A centuries-old custom is being revived in Maughold on Sunday 17th January to help support and promote Manx farmers and their produce in the community.

Members of the public are being called to 'Plough Sunday' at Kirk Maughold Parish Church, and, if they make the journey with an unusual mode of transport, be it a tractor, pony and trap or a skateboard, stand to win a prize in an unusual competition!

Traditionally, Plough Sunday – the first Sunday after the Epiphany – saw a plough brought into church to be blessed before cutting the first furrows of the new season.

The new farming year is thought not to have been celebrated in Maughold in living memory.  Practices have changed and the winter ploughing now starts long before January.

Now, however, the custom has been revived in many places, partly as a way of supporting agriculture, and partly as a way of encouraging people to think about the environment.

Plough Sunday marks the start of a year in which Kirk Maughold will be running a‘Back to Basics’ campaign, exploring Christian roots in the parish, re-establishing connections with the farming community and working out what it can do to help reduce the impact of global warming.

Acting Priest-in-charge, the Reverend Ian Faulds, said that Plough Sunday represents a real opportunity, at a time of great change for Manx agriculture, for people to say ‘I loveManx’ – and get closer to the real countryside.

The Service of Prayer, Dedication and Blessing is for all who are involved in, or concerned for, agriculture on the Isle of Man.

The Plough Sunday service on 17th January begins at 10.30 a.m but if you wish to enter the competition, please arrive no later than 10.15am.  The service will feature local farmers and an address by John Kennaugh.  There will be a delicious Manx Ploughman’s Lunch served in the Church Hall after the service.