Keen cathedral cyclists pedalled their way around the parish in a record breaking Ride and Stride event.

The team from Salisbury Cathedral represented the diocese in the nationwide Ride and Stride fundraising event held in September.

The ten strong team raised over £2000 on the day, half of which will go towards the cathedral repair fund and half towards the historic churches trust which awards grants churches with special maintenance needs.

Development manager Jilly Wright said: "This was a great effort on the part of our supporters and I can’t thank them enough. My job is to raise funds for vital repairs and conservation of Cathedral and every penny counts.

"We are currently working on the East end, which is the oldest and most damaged part of the Cathedral, and whilst work on a building like ours never stops, the end of this huge task is in sight."

The team’s challenge was to visit as many churches as possible with Cyclist Bruce Carter reaching an impressive 34 churches in the course of eight hours.

Cathedral Clerk of the Works and his son Harry notched of 30 churches in six hours and 20 minutes, beating his 2016 record of 27 churches in five-and-a-half hours.

Taking things as a slightly gentler pace were two teams taking on the challenge on foot. One, headed up by Natalie Downing, managed 10 churches in four hours covering a total of eight miles.

The second team, led by Canon treasurer Dr Robert Titley took five hours to reach 13 churches while walking more than 11 miles.

Development Officer Natalie said: “I’m so glad we managed to raise so much – and that the weather just about held. I think we got off comparatively lightly given the amount of rain we had that weekend, and everyone enjoyed the challenge.

"I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed their time and effort.”