Canon David Purdy, one of Ryedale’s most known and respected clerics, is retiring.

He has been vicar of Kirkbymoorside’s All Saints’ Parish Church, St Mary’s, in Farndale, St Nicholas’s, in Bransdale, and St Andrew’s, in Gillamoor, for 14 years, but will be leaving the vast parish and its 4,000 population when he retires in the autumn.

Mansfield-born Canon Purdy, who later lived in York, started his long career in the ministry at New Marske in Teesside as a curate, then moved to Easterside, in Middlesbrough, before he got his first incumbency at St Mark’s, Newby, in Scarborough, in 1980.

After seven years in the Scarborough parish, he returned to Teesside to become vicar at Kirkleatham for eight years, before moving to Kirkbymoorside.

“It has been wonderful to work in such a lovely area,” said Canon Purdy.

But the downside of the idyllic parish has been the annual task of raising thousands of pounds for the York Diocesan Quota – currently £55,000 – on top of the usual running and maintenance costs of the churches, said Canon Purdy.

“But the churches are financed by congregations who are regular attenders and give generously,” he said. “The community is very supportive of its church, because people will always help, even though they may not be regular attenders.”

All Saints’ Sunday congregations number about 100, while those in the small, but widely scattered communities of Gillamoor and Farndale, have 15 each for their services. Bransdale’s famous church, serving 23 households, has only occasional services, but they are well-supported.

The congregation at Bransdale is renowned for the tea days in the summer months when tourists, many of them walkers, enjoy home-made cakes and pastries.

Canon Purdy has recognised the “added value” of the tourist industry to Ryedale, and the part the churches can play as attractions in themselves because of their history and their role as an oasis of peace.

Many of those holidaying in the area attend the church services, he says, which helps swell the collections.

And while All Saints’ has a buoyant congregation, other denominations too – the Methodists, Catholics and The Quakers – are well-supported by Kirkbymoorside’s 3,800 population.

“The church does seem to be replenishing itself which is very encouraging,” said Canon Purdy.

He and his wife, Angela, are planning walking, travelling in Europe and other parts of Britain, and visiting their family. Son Thomas, who has two children and a third due in June, and journalist daughter Alison, are among those they are keen to see more of. One of the most memorable services of his long career is still to be held – he will be performing the marriage of daughter Alison at All Saints’ in September.