 After a spell as a tutor at Wells Theological College he held Lancastrian incumbencies at Atherton and Walton-on-the-Hill before his elevation to the Episcopate.After eight years in Zimbabwe he returned to England to be Rector of Bishopwearmouth and Assistant Bishop of Durham before his Lichfield appointment in 1975.Eight years later he gave notice of his resignation but continued to serve the church as an honorary assistant bishop within the Sheffield and Derby dioceses until his death on 30 July 2003.