Pioneering Ryedale vicar retires (From Gazette & Herald)
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Reverend Beryl Bowes retires from the Street parishes
10:15am Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News
The Rev Beryl Bowes who has retired from the Street parishes, pictured at St Helen’s Church, Amotherby
A RYEDALE vicar who was one of the first women to be ordained in the York Diocese has retired.
The Rev Beryl Bowes joined the Street parishes of Amotherby, Barton-le-Street, Appleton-le-Street, Slingsby, Hovingham, Coneysthorpe and Scackleton, eight years ago.
A former nurse, Rev Bowes said she decided to study theology while her children were small.
“My interest grew and I started to look at the various options I had, when the call came from God,” she said.
“It was at a time when changes were taking place and women could be ordained which opened up all sort of possibilities.”
Rev Bowes was among the first group of women ordained in the area before taking a position in West Hull.
She went on to become rector at Hull Royal Infirmary and then Wilberfoss, near York, before being approached to come to Ryedale.
“It is a lovely area and a very rural environment compared to other areas I had worked in so there was a lot of learning to do,” she said.
“My time here has been delightful. The people are lovely and the churches are all very different – I’ve loved the variety.”
A special united service was held at All Saints’ Church in Slingsby to mark her retirement followed by a lunch in the village hall.
The chairman of the Benefice Council, Keith Dixon, thanked the Rev Bowes for all her hard work, care and compassion and, as part of her retirement gift from the parishioners in the Street, presented her with the top of a sundial which had been specially engraved.
The Rev Bowes said she now hoped to spend more time with her four children and six grandchildren as well as her various hobbies including music and singing.
“I have made a lot of good friends here and we have worked really well as a team so I hope our lives will continue to be linked in some way,” she added. “Whoever takes the role of rector of the Street parishes should be prepared for hard work but they will also have a good time.”
