THE Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, has cycled through all 14 deaneries in his diocese in a single day, pausing in each one to preach, pray, or take a school assembly — an 80-mile feat of endurance which he described on Monday as “fabulous fun”.

He was raising awareness and funds for the Bishop’s Harvest Appeal. Proceeds will go to projects in the link diocese of Free State in South Africa; it is hoped that these will exceed last year’s appeal total of £23,000.

Each stage of the ten-hour “Pedal-along”, which Bishop North undertook with the diocesan HR manager, Andy Cooke, was meticulously timed. The pair started at St Luke’s, Slyne, with Hest, in Tunstall deanery, at 8 a.m. on Saturday, and via those of Lancaster and Morecambe, Garstang, Poulton, Blackpool, Kirkham, Preston, Leyland, Chorley, Blackburn with Darwen, Whalley, Accrington, and Burnley, finished at St Anne’s, Fence, in Pendle deanery.

Along the way, each area dean had written a prayer for the Bishop to convey to the next deanery. Parishes and schools were encouraged to organise their own “pedal-along” and to post their own pictures of the ride on social media.

Philip NorthBishop North is welcomed to his final stop, Fence St Anne in Pendle, with a glass of whisky

“It was a long way, and very hard work — much harder than I expected. I’d barely been on my bike since July,” Bishop North said. “But to see the whole diocese in one cycle ride was wonderful, and the warmth of the welcome hugely encouraging.

“In one place, every child in the school had made a South African flag, and there were 100 of these waving as we rode in. People in Blackburn are very supportive of the project, and amazingly generous.”

The hardest leg of the route, he said, had been the last stretch, which took the pair into the terrain around Pendle Hill — “a long, long, steep cycle in traffic, and very, very hilly”. He paid tribute to Mr Cooke: “Alan is a real cyclist, a proper cyclist. But he had this horrible habit of starting a conversation at the top of the hill, when you just wanted to die.”

They were greeted at Fence with “large glasses of Glenmorangie”. Donations to the appeal could be made in many ways, including en route as the support vehicle carried a contactless giving machine. “We’re shameless,” he agreed. “Absolutely shameless.”

He will be able to see footage of the whole ride, on video captured by the Go-Pro camera on his helmet.