Parish Pilgrimage 2026

The Parish Pilgrimage has arrived! Between 10 – 19 March 2026, more than a dozen members of our parish took part in a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, partly in parallel with the pilgrimage made by Archbishop Sarah Mullally in preparation for her enthronement. Pilgrims joined at different points from Winchester, Southwark, Rochester, and Canterbury. Thank you to all who participated or who supported us logistically and in prayer.

A reflection from Sue, our 'pilgrim in prayer'

I joined the Pilgrimage to Canterbury this year to see how it would work without being able to join in with the walking because of a mobility issue. 

My intention was twofold:  to act as back up in case of emergencies for the walkers and to conduct a pilgrimage of prayer within the Cathedral and other local significant churches.   

Thanks to guidance by the Pilgrimage Officer and the Cathedral's excellent accessibility, I was able to plan my time constructively, using the quieter chapels in both the Crypt and the Quire. These peaceful spaces allowed me to say daily prayers in solitude, as well as offer prayers for the group, the Parish, the Community of St Mary the Virgin, and our new Archbishop of Canterbury, along with my personal intentions. Additionally, I was fortunate to attend a beautiful Choral Evensong in the Quire on St Patrick’s Day.

The other 2 churches I visited were St Dunstan’s (one of the pilgrim Churches) and St Thomas of Canterbury (Roman Catholic) where they hold a relic of St Thomas Beckett in one of the chapels. Many other interesting churches await my next visit.

Hannah joined me on the last afternoon.  We enjoyed a walk on the beach with an ice-cream in sunny Winchelsea before joining the rest of the walkers in Chilham for a last supper before they arrived at Canterbury Cathedral.

From my own perspective, I greatly appreciated the silence I experienced when I was in sacred spaces, for the welcome I received in Canterbury and especially inclusion by the walkers in the Pilgrimage group.  It is very difficult to integrate with many active groups when you live with a mobility problem and it was very generous of this group of pilgrims to allow me to participate. 

Finding time and space for stillness was very important to me, but my reasons for doing this pilgrimage also proved the importance of balancing my own needs with that of giving.

Day 10: Canterbury at last!

he'll labour night and day

to be a pilgrim.

Our final day started with a hearty breakfast at the Woolpack (Inn dating back to 1485) before heading to Chilham church for our final morning prayer of the pilgrimage. 

7 miles were left to get us to our final destination and just for fun some good hills were thrown in for good measure. Our final village was Harbledown which led us to the church of St Dunstan and our final mile to enter Canterbury Cathedral itself.   

We were met by Canon Andrew, who welcomed us to Canterbury and blessed our pilgrimage. It was a special moment after the many miles to get here. 

This pilgrimage has been special whether from Winchester, Southwark, Rochester, Canterbury or those whose prayers have kept us going.  It has been one of fellowship, friendship and reflection that will have an impact when morw time is given to reflect on the whole journey rather than the destination each day. Thank you to my fellow pilgrims for making the experience a joyful one (despite the blisters). 

With big thanks to Russell who not only walked (jointly) the furthest distance but also produced the daily updates.

Day 9: Charing to Chilham

Then, fancies, fly away;
he'll not fear what men say;

Our penultimate day today, we are only 7 miles away from our destination of Canterbury Cathedral.   We were given a first glimpse of the cathedral from a vantage point on the route very near Godmersham Park. [Photo below shows the first view of Canterbury from the Pilgrims' Way as well as the view from the 'Coppice Oratory' built on the spot] 

Having said goodbye to our wonderful hosts at Charing church.  We joined together for Morning Prayer singing the hymn that has featured in these blog entries.   Our journey today was just over 12 miles - which was great after some long journeys over  the last 9 days.  

Once again the Kent countryside was beautiful and our walk through fields and woodland was kinder on the blistered feet.     

This evening was at the Woolpack in Chilham and it was great to be joined with other Wantage pilgrims, who were not able to make the journey with us. Also our wonderful driver, Vince, who has done an amazing job getting our luggage from one place to another especially with different groups at different venues.  Thank you Vince.  

Day 8: Maidstone to Charing

Note from Katherine: on this day our newly-united group re-divided, with some walking the sixteen to eighteen miltes from Maidstone and others starting at Hollingbourne on the Pilgrims' Way. We are now at Charing, where the Archbishops had their palace from the time of Thomas Becket.

he knows he at the end

shall life inherit.

It is hard to believe that two of us set out a week ago today - where has the time and the miles gone.  

We set off from Maidstone today and experienced our best weather of the pilgrimage so far.    The journey out of Maidstone was not the most scenic, however we were treated to the beauty of the Kent countryside for the rest of the day.  

We passed the villages of Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Lenham and finally ending up in Charing.   This is another of our stops that is being hosted by the people of the parish.    When we arrived in the barn next to the church to refreshments including cake, followed by an Iona communion service with the parishioners who were kindly hosting some of us.   We left 4 hardy pilgrims ready to sleep in the barn - we wished them well as we headed to a more comfortable bed.   As before, we have been well looked after and we appreciate their hospitality, fellowship and friendship to the weary pilgrims.  

A reflection from one of our Pilgrims

Having made it half-way from Southwark to Canterbury and then realised I wasn’t up to continuing, here are a few thoughts. I have wondered whether I failed at something. I wasn’t looking for some sort of endurance test, so I don’t worry about that. If the goal was to go to Canterbury then I’ve been before and I will again. I would have liked to arrive with the group I travelled with, and I’m sad about missing that, but it doesn’t feel like failure. In the time I was on the walk I enjoyed the support and fellowship of a group of friends, some old and some new. As an introvert, it was good to get to know some people in our congregation that I hadn’t met before. I also particularly appreciated the help and care of everyone around me as I struggled towards the end. Somewhere between the companionship, a spot of information on my own health and confirming my distrust of goals as an idea, I’ll count it as a success. It was worth the journey even if I didn’t make it to the end.

A reflection from the Vicar

The final band of Pilgrims set out from Rochester Cathedral on Monday morning. There we saw plentiful reminders that we are walking a well-trodden path: we took Pilgrims’ Passage to the Pilgrims’ Door of the Cathedral, and climbed the deeply-worn Pilgrims’ Steps to the location of the ancient shrines (now sadly no more). Even the symbol of Rochester Cathedral is the Pilgrim’s Shell. It is perhaps slightly odd for a Cathedral and a City to find their identity as the place where people set off for somewhere else. But what better mission statement could there be for a church than to equip pilgrims on the way? At Rochester we received a blessing from one of the Canons, and sought the intercession and protection of William of Perth, the martyr-pilgrim, who was murdered shortly after setting off on his own pilgrimage in 1201. A spiritual example to follow, but we hope not a literal one!

Following the ancient Pilgrims’ Way along the River Medway, we soon met up with all the other Pilgrims. Finally our band was together, although very sadly one of the Southwark pilgrims had to withdraw on medical advice. That leaves us as a symbolically satisfying group of 12.

A significant part of the spiritual discipline of pilgrimage (as indeed the spiritual discipline of the Christian life more generally) is travelling together and negotiating the different needs and characters of our fellow pilgrims. I made it pretty clear early on that walking ten miles a day is sufficiently penitential for me without the additional fleshly mortification of supermarket sandwiches!

At times, I’m sure, our differing characters will chafe as much as our boots. But there are also moments of unexpected harmony. We have been trying to follow a discipline of walking in silence for one hour of each day, and yesterday that hour fell immediately after the whole group had met. As we walked along, we came to the church of St Mary Burham (now under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust). Without any words or looks of consultation, we all peeled off the path into the church to spend some minutes there, and then with the same unspoken consensus all set off again on our way. By the time we reached Aylesford Priory, we were all on speaking terms again and – with the assistance of text and phone calls – managed to get hopelessly separated. A lesson for the Church and the Anglican Communion, perhaps?

Day 7, Monday 16 March: Rochester to Maidstone

…but he will have the right
to be a pilgrim

For the already assembled pilgrims this morning was a more relaxed walk to meet up with our fellow pilgrims coming from Rochester. 

After lunch, we hit the road as one group, initially observing our hour of silence and then having the opportunity to share stories and enjoy the company of our new pilgrims.   The walk today was from Wouldham via the lonely church at Burham to Aylesford and its wonderful priory - which we now know will be part of the Archbishops pilgrimage soon.  

Our journey then headed into Maidstone for our rest and nourishment.   Tomorrow, once more back on the road to join our second parish stop in Charing.   

Update from Katherine:

All the groups are now together and on the final leg of our journey! Very sadly, one pilgrim who had been with us from Southwark has had to pull out on medical advice, but he continues to be with us in spirit, and we are also joined by one who is making a 'pilgrimage in prayer' at Canterbury Cathedral over the coming days.

Day 6: Sunday 15 March

No lion can him fright:
he'll with a giant fight,

We set out this morning as a larger group of pilgrims initially on a rail replacement bus to get us back to our start point.    It was great to be able to share our experiences with each other and our journeys so far.   

Although billed as a shorter day we still clocked up 16.5 miles.   The journey took us on roads and footpaths.  With the final steep hill to provide the challenge as we approached the accommodation but we made it.  

As I travelled today and at other points over the last few days - I have reflected  on the Footprints poem and in my most challenging moments especially up a hill with no reserve left - finding the strength from somewhere and in a sense being carried.  

Tomorrow the final group of pilgrims will join us to complete the happy band of pilgrims.  We look forward to seeing them.  

Day 6: a reflection from the Southwark pilgrims

It would have been easy to imagine that this would be a walk through lovely countryside with occasional visits to the peaceful surroundings of churches in the Gothic style. Of course, there has been some of that, but if we only wanted those things then we didn’t really need to leave home. Over the first couple of days from Southwark, we could see the world as it is in many places - the busyness of people hurrying to work, the sounds of nearby trains as we started with morning prayer in Southwark Cathedral, the run-down streets of south-east London, the huge amount of traffic, the industrial estates and the immense amount of fly-tipping. We are experiencing both beauty and ugliness on our journey, both the world we would like and the world as it is. Maybe that is part of our pilgrimage.

Day 5: Saturday 14 March

...do but themselves confound,

his strength the more is.

We were very blessed to be taken in as weary pilgrims with the people of Chaldon church.  It was such a special experience of fellowship, friendship and understanding of the task at hand. 

After a great breakfast and the biggest packed lunch you could imagine.  We set off on our next stage with seven of their pilgrimage group until we reached Oxted.   Both parties thrilled with the chance walk together.   After enjoying lunch in a field with the sun on our faces.  We headed off back on our own for the next stage - once again a few hills were there to provide the challenge.    We finally reached Otford station at 7:20pm to get us to Sevenoaks for the night and to catch up with our fellow

Pilgrims and hear their story so far.

We can’t believe the distance of our journey so far as we looked back at the map.   We look forward to start to share the journey and experience tomorrow before the final group joins us at lunch on Monday. 

Thank you for the prayers so far - it has certainly kept us going as the legs and feet are being challenged. 

Day 4: Friday 13 March

...his first avowed intent

to be a pilgrim

We headed out from Dorking to rejoin the North Downs Way although a shorter day, today’s challenge was the steep hills which seemed to be the morning theme. 

At lunch we were met by Helen, the vicar of Chaldon Parish with several of their Pilgrimage group who joined us for the afternoon stretch heading to their church.   The church group have been on many pilgrimages since 2019 and it was great to hear about them as we walked.  We are very grateful to the parish of Chaldon for providing food and accommodation for this evening and tomorrow morning.   

Tomorrow is our final day as a duo as we meet our fellow Southwark pilgrims in the evening.  We be in training to be in a larger group with Chaldon joining us for the first stage of our walk tomorrow. 

Day 3: Thursday 12 March

There are now two groups travelling - one from Southwark and the other from Winchester. They are due to converge on Saturday. The following reflection is from the Winchester group and the picture below is of the Southwark group setting off.

one here will constant be,

come wind, come weather;

Today has been our longest journey on our pilgrimage from accommodation to accommodation we have walked just over 23 miles.  As the quote from the hymn above suggests we have experienced a variety of weathers with sun, rain and strong wind. 

The route today followed the North Downs way, which for the most part was through woodland.   This has been a change from our previous days.   Around lunchtime, we were in need of sustenance (not many shops through the woods) it was sort of our cry in the wilderness and our ‘cry’ was answered by a horse box cafe a short way on - it was very welcome. 

Today we have passed close to Puttenham, Guildford, Shere and finally to Dorking.   On one of the hills we came upon the remote church of St Martha on the hill. Not so many miles tomorrow so a good sleep is beckoning.  

Day 2: Wednesday 11 March

There's no discouragement / shall make him once relent

After a good night’s  sleep we started with Morning Prayer led by Rev Howard at Alton Four Marks (see below) before we headed off on day 2 of our pilgrimage to Canterbury.  

Our journey was once again blessed with the weather, although some soggy areas on some of the route.  We continued to make progress to cover our 20 miles of the day. Our journey travelled through Alton, Holybourne,  Upper and Lower Froyle , Bentley and finishing in Farnham.     We even passed Pax Hill, the former home of Robert Baden Powell. Once again we were able to take in the beauty of God’s creation all around us (whilst still watching our footsteps). It has been amazing to see. 

We are staying in the wonderfully named Christmas Pie Barns, preparing for our long day tomorrow. Thank you for the prayers and wishes we have received. We also send our prayers and good luck to our fellow pilgrims starting in Southwark tomorrow and to everyone on their own pilgrimage at this time. 

Day 1: Tuesday 10 March

Who would true valour see, let him come hither

Our Pilgrimage started at the impressive Winchester  Cathedral, where Canon Julian sent us on our way with a blessing to aid our journey and preparing us for what lay ahead of us. Thank you also to Vince for our lift and for being our lifeline to our bags around each day. 

Our journey for day 1 has taken us through Alresford, Martyr Worthy,  Ropley and finally to rest at Four Marks near Alton.  A journey of about 17 miles.

We have been lucky as the weather has been good, the terrain in the main has been dry.  It has been quiet on the Pilgrim Way, which has given us time for fellowship and taking in the beauty all around us.

A great day one, please keep us in your prayers as you take on your own pilgrimage at this time. Time now for sleep preparing for what day 2 has in store.

Russell

If you would like to support our valiant pilgrims in your prayers, you can join in with this Pilgrim's Prayer, provided by Canterbury Cathedral. You may want to replace 'our' with 'their'.

O God, be for us our companion on the walk, our guide at the crossroads, our breath in our weariness, our protection in danger, our refuge on the Way, our shade in the heat, our light in the darkness, our consolation in our discouragements, and our strength in our intentions. So that with your guidance we may arrive safe and sound at the end of the Road enriched with grace and virtue may we return safely to our homes filled with joy. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.