Day 14: Hovingham to Hutton-le-Hole via Lastingham

Our final day... a fairly long day, with many prayer stops, and the prospect of processing a relic of St Chad for the last few miles into Lastingham.

The day started, however, with a non-stop, as the church at Hovingham was closed due to a structural problem.

So we pressed on to Stonegrave Minster

where this Celtic cross is preserved within the church.

And then, our first climb, into the morning sun William (Patrick's brother) leading the way.

Next stop was at Nunnington

where the locals had laid out cold fizzy drinks to welcome us.

Another few miles on, Patrick had arranged for a pub to be open for a mid-morning refresher.

Then we dropped down to St Gregory's Minster, one of William's favourite churches.

Fortunately Patrick knew which way we were going as we approached lunch in Kirkbymoorside.

where he met his young nephew, Peter.

His assistant front marker was feeling the pace!

We then went to the Catholic Church for the prayer stop that would initiate the final phase of our pilgrimage. John and Abi performed a sketch...

...before the relic of St Chad was loaded into the carrying device that Chris had made.

Appropriately for a pilgrimage dedicated to two brothers, William and Patrick carried the relic.

Over hill and down dale they led us

to our gathering point, a short distance from Lastingham.

Here the carrying duty was transferred to two other brothers, Jonny and Mike, for the final procession.

They were followed by the musicians and all the pilgrims in fine voice.

We processed into the crypt of St Mary's Church (where Cedd and Chad were both Abbots) to celebrate Mass

We prayed for all the communities we had passed through, naming all the churches at which we stopped for prayer; we remembered all deceased pilgrims; and we filled the crypt with song (competing with an organ recital in the church above).

Finally, John distributed memorial cards to pilgrims as they left the church.

But the walk was not over - our accommodation was 2 miles away in Hutton-le-Hole. We went the direct route - UP - but it gave a good view back of the moorland to the north.

We marched across the top into the setting sun, before dropping sharply down into Hutton-le-Hole.

Then, quick turnaround: beds out in this rather cosy hall (some of us sleeping with feet under a snooker table) and in varying degrees of cleanliness and finery, we made our way the few yards to the Barn Hotel for our final supper together.

This was crowned with a cake made and decorated by Clare, celebrating our pilgrimage.

Pilgrims drifted back to bed at varying times, without the pressure of a walk tomorrow, but we'll still have to be up early to pack and catch the coach (or whatever) home in the morning.