cathedral on Saturday (November 12).
But in the morning he will set off from Bath and using lots of different forms of transport including an electric bike, tractor, bus, police car and a vintage lorry - will travel to Wells stopping on the way to meet as many local people as possible.
A phrase that has stuck with Bishop Michael from the service when he first became a bishop is ‘bishops know their people and their people know them.’ And he wants to make sure that he starts as he means to go on and makes links with local people whatever their beliefs.
He will set out on foot to catch the bus to Odd Down Park and Ride after morning prayers in Bath Abbey.
From there he will travel by car to Peasedown St John before swapping to an electric bike to ride through the village to the Hive Community Centre.
After meeting members of the local community the local PCSO will give Bishop Michael a lift in his police car to the White Post,
Stratton-on-the-fosse, where he will swap to a tractor to take him to meet staff at the Mulberry factory in Chilcompton.
For the final leg of the journey, local haulage firm Massey Wilcox will provide a vintage lorry to drop him back down to Wells in time to prepare for the service.
The timetable of his journey is as follows:
■ 8am -Bath Abbey prayers followed by walk to Bath city centre bus stop;
■ 9.15am - depart Bath city centre bus stop for Odd Down park and ride. Arrive 9.30am;
■ 10am - leave Odd Down Park;
■ 10.15am - arrive Peasedown St John. Bishop Michael will cycle through the village on an electric bike to the Hive Community Centre where he will meet members of the community who work at and visit the centre;
■ 11am - leave with local PCSO in police car;
■ 11.15am - arrive at the White Post, Stratton-on-the-fosse, and will transfer to a tractor;
■ 11.25am - arrive at the Mulberry Factory, Chilcompton where Bishop Michael will meet a delegation from the factory;
■ 12.10pm - pick-up by a driver from local haulage firm, Massey Wilcox, in one of its vintage lorries and driven back to Wells where to arrive in Sadler Street at 12.35pm and walk back through Market Place to the Bishop’s Palace to prepare for the service at 3pm.