| Where: | Ambleside, Cumbria - town centre |
| When: | 1st Saturday in July |
| Time: | 2.30 from the Primary School in Vicarage Road |
The Rushbearing at Ambleside is a traditional religious ceremony, associated with the replacing of floor rushes in the church; such ceremonies are now rare and the one at Ambleside is a popular community event. Flower-covered variously-shaped rush structures called Bearings are paraded through the town to the accompaniment of a brass band; once the Market Place is reached, the Bearings are raised in the air and the Ambleside Rushbearing Hymn is sung before the procession carries on to St Mary’s Church by about 3.15. Gingerbread is distributed after the short church service, and there are childrens sports and a Fell Race later in the day.
Helpful Hints
Parking in the centre is limited – try for one of the car parks on the edge.
In 2024 it should take place on Saturday 6th July (check Facebook link below for details).
Anyone can join in the procession as long as they carry a Rushbearing of rushes and flowers.
Click here to find out more : https://www.amblesideonline.co.uk/useful-information/local-events/rushbearing/
and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Ambleside-Rushbearing-1461511630756758/
When I was a girl growing up in Ambleside, I took part in that wonderful ceremony The Rushbnearing. We meandered through Ambleside, ending up at the Market Place where we sang the traditional song when the master of ceremonies called out, “Raise your bearings.” Then we sang: “Our fathers to the house of God, as yet a building rude, bore offerings from the flowery sod, and fragrant rushes strood. May we their children n’eer forget the pious lesson given, and honor still, together met, the Lord of Earth and Heaven.” Then we took our bearings to St/ Mary’s Church, Ambleside. The church was filled with the flowers and oh that scent! Afterwards, as we left the church, we got a slice of gingerbread which then my father had baked. He was the village baker, Jim the Baker. May we their children n’er forget? Never.
Thanks for sharing your memories here, Audrey. It’s the sort of thing you remember for a lifetime.Long may it continue!
Kind Regards,
Averil
When on holiday in the Lake District from Germany in 1974, my wife and I witnessed a rushbearing ceremony in Grasmere, where we were staying for a fortnight. It was, I think, the first Sunday in July, and it was a ceremony utterly new and exciting to us. The streets near the churchyard and towards the church were strewn with rushes, in some places there were carpets of rushes, interwoven with bright flowers, and there was a lot of merrymaking, bands playing and people singing, until the procession moved to the church. I remember thinking how de-lighted William Wordsworth and S.T. Coleridge, lying under their stone slabs in the churchyard, would have been to witness this old tradition played out a stone’s throw from their graves. An experience that has lasted me almost half a century now. – By the way, we loved Ambleside at lot, too, especially the pottery there,
many of whose artifacts are still extant and admired in our apartment.
Best wishes, yours Lothar and Ingeborg Schwarz
Hi Lothar and Ingeborg,
Thanks for sharing your happy memories of the Lake District and its customs- Grasmere and Ambleside are both such beautiful places. We live on the opposite side of the country, but it’s near enough for a day trip and when I was growing up we visited Cumbria often, as it was a favourite destination for my parents (they spent their honeymoon at Pooley Bridge on Ullswater and loved to go back there too). If you follow the link to the Grasmere Rushbearing page on this site at https://calendarcustoms.com/articles/grasmere-rushbearing/ (or just put Grasmere in the search box) you’ll find some photographs of the ceremony just a few years ago, with a short video – then you can see if it’s changed much since your visit!
best wishes,
Averil
I was part of this amazing ceremony .In 1966 I carried one of the banners, the Harp with rushes from Lake Windermere.I am aged 75 and born in Bownes-On- Windermere and attended Ambleside Primary School.
There is a rusbearing mural in the local church,also one in Patterdale church.
There was always a sports day on the following Monday with sack races, egg and spoon and fell run up Loughrigg
Thanks for sharing your recollections of Ambleside Rushbearing Peter,
Sounds like it made a lasting impression- let’s hope it keeps going for a long time so that lots of other children can have happy memories like this!
Best wishes,
Averil