'Taking my dog inside cathedral was lovely'
Hazel IsgateA cathedral which has started welcoming dogs inside says it is changing with the times.
Durham Cathedral opened its doors to pet pooches on 18 November on a trial basis, until 31 March.
Chief visitor officer Andrew Usher said the move was to help everybody "feel welcome".
Hazel Isgate, who moved to Durham three years ago, said she had taken her dog Wilson to the church last week and "it was just lovely to do together at long last".
She said she had been to the cathedral several times with her husband but her partner had always had to wait outside while she visited the church.
"But then you feel guilty, so you are rushing around because somebody is stood outside," she said. "This enables you to all go in together and enjoy it together."
Mr Usher said the church had seen about 10 to 15 dogs a day since the trial started.
'Really good feedback'
More than half of English cathedrals now allowed dogs, said Mr Usher, but major cathedrals like St Paul's in London and York Minster did not.
Although, like Durham Cathedral, they have long permitted service dogs.
He said the cathedral wanted to make the move for a number of reasons, including the fact the church was at the end of several Northern Saint Trails.
People would walk the trail to the church with their dogs but then not be allowed to bring their pets inside, he said.
Another reason to allow dogs was simply to change with the times, he said.
"There is a lot of tradition with churches, cathedrals [and] the way people behave when they come into them has changed as society as changed… once upon a time people would not wear a hat when they came into a cathedral," he said.
Dogs are allowed into any church service but are still restricted from some areas.
He said it was too early to say whether the church would allow dogs permanently but Mr Usher said the team had received "really good feedback".
"Concerns we might have had have not materialised yet," he said.
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