It was early to rise and late to bed for the Bishop of Bradford as he enjoyed a taste of life across the district during a whistle-stop tour of his new diocese yesterday.

The Right Reverend Nick Baines was up at 3.30am on the longest day of the year to prepare for a sunrise climb up Pen-y-ghent in the Yorkshire Dales before ending the day at an old haunt in Bradford, with theological discussion with students, dry-stone walling and afternoon tea, in between.

And the former Area Bishop of Croydon admitted he had a lot to learn about his new diocese as he tries to get to grips with life and people across the district.

“It’s a big cultural change,” he said. “I had a mixture of urban and rural settings in Croydon, but I’ve got a lot to learn in Bradford, which is why I wanted an opportunity like this.”

Bishop Nick said his venture out of the city was not a one-off and he intended to get out and about.

“I’ll be spending two or three days in each of the deaneries,” he said.

“It works in lots of different ways and it can only be positive. I can learn so much."

Yesterday’s tour began with the Pen-y-ghent climb, lasting almost three hours in “horizontal” rain according to the bishop, before he had breakfast with farmers and then knocked down a dry-stone wall before putting it together again.

He also met a group of Asian women in Girlington who were learning to speak English and presented them with a chocolate and banana cake he had made himself.

Other activities for the day included negotiating the stepping stones at Bolton Abbey, talking to traders in Haworth High Street and a stop for tea at Bettys in Ilkley.

It was the first time Bishop Nick had been to the tea rooms, having turned down the chance years ago as the queue was too long.

He visited the Holme Wood estate in Bradford to chat to teenagers at the Salvation Army centre.

And last night, he was back on familiar territory with a visit to the Kashmir curry house in Bradford – a favourite when he was a student in the city.

  • Read the full story Wednesday’s T&A