by I’m lying on my back. Directly above me is a “sky bow” with large wooden beams. I’ve never woken up under such a high ceiling before – but then I’ve never gone to sleep in a church.
We have arranged pew cushions on the stone slabs to make them more comfortable and, although this can be tough, my fellow pilgrims and I agree that we slept very well – helped by pies and cider from Bridge Inn nearby. Just like in Chaucer’s time, it’s not worth making a pilgrimage if you can’t eat heartily and swap stories with your fellow travelers, and local musicians with soon-to-be spouses.
St Michael’s Church in Temple Michael Escley, in the countryside of County Hereford, is one of the churches that have signed up to the new and innovative night sanctuary scheme organized by the British Pilgrimage Trust. Pilgrims can sleep there for a nominal £15 each – as rural accommodation can be expensive or scarce. The Trust also organizes guided pilgrimages where luggage is carried for you by a “sherpa van” from church to church. All you have to do is carry a day pack. They will even provide a pilgrim staff, a hand whistle from fallen wood and plenty of satisfaction.
Our pilgrimage guide, Simon Lockett, meets us at the cemetery where we follow our teams – no doubt someone jokes about a team meeting – and talks us through the day’s journey, then leads us in a short prayer from the First Nations of the North. America respects animals.
Although this appears to be a Christian pilgrimage, in that we travel from church to church and are guided by a vicar, the Pilgrimage Trust is always clear that it is for those who “live their own faith” and that it is non-denominational. The pilgrimage route visits many pagan sites with spiritual resonance, such as ancient water sources and Arthur’s Stone. The emphasis is on those who make their own personal journey and may sometimes want peace and quiet to do so. Guides recommend that some parts of the walk be done in silence.
But that’s usually later in the day when everyone has time to talk a little. We set out on a magnificent green bay carved by generations of traveling livestock, down to the Golden Valley – surely the best branding in the country – with its fields of maize and deep broad-leaved forests, where brilliant mulberry berries grow in abundance.
As in Chaucer’s time, you’re not worth a pilgrimage if you can’t eat heartily and swap stories with your fellow travelers
The group is a mixed group: some from Norfolk, some from the south-east, one from Sweden – replicating medieval pilgrimages, when people would often travel from abroad. Aneka is amused by the British penchant for style, uncommon in her home country.
After crossing a few fairways, we reach an unusual tree formation, where an oak and an ash have fused to grow up from the same trunk and a hawthorn has come to join the party. Michael, a builder from Kent, decides that the triumvirate must climb and goes up in sandals, to the admiration of the group.
One thing that is enjoyable about pilgrimage is that it is about the journey and not the destination. No one is concerned about how quickly we get anywhere, as is the case with more competitive guided walks. With swallows flying around our heads, we stop for a late breakfast at Chapel House Farm, welcome after three or four miles. Events expand when we discover, as well as scrambled eggs, sausages, beans, roasted garlic and Mexican salad, their supply of chilled Herefordshire pears – which must be sampled. now, because if we carry it in our packs it will heat up too much. This is the kind of logic that always makes sense at the time.
It is a happy party of pilgrims who crest the hill above Crasswall for our first view of the bulk of the Black Mountains as a ridge to the west, so out of scale compared with what we had seen before that it seems to emerge from the water . to locate an aircraft carrier in front of you.
These mountains are the great natural barrier between Wales and England. We don’t need moated castles and battlements to remind us that this was the site of near-constant medieval warfare. Some of the swallows are resolutely chasing a sparrow that had the temerity to fly down among them.
As we travel from church to church and are guided by a vicar, the pilgrimage route visits many pagan sites with spiritual resonance
I walked the Offaly Causeway on top of those Black Mountains and looked down on England from Wales – and speculated on how tempting those green fields in County Hereford must have been to determined Welsh predators to test the resolve of the Marching Lords who were defending them. ; but this is the first time I have seen the view looking back up.
After a delightful walk that goes south alongside the mountains, we arrive at the church at Clodock, which is defiantly flying Jack Jack in case any Brits are looking down. The pub next door, the Cornewall Arms, is so small it’s basically a living room with a kitchen. Only one beer is kept on draft and some farmers accept a shaved head from the pilgrims passing by at a game of quotas.
In St Clydawg’s church there is still a list on the wall of the vestry from the local essays of 1805 detailing the tithes to be paid: two pence and a half for each milking cow, but only two pence for any cow that is in short supply. ; fourpence on any body; and two pence for every day’s supply of stored hay. The parishioners who were commemorated in the cemetery, like Theophilus Cope, who has a great name, must have received a lot of money.
A stream with a pool and meander runs past the pub and provides the perfect way to wake up the next morning, with a swim under overhanging trees. Then into the deep forest comes the “lost” Charismatic Church of Llancillo which is not completely abandoned, although it is no longer in service – it is maintained by a fine organization called The Friends of Friendless Churches. The large Celtic Cross has a large enough plinth to accommodate our group of nine as we eat packed lunches.
This is a proven pilgrimage walk rather than an ancient one and largely the initiative of our guide, Simon. Simon has been a local beekeeper for 18 years and has been a farm worker, rural soldier and environmental activist. He wanted a way for locals and visitors to experience the deep spiritual, prehistoric and Christian history of Herefordshire. The full walk takes seven days – shorter options are available – and starts and finishes at Hereford Cathedral, thus looping across the Golden and Wye Valleys in a wide circle of around 60 miles. Detailed directions on the trust’s website mean you can self-guide and still stay in the churches, or sign up for casual group walks like ours.
With the freedom of being away, people say things to strangers that they might not share with family or friends
Although the British Pilgrimage Trust has promoted the revival of some ancient routes – such as the Old Way from Southampton to Canterbury in honor of Thomas Becket, later suppressed by Henry VIII because he did not want to honor a troubled priest – he wants too. to create new ones, and in doing this the vitality of the vocation of pilgrimage is being revived. It is a sign of spiritual health that new ways should be created.
Perhaps now the pilgrimage has more allure than ever – that’s why the famous Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain has grown from less than 10,000 pilgrims 30 years ago to more than 200,000 today. For those who want an opportunity to reflect on their own life or perhaps the life of a loved one who has recently died – or for anyone who wants to delve into the deep waters of England’s past, on like St. Clodock’s well. we visit – perhaps a pilgrimage will answer a need.
I found the community aspect appealing. There is a different and interesting dynamic in a pilgrimage group: less of the feeling that you are a paying customer – even though you are – expecting everything to be delivered and more of a sense that you are giving yourself as you go. That you are contributing to a group and sharing experiences, some of which can be slowly revealed during the journey as you get to know each other. The range of subjects I learn about is amazing, from how to make blue cheese to the difference between native oak and turkey oak. And, as must have happened with pilgrims in the past, with the freedom of being away from home, people say things to strangers that they might not share with family or friends. In any case, we all sleep together every night – albeit in a different church each time.
Guided walks by the British Pilgrimage Trust in 2024 run from May 8 to May 12 (four days for £450), 10 June to 16 June (7 days for £740) and 18 September-22 September (four days for £450). Or self guide using the instructions at britishpilgriimage.org.
