Pilgrims' Way?

Pilgrim Brother Percival - a tribute to Pilgrims, a resident of Pilgrims Way and a neighbour of Marley tiles.

I have been on a high for two days.  I love walking through the English countryside.  I love walking through history, knowing that where I am walking generations have passed before me.  More than any other walk I have done the North Downs Way is that as much of it follows or parallels the routes that the pilgrims took to Thomas A Becket and Canterbury.  There were lodges and resting places - early tourism I suppose and this is one of the few remainders

This weekend was the first weekend walking since October (rather shocked about this!).  I didn't know how fit I was.  I am not that tall and plump.  Exercise not been a priority recently but my job means I do a lot of running around in the physical rather than the mental stage.  Just being outdoors discovering new views, light and colour refreshes me even if I do wake up to find that it is snowing!

Walking through the brutal cold in my walking gear (let's be honest about this - shabby looking Rohan fleece, trail shoes with shoe laces that should be condemned, non-matching gloves and a classy mohair scarf (Rowan aura, Kim Hargreaves design) I am happy.  I began at the Medway and finished in Lenham with a night in Detling.

Let's begin with the shock - snowing at the end of March?  Now warning on BBC.  Thank goodness for warm layers but I was not impressed!

I do owe thanks.  Traveline for warning me buses to Borstal not running on Good Friday (2 more miles on the clock!), Detling Coach House B&B for suggesting I order an Indian rather than struggling to and from the village before light failed, the Dirty Habit in Hollingbourne for one of the best BLTs I have had and not being shocked when my refill for a lime and soda was a coffee!

Having being doing bits of the walk here and there and by train it took this weekend to realise the enormity of the trail.  In part I was inspired by Brother Percival (I keep trying to call him Cuthbert), in part by British Rail (I am that generation).  There is a tribute to the pilgrims and walking in light snow brought it home to me how tough pilgrims have it and particularly those of generations before the delights of goretex.  I was grateful for my layers although the most effective was probably my iceberg wool sweater.  Wool is a great insulator. Having taken 6 hours to walk from Detling it took about 10 minutes to flash past the stations I had avoided and it took half an hour or so on the train home to flash past stations such as Otford which had taken me days to walk through and agony of legs. Some of the pilgrims never made it home, they were away for months. I could phone home, get messages via an ipad but the original pilgrims gave up everything.  We forget that.

As stated on twitter I can pack light but fail when it comes to knitting.  I carry the same amount of stuff for 1 night as I do for 3 in terms of clothes but knitting projects?  This time I was slightly weighted down by yes the blanket.  I think that Brother Percival might have appreciated a slight respite from the cold.




Working on the further routes but I know it is Dover or bust!

On the knitting front, it was an evening when 3 strands become 1 even if not perfectly blocked and stitched.