Fittingly for a pilgrimage of day walks, the reunion will also be a day walk. Hold the date of Saturday 30th October 2021. Details will follow when they are ready.

Since the completion of the pilgrimage, Aidan and I have tidied up the web diary so it is worth another look:

http://www.thepilgrims.org.uk/2021/home.php

All traces of my fingers have been removed from the photos!

Thanks go to Aidan, Danny, Clare, Jim, Veronique, Louise, Fred and Simon for contributing words and pictures.

An updated version of the estimated timings for each day’s walk is attached here for you to print off or download to your devices. Do read the notes on the title page. This is version 1.1. If you spot any errors, let us know.

The estimated timings for each day’s walk are attached here for you to print off or download to your devices. Do read the notes on the title page. This is version 1.0. If changes are necessary, the document will be reissued with a new version number. If you spot any errors, let us know.

Further to Chris’ post, here is the planned itinerary:

Sat Aug 14 Southampton to Hamble
Sun Aug 15 Hamble to Wickham
Mon Aug 16 Wickham to Havant
Tue Aug 17 Havant to Chichester
Wed Aug 18 Rest Day
Thu Aug 19 Chichester to Arundel
Fri Aug 20 Arundel to Steyning
Sat Aug 21 Steyning to Pyecombe
Sun Aug 22 Pyecombe to Lewes
Mon Aug 23 Rest Day
Tue Aug 24 Lewes to Berwick
Wed Aug 25 Berwick to Polegate
Thu Aug 26 Polegate to Penhurst
Fri Aug 27 Penhurst to Westfield
Sat Aug 28 Westfield to Rye

We have recently learnt that Roger died in November after a long illness.

Roger walked with us between 2009 and 2014. He was a gentle, kind and enthusiatic pilgrim whose presence enhanced the pilgrimages that he took part in, particularly the spiritual side of the pilgrimage. He served as a church liaison officer. The other coordinators for these years and I were grateful for the general help and advice he gave.

Please visit his page on the Caring Bridge website.

Some pictures of Roger from the archives:

Pilgrims! If you access the link below before the end of New Year’s Eve, you can rent a video for free:

https://aec.rcaos.org.uk/latest/stthomasofcanterbury2020?fbclid=IwAR0rwlHaxM5lIlNEsfuii7IDW92hmm1M7jNSnZhgCh3R9ByRHlizIXRx9G4

This film follows Fr Marcus Holden and Fr Nicholas Schofield as they journey from London to Canterbury. Along the way they discover the story of St Thomas a Becket and some fascinating traditions: the Rood of Boxley, the splendour of Rochester, the ‘second Carmel’ at Aylesford and many more.

By retracing the steps of the medieval pilgrims, this film draws out the rich Christian heritage of England and reflects on what it means ‘To Be A Pilgrim’.

Thanks to Lesley Brennan for bringing this to our attention.

Dates: Saturday August 15th to Sunday August 30th 2020
Strapline: Walking in a spirit of thankfulness
Route: SWANSEA-Port Talbot-St Brides Major-St Athan-CARDIFF (rest day)-Caerphilly-Newport-Usk-ABERGAVENNY (rest day)-Longtown-Ewyas Harold-HEREFORD

See the St Thomas Way Website  for an explanation of why our strapline is appropriate.  We wil be passing through all the places listed on that website.  The St Thomas Way was not originally envisaged as a continuous walking route but we are making it into one!

Poster and Application Form coming soon!

Further to the earlier post announcing the dates, the application form / poster is now available here with full details. Please apply soon to aid our planning.

We will be going to the Stephen Langton Inn for lunch, which will remind us of the first walking day of our St Hilda’s Pilgrimage in August when we walked part of the Stephen Langton Way.

Do have a look at the web diary http://thepilgrims.org.uk/2019/home.php where more photos have been added since the pilgrimage was completed. There are now contributions from around 15 pilgrims. (If you have any further photos, it is not too late to select those which add to the story, caption them, and send them in).

You might also want to view the complementary set of photos in Fr Tony’s Flickr album https://www.flickr.com/photos/tonymilner/albums/72157710799709741/page1

News of our plans for our 2020 route will be published soon.