On 31 March, Easter Monday 1975, 25 intrepid pilgrims set out from Arundel Cathedral to “beat the bounds” of the Arundel & Brighton Diocese, marking the 1975 Holy Year and the 10th Anniversary of the creation of the Diocese. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into!

Taking place after an early Easter rather than in August as in later years, we encountered quite a lot of weather. There was snow lying on the South Downs on the first day; heavy rain most of day 3 as we traipsed across Ash Ranges; a blizzard in far East Sussex as we approached Rye. It was weather we were ill equipped for, but it didn’t dampen our spirits.

As we followed the coast West from Rye towards Brighton we started doing “Ring-a-Ring-o-Roses” at each pier we passed. I suspect this started as an attempt to keep warm as we waited for the pilgrims to regroup, but it became part of our identity. On the final day back into Arundel, Bishop Michael Bowen and his dog Jamie walked with us. As we came through Arundel Park approaching our destination, holding hands in a line across the valley, we stopped for one more “Ring-a-Ring-o-Roses”. Most of the pilgrims were still at school, a few of university age, a few older. We were delighted to see that even Bishops “all fall down”.

And that was the start of a 50-year journey, still continuing. For the many youngsters involved in those early years it was a cheap, fun holiday but also a relaxed encounter with their faith. Over the decades our demographic has evolved, but that core quality has remained. It is a religious activity, a pilgrimage, but not only for the converted. So many people, at different stages of their faith journey or even on different paths altogether, have walked with us, brought blessings to us, and been blessed by us. We often encounter pilgrims-of-old who no longer walk with us, but they always remember the pilgrimage fondly: everyone has some recollection of their time “following the orange arrows”.

From the very start we stopped at churches of all denominations on the pilgrimage, and welcomed pilgrims whatever their background (2 girls from the Baptist Church walked that first pilgrimage). In 1981 we joined forces with Churches Together in Sussex to celebrate St Wilfrid, Apostle of Sussex, and the pilgrimage became officially ecumenical. The manifestation of ecumenism has also evolved over the years, but it’s core to our identify, even in a year when we’re celebrating our roots on Arundel & Brighton Diocese.

The years have taken us to so many places – grand cathedrals, humble chapels, urban landscapes and all kinds of countryside. Not to mention the pubs! With our visit to Rutland in 2024 we have probably visited every (traditional) English county, and many in Wales. We’ve enjoyed great hospitality, overcome some huge challenges and a couple of tragedies. We’ve become a community on the move – both literally and evolving as things change around us. But we are all pilgrims at heart, ready to stand up and sing “He who would valiant be” at the drop of a hat and to follow the orange arrows that will lead us home.

We have so much to be thankful for: the “founding Fathers” Bill Haynes, Bob Garrard and Hans Burgman; those who took up the baton when Bill needed to take a back seat; pioneers and leaders including Alan Fox, Patrick Reeve and Peter Doran (and all those who’ve taken on the Coordinator’s role); all those who worked on the support team shifting our kit, keeping us fed, watered and safe, finding accommodation and routes; the locals who have opened churches, led us in prayer, provided refreshments; and EVERY SINGLE PILGRIM who has brought their own contribution to the pilgrimage.

50 years on, we thank God for the blessings we have received and pray for the success of our 2025 pilgrimage and those to follow.

To find out more about our 2025 Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope, visit https://thepilgrims.org.uk/book/
For more general information and diaries of our past pilgrimages, visit https://thepilgrims.org.uk/wp/
Oh gosh I remember the early pilgrimages. St Wifruds, Glastonbury and Buckfast and Canterbury. Such fun and friendship. I gave up on organised religion many years back now but the pilgrimages will always be a fond memory.
I remember you.How are you?
Grand ,as they say here in West Cork where I live now. I’m semi retired from teaching .
Liz
Inspirational! Many thanks. Here’s to your next 50 years and you are always welcome back in south Wales.
1975 Susan Martin sets out on that 1st pilgrimage
1982 I meet Susan at the start of the Papal pilgrimage in Arundel
1984 We get married at St Anne’s Brockenhurst
31st March 1987 Our first child, daughter Anne, is born at St Thomas’ hospital in London
31st March 2025 Exactly 38 years later Anne is a doctor and genetics clinician. Today she took an exam so that she can become a consultant.
Susan is well looked after in a care home, having developed early onset Alzheimer’s 5 years ago. I took her to her singing group in Brockenhurst today. I’d like to bring her to Arundel on this year’s pilgrimage, if it’s possible.
I remember Fr Bill coming around to our house in 1978 and saying ” Would I like to go on a 200 mile walking pilgrimage, have a Mass every day and visit all of the churches on route and then as if to really sell it “and we sleep on hall floors!!??!” I was polite enough to say I’d think about it but it was not a good sales pitch to an 18 year old.
Went into school the next day and told Roger Galvin I’d had a close encounter with a priest talking about going on a pilgrimage to Glastonbury…and to my utter amazement he raved about the previous years pilgrimage to Walsingham, the pubs, the “girls from Surrey…” OK that worked.
I remember standing on the edge of the car park at Arundel hall watching this scramble of pilgrims all happy to see each other again and me looking on from the outside thinking “Patrick, what have you done?! You’ve just signed yourself up with a bunch of religious nutters for 2 weeks! Well you’ve got yourself into this mess you’ll just have to go through with it”……. and then…”Well God, this is your chance to make sense”
God hears that kind of prayer….. Our new Bishop Cormac turned up at Brockenhurst Hall, we were going to the pub and I invited him to come along and then he bought the biggest round of drinks I’d ever witnessed (about 20 pints) Never was a soul so cheaply bought as that round because every single negative stereotypical image of Christianity flew out the window with that round!
Life is a pilgrimage of love, a road to Emmaus where the Christ in one pilgrim encounters the Christ in the other.
Love and prayers to all of you beautiful pilgrims.
Patrick
Oh and I even married a pilgrim…. but she wasn’t from Surrey and now she’s a priest.
I remember when you joined the pilgrimages. I’d been on the previous one. What’s Roger up to now?
Liz