My 2024 trekking started in early April with two weeks of walking The Pilgrims Way in southern England as a warm-up to “the big trek.” My ultimate goal is to walk from Canterbury, England, to Rome, Italy (or at least as far through Europe as possible with my 90-day Schengen Region tourist visa) on the Via Francigena.
While the events described and photos shown in the following blog posts occurred a few months ago, I will write in the present tense to make them seem more immediate and vivid to the reader.
The Pilgrims Way, 222 km (138 miles)
Day 0: Winchester
For a couple of days after flying from San Francisco to London, I adjusted to the time change while exploring old villages in the counties of Berkshire and Surrey, where I lived years ago. This morning, an hour’s coach ride delivered me to Winchester, once the first capital of a unified England under King Alfred the Great in late 9C, and the site of Winchester Cathedral, among the largest of its kind in Northern Europe.
“The building lacks a spire, and it may appear unremarkable from the outside, but it is the world’s longest intact medieval cathedral, and the Perpendicular Gothic interior has a noble simplicity.”
– Britannica.com
I collected my Pilgrim’s Passport and first stamp and walked through the beautiful building, humming Crosby, Stills, Nash’s haunting song, Cathedral.
In addition to many bones, graves, and memorials of people long forgotten, I found the final resting places of Saint Swithun, whose path I will walk for the first few days of this trip, and Jane Austen, the famous author of early 19C novels like Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.
I also spent much time thinking about my journey ahead and reflected on Mary Oliver‘s poem “The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac (Part 3).”
I know, you never intended to be in this world.
But you’re in it all the same.
So why not get started immediately.
I mean, belonging to it.
There is so much to admire, to weep over.
And to write music or poems about.
Bless the feet that take you to and fro.
Bless the eyes and the listening ears.
Bless the tongue, the marvel of taste.
Bless touching.
You could live a hundred years, it’s happened.
Or not.
I am speaking from the fortunate platform
of many years,
none of which, I think, I ever wasted.
Do you need a prod?
Do you need a little darkness to get you going?
Let me be as urgent as a knife, then,
and remind you of Keats,
so single of purpose and thinking, for a while,
he had a lifetime.
Day 1: Winchester to New Alresford
Today was an extraordinary day on this trip for a couple of reasons. For one, it was the first day – that much is obvious. But it was also a day I was joined by three friends to walk this first stage with me. I felt honored by their presence. Kitti is a former colleague I had only met on Zoom calls in 2021. Ian was in the small group that hiked the Pyrenees Freedom Trail in 2022. They drove from Bristol and Nottingham, respectively. Ian also brought Richard, a longtime friend of his who had lived in this area for many years. Richard is a font of local knowledge with expertise in the area’s flora.
We rendezvoused at a popular coffee shop before making our way to the cathedral and the official trailhead of The Pilgrims Way. The walk was mostly level, north out of town, on roads and paved footpaths to nearby villages before turning east along the River Itchen. Adjacent to mostly fallow fields, the path became increasingly slippery, with pools of water and mud left behind by the rains of the past few weeks. The cloudy skies brightened up before long, and the warmer temperatures allowed us to doff our jackets. The improved weather also brought more walkers into the fields (but no other apparent long-distance pilgrims).
As the direction signs constantly reminded us, today’s route was technically on St. Swithun’s Way. He is famous for being a bishop of Winchester Cathedral from 852 until he died in 863 and for being the guy whose shrine I posted about yesterday.
“His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. According to tradition, if it rains on Saint Swithun’s bridge (Winchester) on his feast day (15 July), it will continue for forty days.”
– St Swithun’s Way (2022, December 23). In Wikipedia.
The round-robin conversations flowed freely and constantly, with fascinating stories and helpful information. Those conversations only continued after we arrived at our day’s destination, The Cricketers Inn, in New Alresford.
I cannot express my gratitude to these three kind people who traveled far to join me on this adventure launch. I will always remember Day 1 with fond memories.
Day 1 Stats (Winchester to New Alresford)
Distance: 14.6km / 9.1mi
Elev Gain: 260m / 853ft
Time: 3:19
Steps: 31,741
Day 2: New Alresford to Alton
Today was my first experience of what I expected to have a lot on this trek: I am alone. I read on The Pilgrims Way Facebook group of other people asking questions or claiming interest in walking the path. But, so far, I know of only one English couple who walked a couple of stages ahead of me this weekend – they’re already back home. The only other people I’ve seen walking on these trails are locals out with their canine friends, and there haven’t been many of them. I accept this and look forward to finding satisfaction in my own company.
A highlight of today’s stage was the house in Alton where Jane Austen lived and wrote some of her novels, but I did nothing more than take a few snaps when I passed by. Besides never having read any of her work, her house was close to my destination town, and Liverpool was visiting Old Trafford to take on Manchester United. So I had a date with a seat in a pub after the walk, and I’ll honor my love of literature some other time.
The walk itself was partly through woods (muddy trails), partly on gravel farm roads (knee crushers), and mainly through open fields (lacking any landmarks to aid my navigation ). The most memorable feature of today was the blustering wind that averaged 25 knots and gusted up to 45 knots (per the Met’s coverage). At least it didn’t rain!
Oh… and I shouldn’t forget the aptly-named road on my path that was completely flooded!
Day 2 Stats (New Alresford to Alton)
Distance: 22.8km / 14.2mi
Elev Gain: 387m / 1,270ft
Time: 5:05
Steps: 35,826
Day 3: Alton to Farnham
Another day of walking through farm fields in different conditions: fallow, newly plowed, drying out, young corn and fava beans. Signs and my navigation app guide me through the fields, not around them – including the rugby fields. I passed by peaceful village churches and impressive estates used mainly for weddings and corporate events. There has been no rain for a few days or wind like yesterday, but some stretches of my path never seem to dry out. Too often, there are no reasonable detours, so I’m left with no recourse but to put my waterproof trekkers to the test. Muddy boots are great on the trail but are highly inconvenient when you get into town or have to enter buildings…
Words that resonated with me this morning…
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations.
– George Bernard Shaw
For the first time on this trek, I reached a point where I could see my destination town in the distance, which is always a treat. However, the time it will take me to arrive is hard to calculate because mud severely slows my pace.
Day 3 Stats (Alton to Farnham)
Distance: 18.8km / 11.7mi
Elev Gain: 374m / 1,227ft
Time: 4:13
Steps: 31,461
Day 4: Farnham to Guildford
Until Farnham, The Pilgrims Way largely overlaps St. Swithun’s Way, out of Winchester. Starting today, my route piggy-backs on the North Downs Way, which continues to Dover. The direction signposting I’ve seen on this walk, including today, refers only to the two more established routes. There is very little specific mention of The Pilgrims Way. I have the Cicerone Press guidebook as well as the corresponding stages in my AllTrails app. My practice so far has been to read the book the night before each new stage (ignoring its step-by-step turn instructions) and use AllTrails to both guide me and track me when I am traveling.
All of this produces situations when my AllTrails’s navigation doesn’t match the signage in front of me. Two examples from today:
The Pilgrims Way on the app led me along a narrow paved country lane for quite a distance, which is uninteresting, hard on the feet, and dangerous to share with speeding cars. Studying the fuller map, I could see a trail in the woods running parallel to the road just a kilometer south of me. It might be muddy, but it would be better than my road—and it turned out to be the North Downs Way. What a great alternative!
Later in the day, when walking and talking with the only other “pilgrims” I’ve yet met (Paul from Windsor and his two precocious daughters, 9yo Elizabeth and 7yo Octavia, who are walking a couple of stages for their Spring break from school), we found the opposite phenomenon. My app led me to a beautiful single-track trail while the signposting the family was following gave them a utilitarian dirt farm road, which was not very notable.
My point is there are two routes here, and occasionally they overlap.
But not always.
Day 4 Stats (Farnham to Guildford)
Distance: 23.2km / 14.4mi
Elev Gain: 555m / 1,821ft
Time: 5:21
Steps: 37,191
Day 5: Guildford to Shere
Words from T S Eliot’s The Waste Land that seem appropriate for how things went today…
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
The first pics below illustrate my excitement at the day’s start. My guidebook and app both said this would be the longest of my 15 stages to Canterbury, so I headed out early to beat the rain forecasted to arrive at 3pm. It was colder than any other morning I’d had so far, but the blue skies and bright sunshine encouraged me. My access walk from my Airbnb to the path took me through the grounds of Guildford Castle and along the River Wey. Both were sublime!
I hoped to wear my Chacos sandals while my sore, blistered pinkie toes could breathe a bit and start to heal. (This always happens to me – I have yet to figure out a way to “train” beforehand well enough to avoid painful Camino toes at the start of long treks…)
I moved leisurely for the first six miles, stopping frequently to take in the scenery and play with the dogs who were out walking their owners. There were a few small attractive churches on the way, including one atop St Martha’s Hill, from which, it is said, one can see the lands of seven counties.
I had a wonderful trip down memory lane when I got to the charming village of Shere. I last visited this town almost 30 years ago, and not much has changed. I sat and watched parents guiding their toddlers to feed the tame ducks in the stream that runs through town. I had done the same 30 years ago with my son. I then stopped for breakfast at a quaint tea house and got sucked into ordering both the granola and the scones. Yummy!
I knew that the next 9 miles of today’s walk would be only in the woods and away from any facilities, but I still thought I’d be able to complete it before the forecasted rain. When I finished my indulgent breakfast, I stepped outside to find the afternoon rains had arrived early. And it wasn’t a drizzle – it was a downpour!
I donned my foul weather gear and switched from sandals to boots (ouch!) before thinking, “It can’t continue like this for long! (Can it?) I’ll step into this pub for a few minutes and wait it out.”
Damn! Wrong idea. Wrong pub!
The White Horse in Shere is where one of my love’s favorite rom-com movies was filmed… I couldn’t have known that because it was made after my last visit. But my heart, already weakened by 30-year-old memories, got yanked sideways…
Sheesh… this is only Day #5 out of 100-something days ahead of me. An inauspicious start. What’s going on?
As usually happens when I have such crises of confidence, I found someone else struggling more than me… A family of four, tourists from China, was also caught out by the shift in weather. The difference between us, however, is that I knew English (language), and I knew the English (people). As the pub’s staff kept their focus on customers they understood, I quickly learned that this family needed a taxi to their lodging tonight. I tried Uber (Sorry, they don’t come out of London this far.)
Where are you going? Dorking? Hmm, me too! Where in Dorking? Really? Hmm, me too!
I don’t think I need to complete the story for you to know what happened next…
On my walk across Spain, I always encouraged my Camigos to do whatever they wanted to do – no judgment. But me? I was determined to walk the whole way. No. Matter. What.
I was so much older then. I’m younger than that now.
– Bob Dylan (like T S Eliot, a Nobel laureate in Literature)
So here I sit in Dorking’s only taqueria, having eaten a delicious burrito bowl and consumed a margarita (or three), wondering how I feel and how I should feel.
And trying to figure out what to do next. I mean, tomorrow morning.
Do I continue on The Pilgrims Way from here, according to my original plan? Or do I catch a taxi back to Shere and pick up where I left off? Does it matter? To who?
One thing about walking alone on a trekking route with no companions – you can easily get stuck in your head!
Day 5 Stats (Guildford to Shere)
Distance: 10.0km / 6.2mi
Elev Gain: 330m / 1,083ft
Time: 2:38
Steps: 20,259
Day 6: Dorking to Reigate
Throughout the night and even into this morning’s breakfast, I couldn’t decide what to do. I had sorted some mental things out in my head and then had sorted some physical things out in my pack, so I was excited to see how I’d do today. But where to start the day’s walk? That remained unanswered.
Soon after I awoke, I messaged Magic, the taxi driver who delivered the family and me from Shere to Dorking yesterday. If he could take me back to Shere, I would resume from there. Otherwise, I had little choice but to start walking from where I was. He never responded, so off I went! And what a glorious day it was in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Mostly woods, a few fields, no rain but a LOT of mud; no towns, villages, or churches; and a fair amount of up and down around Box Hill. My pace was slow but constant for four hours, and I walked the whole way in my Chacos sandals, so… happy feet! They got very dirty, of course, but they always wash up and dry quickly.
The difference between the past two days is startling! Yesterday’s experience proved to me that nothing good stays good. Today proved that nothing bad stays bad.
Day 6 Stats (Dorking to Reigate)
Distance: 13.4km / 8.3mi
Elev Gain: 488m / 1,601ft
Time: 3:41
Steps: 22,415
Day 7: Reigate to Oxted
Spring sprung today! I saw two things I haven’t seen much in the past week: other walkers and sharp shadows caused by the bright sun in the clear sky. The paths high up on the downs were often still muddy, but they were drying out, so I could only explain my slow pace due to meeting more people to chat with. As welcoming as all these were, the highlight of the day, and I dare say a highlight of my whole long trip, was the chance to meet up with Sean and Viv.
I was always close to London, but this hilltop vista was the only time I set eyes on the city in the distance.
Day 7 Stats (Reigate to Oxted)
Distance: 17.7km / 11.0mi
Elev Gain: 555m / 1,821ft
Time: 4:16
Steps: 29,194
I met Sean and Viv during my first UK work assignment in the mid-1980s, and the two took great care of my family as we learned how to live a good English life. We’ve stayed in touch, but this is the first chance to meet in person in what we reckon has been about 25 years. It was a fun reunion, and I look forward to seeing them again when I finish The Pilgrims Way in a week’s time.
One week into a 3+ month-long journey, I had reasons to worry (wet weather, mud, and my fitness) and reasons to celebrate (visiting old stomping grounds, being out on the trail, and the beautiful countryside). This path differs significantly from the popular and highly sociable Camino de Santiago, but I am learning to love the solitude. It lacks the number and variety of pilgrim accommodations, and, being in an affluent part of the world, my daily expenditures for food, drink, and lodging can’t compare. I wonder how the second week will change this early experience and how I’ll feel many weeks hence.
You’ve inspired me to pop my hiking boots back on!!! Thank you Chris. Xx
Great read, thank-you Chris! Once again-
Thanks, Mark!