Urswick, Cumbria, held its annual Rushbearing Ceremony on the afternoon of Sunday 28 September 2025.   Although called rushbearing, reeds (Phragmites australis) gathered from the local tarn margins, rather than rushes (Juncus spp.) were carried.

This event has been carried out in its present form for about 120 years. People gathered at 1 p.m. to form a procession led by a brass band and walked through the village, stopping at three places to sing (almost inaudibly) hymns, before entering the parish church for a service.  During this popular hymns were (rather quietly) sung, and the sermon suggested that God not only created the world so that humankind was well provided for, but he also ensured that it was beautiful for our enjoyment.  At the end of this children placed their rushes on ‘unattended graves’ – no rushes were strewn on the church floor.

Afterwards people were ‘invited to stay for tea, coffee, orange juice and homemade gingerbread’ in the Parish Room.