The straight and narrow isn't what it used to be, the line of the land precipitous. When the farming folk of Masham gathered on Sunday evening to speed the plough, it was impossible not to suppose that it was struggling in first gear, uphill all the way.

Plough Sunday is traditionally the last in Epiphany, though the plough service is so old it may even be pre-Christian. Whilst in many areas it has been superseded, around Masham - North Yorkshire brewing country - the furrow remains.

Sharow, Winksley and Kirkby Malzeard had followed the plough service already, the latter not only attended by the newly styled Bishop of Ripon and Leeds but by the traditional sword dancers - symbolic, no doubt - who crowned the bishop accordingly. He is said to have coped admirably.

Masham's service outlives memory, though Basil Sturdy - cobbler, historian, local sage - remembered that a year or two after the war it was broadcast live on the North Home Service, or whatever in those days it was called.

"Enormous excitement, it was marvellous," adds Basil.

St Mary's is handsome, dating in part from the 12th Century, its spire - restored after a lightning strike in 1855 - dominant for many a mile.

The floodlit sight of it, perhaps, prompted the photographer to inquire if he'd ever told the story of how he was once thrown out of a church for nothing more sacrilegious than taking pictures.

Masham, happily, was altogether more welcoming, the parish magazine even promising "Refreshments of an interesting sort" at the end. Whilst entirely hospitable to The Northern Echo, folk in those parts are more concerned about whether it will be in the Darlington (and Stockton Times in unspoken parenthesis.)

Since presently there is no parish priest - Brian Abell, the recently retired incumbent, had proper reverence for Masham's brewed heritage as well as for its deep Christian roots - the service was led by Canon Leslie Morley, the diocesan Rural Officer, and by Elizabeth Clark, the Methodist minister.

Canon Morley's theme was from Psalm 126: "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

Firstly, however, a group of farmers had to guide the wheeled plough down centre aisle. Once, it's said, a village might only have had one plough and since the church was the only stone building, it was kept at the back with the churchwardens.

Now the whole thing's more symbolic. At Masham they also invite the minister to bless a churn and a fleece and to give a blessing to the animals. The beasts of the field, mercifully, had not been invited personally to attend.

Whilst the service may be traditional, however, the farming crisis is an everyday economic reality.

Canon Morley talked of the need to pray for the farming community in "these very anxious and difficult times", Elizabeth Clark prayed for those struggling to make a living, particularly tenants, those with large debts and those undermined by unfair competition.

They all said Amen to that.

On top of it all, of course, no one could remember a worse back end. For the first time, said Canon Morley, farmers were still ploughing on Plough Sunday and others who - at the end of January - had still found it impossible to bring the harvest home.

"Many tears have been shed this winter, perhaps not openly because that is not the farming community's disposition.

"It is a reminder to all of us of our dependence upon nature. It perhaps puts our human arrogance into perspective and reminds us our fragility."

A few days later, an NFU survey revealed that the average farmer's income is now just £100 a week.

The congregation of 120 or so included Lady Masham, whose family has greatly endowed the church over the centuries but is now itself diversifying into the hotel business.

We listened to the parable of the sower, sang Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, prayed for support groups like the Farmers Crisis Network and the Rural Stress Network and for bio-diversity.

"It must sometimes seem that the whole world is turning against you when all you are doing is trying to earn a decent living," says Canon Morley.

Though there were no sword dancers - something about being beaten into ploughshares came inexplicably to mind - the interesting refreshments included mulled wine and sausages. By the time that the bowl reached the column, however, all there was left was the stick.

Max Bygraves sang something similar about the end of a lollipop. Like the farmers, we plough on.

l Mrs Pru Keigwin, also at Masham, has asked us to mention the annual meeting of the northern branch of the Women's Food and Farming Union at Motel Leeming, off the A1, on March 21. "It's a link between the producer and the consumer, a very active lobbying group," says Mrs Keigwin. Details from her on 01765 689499.

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