On departing

'A holy place carries power. To be on pilgrimage is to move into a world where the dividing line between past and present, between this world and the next, between what we call sacred and what we call secular, dissolves. The outward journey is also a journey inward. We need to be prepared to let go of the accustomed patterns and controls that we impose on our daily lives, and instead be ready to be opened to what lives beyond — and what is most often expressed in symbol, image, and poetry.' Esther de Waal (Glendalough: A Celtic Pilgrimage)'

As weeks go, the last couple have been ones of contrast: I led worship several times during Holy Week, marking the final days of Jesus' earthly life and his death on the cross, setting the scene for his resurrection, and its message of transformation which is central to the Christian faith. 

On Easter Sunday we explored that message together at Shirehampton Methodist Church, where we blessed a new font, testament to other work of transformation, having been made from timber previously used in the church (as was the large cross above the organ).  During the service, one member of the congregation asked to be baptised when I return from my sabbatical: something to look forward to.  

I went on to lead worship elsewhere on Easter Sunday evening, reflecting on the account of two of Jesus' disciples walking away from events in Jerusalem after the news of Jesus' resurrection.  As they walk, talking about the events of recent days, a seeming stranger walks alongside them, joining their conversation.  This encounter turns out to be with Jesus, opening up for them (as the opening quote reminds us), of something that lives beyond the immediate moment.

In contrast to the busy-ness of Holy Week and Easter Sunday, last week was time to change gear during a week's family holiday, taken on board a narrow boat in the West Midlands.  The experience of those disciples was uppermost in my mind during the week, appreciating the conversations that we had whilst on holiday, firstly with one another, secondly with those we encountered, quite often a snatched dozen words whilst passing someone on the tow path, but others much longer including those we shared locks with.  Times cherished, short term friendships made, ones which we might well remember.

If you've been on a canal, then you'll appreciate that the pace of life is more measured, giving time to appreciate surroundings passing at walking pace.  Time to change gear and become accustomed to a different rhythm, often imposed by external influences, the flow of water in or out of a lock chamber, for example. 

Conversations provide the opportunity to share information, let go a little of self; changing rhythms enforce a similar letting go - both an opportunity for new experiences, new encounters with others, self and something beyond.  Looking ahead to several hundred miles of walking, sixty plus nights away, I've no idea who I will encounter, what conversations I will have, but I hope to be opened to something which lies beyond my experience of self and God.

Support

The primary purpose of this walk is not for fundraising, but many have asked about this, so I've decided to ask for donations to All We Can, the international development and relief organisation, working to see every person’s potential fulfilled. Focussed on serving the world’s most marginalised communities, All We Can is rooted in the Christian faith and part of the Methodist family.

Track and trace?

If you would like to know what progress I am making down the island over the next three months, take a look here which will have an up to date position.  NB the tracker will be switched off once I've finished walking each day, so don't be alarmed if the latest update is some time ago (particularly around the three marked waypoints, when I will be taking planned breaks of several days).

A big thank you to Wayne Drinkwater from GB Race Tracker who has provided the tracker free of charge, and to Martin Connell who helped me with some of the technical aspects of joining together well over 60 individual day-long routes!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Four weeks

By this time in four weeks, I hope to have made it to Cape Wrath and completed my first day's walking in the direction of Dover.  Alongside starting to handover my day-to-day responsibilities to my colleagues, I've also been gathering the equipment I need for my trip in the last few weeks.  I am pleased to say that I've found most of it from around the house and garage, so there are just a few things to get now.  I'm particularly grateful to friends and colleagues who have offered OS Explorer Maps, most of which I now have, and will be using alongside the OS maps app on my 'phone (mindful that I won't always have access to power!).

Getting to the start is quite an adventure in its own right - a long train journey from Bristol to Inverness, near where I will spend a night with long-standing friends.  It's then a bus journey to Durness, where will be spending a night in a youth hostel before taking the small ferry across the Kyle of Durness, followed by a minibus to the cape and the landmark lighthouse.  A member at one of my churches told me this morning to expect a bumpy journey - the road which leads to the lighthouse was built for the keepers to get there, but since the advent of automation, the track is less well used.

My first day's walk should be around 11 miles (back from lighthouse to the ferry, retracing the minibus journey), followed by a second night in Durness.  My aim for the first week is to get to Ullapool where I've booked two youth hostel nights, aiming to give myself a day off every week or so to have some downtime within my itinerary.

I've had quite a few offers of accommodation en route, mostly as I cross England, so one job for the week ahead is to look in more detail for the second part of my journey when I will be heading from Mallaig towards the border of SW Scotland with England.

Pilgrimage

Some of you will have spotted that the BBC Series 'Pilgrimage' returns later this week, which I will watch with interest.  Several celebrities take a journey of a lifetime, each with different faiths and beliefs - will stepping in ancient footsteps on a spiritual journey broaden minds?  

Alongside the 'stepping aside' and taking a break, I wonder how my stepping along will impact me spiritually and in other ways?

...Be for us our companion on the walk, Our guide at the crossroads, Our breath in our weariness, Our protection in danger, Our albergue on the Camino, Our shade in the heat, Our light in the darkness, Our consolation in our discouragements, And our strength in our intentions...

(from the ancient prayer that comes at the end of the Pilgrim Mass said along the Camino de Santiago)

Removing the background hum

Thank you to everyone who responded to my Facebook post with the link to this blog, not least for the encouragement and wish to keep in touch over the next few months as I finish my preparations for the walk itself, and lay down my day-to-day responsibilities during the late spring and summer.  I am also looking forward to some of you joining me for at least a short time.

By the time I've added on some holiday to each end of my sabbatical, I will be away from my routine for around four months which seems like a long time but I am sure will disappear in a flash.

A couple of people commented on the mental health aspects of taking such a break, prompted by the poem I shared last week.  I've been reflecting on that further, inspired by something a colleague said during a staff quiet day last week: the point he made was that when we take ourselves away from the day-to-day, the background 'hum' of our busi-ness has chance to disappear, and allow time for relaxation in a different way. 

An illustration: we used to live close to a main line railway, so a train would go past every few minutes, something we didn't notice because we soon filtered out the regular background noise.  One Christmas & New Year, thanks to engineering work, no trains went past for almost 10 days, and we really noticed and appreciated the silence.  In the putting down and then adjusting to a different rhythm for a few months, I am hoping to experience and appreciate something of an inner silence, without the background hum of my day-to-day work.  

Thoughts welcome.

Hoping you can help

I'd also welcome your help with a couple of practical things.  In the past week I've put together a list of maps to use as I navigate myself down the length of Great Britain, using the route which I'm following.  I will be (at least to begin with) in some remote areas, so possibly without ready access to electricity for some of the time, so I've decided to carry paper maps.  

There's quite a list, so I am looking to borrow copies of the following, which I will return afterwards and reimburse your postage in both directions.  If the map is damaged beyond useful further use, then I will replace with a fresh copy.

Please let me know if you can help with any of the following OS Explorer (1:25000) maps (numbers and names given) - the list is in numerical order which means it is largely south->north with the exception of the OL maps (some of which I know I used to have...) Thanks for your help with this.

My planning for the coming week is to firm up detailed arrangements for getting to Cape Wrath, once I've made it up to stay with friends in Inverness immediately before.  From there it's a bus, small ferry and a mini-bus, so I hoping all this comes together so I don't find myself stranded in Durness for the summer.

Time out

At the start of May 2022, I plan to be at Cape Wrath, the northwest-most point of Great Britain, beginning a journey on foot to the southeast-most point at Dover. I am hoping that you will be interested in following me online during the three months in between, and if you would like to, join me for some of the several hundred miles between my start and finish.

So, why? Firstly, as an ordained presbyter in the Methodist Church I am encouraged to take a sabbatical every seven years, time to step aside from day-to-day responsibilities to allow space to re-equip, refresh and renew.  It can be used for variety of purposes, including study, research, other work or experience.

I planned to do this walk about ten years ago, during my 'long leave' from John Lewis Partnership, which I initially planned to take in 2012.  In the couple of years before that, I felt God's call into ordained ministry and the process of discernment changed my plans somewhat.  My long leave was absorbed into my pre-ordination training, some of which was on placement in Ghana, a time of inspiration and blessing for my ministry, something I hope and pray for this sabbatical.

Why not Land's End to John O'Groats?  Fair question.  Apart from wanting to do something different, those with connections to my home town of Dronfield may know of E Hector Kyme, a well-known local schoolteacher and photographer who did the same walk in the early 1970s.  I'm planning to follow in his footsteps where possible, drawing on the information in his book, 'A Million and More Strides' (Robert Hale, 1975), which includes his own photographs and reflections on the people and places he encountered en route.

I'm not planning to write a book, but fifty years on it seems appropriate to move online and share my journey in this blog.  Internet connections and power permitting (not necessarily guaranteed) I hope to update this blog as I go and share the experience with you, and in the spirit of blogging I hope that you will respond in some form too.

Timing and plans

Hector took just over sixty days to walk the length of Great Britain, more-or-less in one continuous stretch in the summer and early autumn of 1972 (I believe, although i haven't been able to confirm the exact year).  In order to return home for some family occasions during the coming summer, I've decided to split the walk into three sections:

May (first three weeks) - Cape Wrath to Kyle of Lochalsh or Mallaig (and then return home via train, and take in one of the picturesque routes across Scotland)

June - Kyle of Lochalsh/Mallaig (depending on above) to Gretna Green or Carlisle

July - Gretna Green/Carlisle to Dover

Following in the footsteps of Hector isn't quite the direct route NW-SE, but it will allow me to walk part of the west coast of Scotland (having sailed some of it).  My planning has also reminded me that Scotland is deeper north-to-south than many perceive.  If you would like to join me - please do email me and we can share  thoughts on that.

Some thanks

I'd like to say a big thank you to those are already supporting me with this, beginning with my immediate family who are allowing me the time away from home.  

Thanks to the representatives from each of the churches I serve and my local Methodist Circuit have been meeting with me for some time now as part of my sabbatical support group, helping to develop my own plans and putting in arrangements to cover my responsibilities whilst I am away.  My colleague Emma Langley has led this group, so particular thanks to her and all those who will be stepping into my boots whilst I am away.

Please pray

I'd be grateful for your prayers, for all those involved in my sabbatical, quite a few as you can appreciate from the thanks above.  Equally for the remaining arrangements to fall into place (some of which have been impacted by the pandemic) including completion of my route planning so I can get the maps I will need and have a rough idea about overnight accommodation.

To conclude

Why are you walking, oh, why are you walking?

Where are you going, and what is your way?

    To learn how to trust in the things of the moment,

    that is the reason I am walking today.

Why are you walking, oh, why are you walking?

What is your purpose and why no delay?

    To learn to be thankful for each day's provision,

    to find that enough is enough for each day.

Why are you walking, oh, why are you walking?

What is the reason and where is the way?

    To learn how to stop, is the reason I'm walking,

    the reason I'm leaving, is to learn how to stay.

    Oh why don't you join me, and we'll walk together,

    each step a blessing and each road a way.

[Cottrell, Stephen (2018) Striking Out: poems and stories from the Camino, Norwich: Canterbury Press, p69]