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Howard Buxton, RIP

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We heard from Howard’s wife Alison that Howard passed away peacefully on Wednesday 19th March 2025 with the family
around him. Howard had been unwell for some time, but kept in touch with several pilgrims.

I think Howard may have been the first pilgrim to join us having found our website, which we started in 2000. Howard was all set to come and walk with us in 2001, and was a bit put out when we had to cancel that year because of the Foot and Mouth outbreak. But he did join us the following year and was a regular pilgrim over the next 20 or so years. Given the distance from NZ to UK, that probably means Howard travelled more miles over the years to join the pilgrimage that anyone else has or ever will.

It didn’t take Howard long to find out how the pilgrimage works!

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Howard – working as usual, 2002

Howard, leading a reflection in 2003

Or standing in as an arrow…

Howard with Bernie, a year later, same t-shirt!

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In 2005, Howard had had enough and collapsed in someone’s front garden outside Caterham!

Approaching Winchester in 2005, with Rev Chris at a kissing gate, the self-styled “Kissing Fr Christmases”

2006, as van-packer-in-chief

And so we might go on… when I have time to trawl through more of the archives.

We send our prayers and condolences to Alison. May Howard rest in peace.

A memorial gathering will be held 11am 12th April 2025 at RSA Birkenhead, Recreation Drive, Birkenhead, Auckland, NZ.

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Cath Grafen, RIP

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We’ve learnt of the death on 28 February of Cath Grafen, who walked with us between 1979 and 1981 then 1996 to 2002. In 2000 or 2002 Cath and the late Pat Heffernan earned the nickname the “wrinkly rockets” for their pace, especially in the afternoons.

From 1979 Canterbury 2 Pilgrimage

From 2000 St Chad’s Pilgrimage:

In our 2000 diary I found “Cath Grafen gave a wonderful reflection on her involvement with the pilgrimage, starting as the parent of a pilgrim in 1976, with lots of different experiences on the way, and the love and support of all the pilgrims. We concluded with a chorus of Bind Us Together.”

From 2002 Ss Chad & Cedd Pilgrimage

According to the church website, Cath’s funeral will be held at noon on Friday 28th March 2025 at Sacred Heart, Hove.

We send our prayers and condolences to Cath’s family. May she rest in peace.

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50-Year Reunion, 5 April 2025

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On Saturday 5 April we are holding a reunion to mark 50 years since our first pilgrimage (31 Mar – 13 Apr 1975). All current and past pilgrims are invited to join us for lunch and reminiscences, together with a service of thanksgiving and prayers for deceased pilgrims. For those who wish to join, there will be a morning walk. Limited overnight “floor and breakfast” will be available the nights before and after the reunion. If you can’t make it, comment on this post to share a memory.

Venue

The reunion will be based at the St Philip Howard Centre, Southgate Drive, Crawley, RH10 6RP (formerly DABCEC). There is plentiful parking, and it’s on several bus routes (Southgate Avenue stops)

Walk

The morning walk will take us from Horsham Station to the Centre – we will leave the St Philip Howard Centre at 08:30 and walk to Crawley Station to catch to 08:57 train to Horsham, arriving 09:10. Pilgrims could optionally meet us at either station. If you can, please buy your ticket in advance to avoid delays!

Lunch

A buffet lunch will be served when the walking group has returned to the centre. Please ensure you advise us of any dietary requirements.

Schedule

Friday 4 April19:00 onwardsArrivals No food provided, but option to bring your own.
Saturday 5 April07:00Breakfast
 08:30Depart for station
 08:57Train to Horsham
 09:10Start walk at Horsham
 11:00-11:30Colgate, Prayers
 13:00Return, St Philip Howard Centre
 13:30Lunch
 18:00Close
 EveningOvernighters take away / pub dinner (not included)
Sunday 6 April09:00Depart

Cost

£10 for the lunch, £5 for each breakfast, or any donation you wish to add. Any surplus from the reunion will be donated to charity. Pay on the day. Please book in advance and let us know if plans change, so that we can avoid waste.

Booking is Essential

To book, please email reunion50@thepilgrims.org.uk specifying:

  • Name
  • Contact Details (email, phone)
  • Friday overnight Y/N
  • Saturday walk Y/N
  • Saturday lunch Y/N
  • Any dietary requirements
  • Saturday overnight Y/N

Can’t make it?

If you are unable to join us, but wish to share a memory or a prayer intention, please leave a comment on this post and we’ll include you on the day.

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Celebrating 50 years of Pilgrimage

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Yes, it really is 50 years…

50 years ago a group of priests, looking to find a way for young people to celebrate the Holy Year of 1975 and the 10th anniversary of Arundel & Brighton Diocese, planned a walking pilgrimage “beating the bounds” of the Diocese. This became an annual event, the pilgrimage we know and love, going to diverse destinations across England and Wales, becoming Ecumenical, and with an evolving demographic. Over the years this institution has meant so much to the regulars, the “one-off” pilgrims, and people we’ve encountered on the way.

So 2025 will be a year of celebration for us, and we’d love to see old and new pilgrims at two events we are planning. So please SAVE THE DATES!

50-year Reunion in Crawley, 4-6 April 2025

Unlike its successors, the first pilgrimage took place after Easter (31st March – 13th April 1975) so we like to organise an “April Reunion” to mark the major anniversaries.

Whilst the exact schedule is yet to be worked out, the main activities will be on Saturday 5th April, probably involving a short morning walk, a pub lunch, and a social afternoon tea back at the venue, where non-walkers can join us and we can share reminiscences. We’ll have some form of thanksgiving service and remember deceased pilgrims.

Overnight pilgrim-style accommodation will be available for Friday and Saturday nights.

Please spread the word to any past pilgrims you know who might not otherwise hear about the reunion.

Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope, 9-24 August 2025

As the distances involved in beating the bounds of the Diocese (even cutting more corners than we did in 1975) are beyond our regular mileages, after some thought we have derived a route that visits each of the 11 Deaneries (future “new parishes”) in the Arundel & Brighton Diocese:

  • Horley (Crawley Deanery)
  • Reigate (Redhill Deanery)
  • Epsom (Epsom Deanery)
  • Weybridge (Weybridge Deanery)
  • Frimley (Woking Deanery)
  • Farnham (Guildford Deanery)
  • Haslemere (Guildford Deanery)
  • Midhurst (Cathedral Deanery)
  • Tangmere (Cathedral Deanery)
  • Goring-by-Sea (Worthing Deanery)
  • Brighton (Brighton Deanery)
  • Seaford (Lewes Deanery)
  • Eastbourne (Eastbourne & St Leonards Deanery)

Note that some accommodation is not yet confirmed, so locations may change a little.

Whilst maintaining our strong ecumenical commitment and visiting churches of all denominations along our route, we hope to inspire people from the deaneries we walk through to join us as day pilgrims. We also hope that “past pilgrims” will join or meet us along the way; and of course new pilgrims are always welcome, whatever your location, background or creed!

Bookings for this pilgrimage will open in February, once the accommodation is finalised. To make sure you hear first, subscribe to updates on our website (https://thepilgrims.org.uk/ via the “Subscribe to Blog via Email” panel)

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Our plans for 2025

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Having reviewed the successful conclusion of the Heart of England pilgrimage in August, September’s AGM looked forward to our plans for 2025, the 50th anniversary of the first Arundel and Brighton Diocesan Walking Pilgrimage.

Summer Pilgrimage

Our original aspiration had been to repeat 1975’s “beating the bounds” but that proved too long and after a series of iterations we adopted a proposal for a route which visits each of the Moderated Parishes in the A&B diocese. This proved something of a mathematical optimisation challenge, getting to all 11 parishes with our regular constraints of time and distance, but we have a viable route, one which includes a number of places never or rarely visited before by the pilgrims.

Our vision for 2025 is that people from the local communities will join us as day pilgrims in their own areas, for as far as they wish or feel able.

Although the route is based around our Catholic diocese, we have not forgotten our ecumenical credentials and, as we always do, we will be involving and visiting church communities of all denominations as we progress through Surrey and Sussex.

The proposed route (subject to finding suitable accommodation) is shown in the table below. Moderated parish names are shown in square brackets (see https://www.abdiocese.org.uk/diocese/pastoral-plan)

DateFromTo
Sat 9 Aug 25Horley [Crawley]Reigate
Sun 10 Aug 25Reigate [Redhill]Epsom
Mon 11 Aug 25Epsom [Epsom]Weybridge
Tue 12 Aug 25Weybridge [Weybridge]Frimley
Wed 13 Aug 25Frimley [Woking]Farnham
Thu 14 Aug 25Rest DayFarnham
Fri 15 Aug 25Farnham [Guildford]Haslemere
Sat 16 Aug 25Haslemere [Guildford]Petworth
Sun 17 Aug 25Petworth [Cathedral]Arundel
Mon 18 Aug 25Arundel [Cathedral]Worthing
Tue 19 Aug 25Rest DayWorthing
Wed 20 Aug 25Worthing [Worthing]Brighton
Thu 21 Aug 25Brighton [Brighton & Hove]Seaford
Fri 22 Aug 25Seaford [Lewes]Eastbourne
Sat 23 Aug 25Celebration DayEastbourne
Sun 24 Aug 25Eastbourne [Eastbourne & St Leonards]Home
Proposed 2025 Pilgrimage Route

Any plan is a compromise, and we can’t visit every corner of the Diocese; the proposed route is half in Surrey and half in Sussex and includes the far north of the Diocese where we’ve rarely ventured before.

April Reunion

We also decided that there should be an extraordinary reunion (on a date around 31st March, the 50th anniversary of the start of our first pilgrimage). Just a placeholder at present – anyone who could host such a reunion please make contact!

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Heart of England Pilgrimage 2024

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Our 2024 Pilgrimage, from Worcester via Coventry to Peterborough, will very soon be underway. Pilgrims across the world have started their journeys to Worcester ready for our start on Saturday afternoon.

If you are one of those pilgrims, welcome aboard. You may like to pass on the details below to family or friends.

If not, and you’re close to our route, you’re welcome to join us as a “day pilgrim”, walking a full day or a few yards with us, or maybe just meeting us for prayer at one of our church stops.

If you’re not able to join us this year, you can join as an “e-pilgrim”, following our progress on our web diary. Please pray for us as we will for you as we journey along.

The web diary is now live at www.thepilgrims.org.uk/2024 – for now it has our plans, to be updated with words and picture as we go along.

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Isaac is walking the Camino

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Pilgrims from a few year’s back will remember Isaac who walked with us over several years either side of 2010 (and will recall his sparring with Peter Doran). Isaac has sent the following request for support for a charitable venture he is undertaking…

Hello pilgrims past and present, 

This summer, starting from the second weekend of July, I shall be walking the 800km of the Camino de Santiago, starting from Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port, to raise money for a charity with whom I volunteer in Paris. This organisation, Utopia 56, works to support refugees and other displaced people in France in a political climate that is otherwise indifferent at best and outright hostile at worst– especially as in Paris the forces of the state move with brutal rapidity to ‘clear the city’ in the run up to the Olympic Games. We offer advice on applications for asylum, French lessons, recreational activities and, most importantly, tents and other materials.

These are people who have travelled thousands of miles in perilous conditions, and who are thrown from pillar to post upon arrival in what they believe will be a safe haven. In making a pilgrimage along the Camino, I hope to, at least symbolically and spiritually, walk with those who make much more dangerous and urgent journeys to safety. Any donations would be deeply appreciated, with the proceeds going to support the work that Utopia 56 does. 

You can make a donation at this link here: https://macollecte.utopia56.org/fundraisers/on-the-road-to-santiago

You can find out more information about Utopia 56 here (in English or in French): https://utopia56.org

Thank you very much in advance.

Yours, in pilgrimage, 

Isaac 

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Call for Route Planners for 2024 Pilgrimage

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Our accommodation team have done sterling work and halls are booked for all of our 2024 pilgrimage from Worcester to Peterborough via Coventry. So it’s time to start planning the walking routes between those halls, for which we need volunteers!

If you would like to plan a day’s walk on the pilgrimage, please let me know as soon as possible. I have a few names already, but don’t assume you are on my list!

The list of days is shown below. The shaded days are already allocated. You can express a preference for day or area, but it’s not guaranteed.

Most days are similar in length (12-15 miles) but the days either side of Market Harborough are likely to be shorter.

If you’ve not planned a pilgrimage day before, you may like to team up with an experienced planner first time around.

If you’re a regular route planner but ant a year off, let me know so I wont hassle you further!

Any questions, do get in touch.

Aidan

Date

From

To

Sun 11th

Worcester

Inkberrow

Mon 12th

Inkberrow

Henley-in-Arden

Tues 13th

Henley-in-Arden

Warwick

Weds 14th or Thurs 15th

Warwick

Coventry

Fri 16th

Coventry

Rugby

Sat 17th

Rugby

Husbands Bosworth

Sun 18th

Husbands Bosworth

Market Harborough

Tues 20th

Market Harborough

Hallaton

Weds 21st

Hallaton

Oakham

Thurs 22nd

Oakham

Stamford

Fri 23rd

Stamford

Peterborough

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Follow the Pilgrims from Bristol to Arundel

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The start of the 2023 Pilgrimage, from Bristol to Arundel, is almost upon us! This Saturday, 12th August, we gather in Bristol before setting out for Arundel, to mark the 150th Anniversary of Arundel Cathedral and its links with Bristol and Bath.

As ever, you can follow our “Live” diary at https://www.thepilgrims.org.uk/2023.

The diary also contains details of where we’ll be when (also found in CAJUFAD) should you wish to come and meet us or join us as a day pilgrim.

Our route is also available on Google Maps

Messages of support and encouragement are always welcome through CONTACT THE PILGRIMS on the website.

Pray for us as we make this pilgrimage, as we will for you.

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Henriette Van Zaelen RIP

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We have learnt of the death this week of Henriette Van Zaelen; she was suffering from lung cancer.

Henriette has walked with us for many years; she was also an active member (with other pilgrims) of the St Francis Ramblers.

Ramblers Obituary
This obituary appeared in the September issue of South East Walker, which is distrubuted to all Ramblers Association members in the South East