HEART OF ENGLAND PILGRIMAGE COMPLETE

This year’s pilgrimage from Worcester to Peterborough via Coventry was a great success. 55 pilgrims in total took part with 37 present each day on average. 14 pilgrims were new to the unique flavour of the A&B walking pilgrimage and I think they all mucked in and enjoyed themseleves. The scenery was perhaps less spectacular than on many of our pilgrimages but people appreciated a genuine esperience of rural England. Our route planners found clever routes into and out of the hearts of the cities and towns we visited which avoided the suburbs. Experiencing the ruins of the old Coventry Cathedral alongside the splendour of the new cathedral was a highlight.

If anybody wants to write a longer account of the pilgrimage from their perspective, for publication on this site and perhaps other pilgrimage and church sites, please let me know.

I thank the large team of people who made the pilgrimage possible by volunteering their efforts during the months leading up to and on the pilgtimage. It couldn’t happen without you.

Thank you to everybody who contributed to the web diary More photos have been added since the pilgrimage, and Aidan and I have tidied up all the pages, so do take a fresh look at it.

BURGHLEY HORSE TRIALS

Those who walked the first section of our last walking day this year, out of Stamford, will recall that we crossed the Burghley Horse Trials cross country course, near the “Cottesmore Leap” fence. The cross country part of the three day event took place today, and viewers in the UK can watch the highlights on BBC2 at 2pm tomorrow. I will be looking out for the Cottesmore Leap, and wondering what happened to the footpath today.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HOST 2024 REUNION

There was some chat about hosting the reunion on the pilgrimage, and now we need a firm offer. The reunion takes place over a weekend and the usual format is a walk on Saturday with overnight stays in a hall on the Friday and Saturday nights. It usually takes place either side of the school half term so this year that would be 25th-27th Ocotber or 1st-3rd November, but it could be another weekend. The venue is usually but not always in Surrey or Sussex. It was in Manchester once! Let us know if interested.

AGM 22ND SEPTEMBER – SAVE THE DATE

The agenda for this year’s AGM will be published shortly. This is the crucial meeting where we review the pilgrimage just completed and put the team in place for next year’s pilgrimage, so please set the time aside to attend if you can. It will be on Sunday 22nd September at 2pm on Zoom.

John Chenery, this year’s Pilgrimage Coordinator