“There is something about walking,” says the Revd Philip West, who is planning a series of pilgrimages in the South Holderness Deanery.
“Walking can calm you, give you space to work out a problem, prepare you for a new challenge or new phase of your life.”
The first pilgrimage will be over the weekend of 20th/21st August this year; it will be a walking route, but pilgrims can also join in part of it by cycle, car, or wheelchair. The journey starts on the Saturday at St Augustine’s Hedon, walking to St Andrew’s Paull (where some will stay at the nearby B&B while others return home for the night), and on the Sunday walking from Paull to St Mary’s Thorngumbald and then to St Nicholas Keyingham. There will be space to be quiet and reflect in the churches and on route; anyone is welcome to join in; pilgrims don’t have to be a church member or believer.
“Pilgrimages were all the rage in times gone past, walking miles to a sacred site such as Rome, or in the UK to Bardsey Island off the Welsh Lleyn peninsula,” explains Philip West.
“They have come back in popularity: the 500 mile route from the Pyrenees to St James Compostela in Spain is packed with pilgrims, young and old, and routes are springing up all over this country.”
“The churches recommend walking, and I am working to help local people take part; you won’t need to travel to it, or walk mile and miles, or even to walk.”
- Contact Philip West for more information on 01964 603199 or philipwest65@pwwest.karoo.co.uk.