W2J week 1

 



Week 1

Our starting point is St John the Baptist Upton Bishop which is in need of a few repairs which is why we decided to walk (run/swim/cycle/ride/row out of doors or on a machine) to Jerusalem as a team effort to help raise some of the necessary funds. Since taking exercise is something we are allowed to do in lockdown, everyone is welcome to join in. Details can be found at http://uptonbishop.org/walk-to-jerusalem/. Armchair walkers are also very welcome to sponsor the walkers.

First leg, via London and Canterbury, to Dover on foot is 190 miles from Upton Bishop.

Second leg, via the Dover-Calais ferry, to Brussels is 337 miles for UB

Third leg to Bonn is 469 miles from UB

Fourth leg to Vienna is 983 miles from UB

Fifth leg to Timisoara is 1,289 miles from UB

Sixth leg to Istanbul, via the ferry to Yalova, is 1,930 from UB

Seventh leg, via the ferry to Tripoli, to Tasucu, is 2,427 miles from UB

The final leg to Jerusalem is 2,886 miles from UB

And so the adventure begins.

Friday 8th January 

Well, this is it now, no turning back. Who was it who said every journey begins with the first step? Five of us set out today from Upton Bishop to test our boots and backpacks for the first short hop to Gloucester. Some of us didn't fancy camping in town, although the cathedral cloisters looked inviting, so we carried on up to the Air Balloon to spend the first night there under the stars, there being no room at the inn.

Saturday 9th

New arrivals this morning brought us very welcome fresh coffee and we made rapid progress, stopping in Oxford to say hello to Jane's friends before pushing on into the Chilterns.

Sunday 10th

We remembered in our prayers this morning, via Zoom with David, Tirsh Grigor, our late parish priest from the early years of this century.

The chalky hills afforded us some great views of 'the slumbering Midland plain' and lively discussion as to the origin of the quotation. Prose or poem? Thank goodness for the internet which gave us the answer before we came to blows (Rupert Brooke it was, a wistful poem of love and loss). Thus refreshed by literature, we swung into High Wycombe where further refreshment was found in a pint.. or two.

Monday 11th 

Parliament Square. The police were keen to move us on, particularly as our number swelled to twenty during the course of the day. They seemed to find our good-natured party something of a threat. We're hardly Republican insurgents...

Tuesday 12th to Thursday 14th

There has been a great deal of chatter and good banter but progress has been slow. As more pilgrims join, some of us use it as an excuse to stop. Things came to a grinding halt when the first batch of pilgrim's cockle badges turned up. Jane handed them out so everyone had to gather round to ooooh and aaaah. They are quite cute shiny badges and well worth the extra outlay. It's all in a good cause after all. Even when we get moving there is a lot of back slapping and self congratulation but not much apparent sense of urgency. We only have until Easter. This will never do.

Friday 15th

News came today that work has begun on renovating the wall by the little gate on the south side of UB church. They're going to give the platform some TLC as well. It gives a boost to our morale so let's hope we'll tot up a few more miles over the weekend.


Saturday 16th

A sudden leap forward: Being now a merry band of fifty pilgrims seems to have lent us wings. We stopped for lemonade and cake at the excellent tea rooms in Canterbury Cathedral. 2021 is the 800th anniversary of St Thomas Becket's martyrdom, all the more reason for a pilgrimage. We'll have to be back in time for the Tea, Tour and Talk:   https://www.canterburycathedrallodge.org/events/cathedral-archives-library-tour-afternoon-tea/
No hanging around today though: we hopped onto the Dover-Calais ferry and pressed on to Kortrijk (Courtrai to the Wallons), a pleasant Flemish town dominated by twin round towers topped by conical slate roofs guarding the river crossing. Here we found comfortable lodgings for the night as it has been a long day's march and we all feel the need for a bit of pampering. It won't take us long to get to Brussels from here in the morning where the famous Grand Place marks the end of the second leg of our journey.




Location: United Kingdom

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