Reflections – Day 13

👣 Our Friday 13th was not unlucky! We had a very short 6 mile walk into Coventry today meaning we had lots of time to chat to people as we entered the city and also managed some tourism at Coventry Cathedral! We are staying at Coventry Quakers and had a beautifully wholesome evening with Laura (a local artist/poet) and some people from the Walking Forest project and Coventry UK City of Culture 2021. Whilst our route today wasn’t super beautiful, it was very well planned as all our routes are by the amazing self-confessed map geek Helen (pictured below working hard)! Without Helen and the navigation team it would be much harder to get where we need to go and we really appreciate them! 

Helen

Western Camino – Day 9

👣 We left Worcester in the morning to head for Stourport and a rendezvous with the Marches Camino. Highlights of the walk included seeing a rare night heron and a spot of wild swimming. We were met in Stourport by some super local rebels with a banner and a melodian. More spontaneous Morris dancing. Then up to St Michael’s and All the Angels for cake, wonderful banners and the Marches and their Ginko. Shout out to the local tattoo artist at Beard’s Ink who heard the procession and came to offer his support for the Camino ❤

Reflections – Day 11 to 12

👣 We’ve explored a lot of farmland over the last two days coming from Daventry to Wolston via Grandborough. Highlights included amazing hospitality at St. Peter’s Church Grandborough and tonight at Wolston St Margarets C of E Church, lurking outside an Amazon Fulfilment Centre, a lunch stop at Wolfhamcote, Warwickshire, United Kingdom (a medieval village site), very friendly horses, and even friendlier villagers all along the way. One picture below is of our support van, which is faithfully driven by Bill (pictured in the Coat of Hopes) who is always there to greet us with a smile and snacks! We are so grateful to all our support drivers who carry extra equipment and are ready to help in an emergency. 🤗

Western Camino – Day 7 to 8

👣 After a blessing from Tewkesbury Abbey yesterday, walkers were accompanied out of town by well wishing locals including local Green Party councillor Cate Cody. A good walk along the Severn to Upton where the group were met by local supporters. After a lovely walk through countryside with the Malvern hills in sight,  finished with a welcome from a mini samba band and a large group of well-wishers in Barnard’s Green. Celebrations continued in Lansdowne Crescent Methodist Church with Extinction Rebellion Malvern Page. The evening rounded up with a visit from the ‘Rainbow Guardians’ and gorgeous music from Jonathan Penley on harp and Julia Palmer-Price on cello.

We had a lovely start to the day in Malvern with a Buddhist blessing from Kaspa and a huge turn out of day walkers. We had a lovely lunch at Shop at the Top at Callows End. We were welcomed into a church for an afternoon loo stop by the lovely Gary, minister at Powick, and made the final approach into Worcester met by the bishop and arch deacon. We finally made it to St George’s for refreshments and accomodation and huddled round the radio to listen to Sarah on BBC Hereford talk about the Camino! 📻

Reflections – Day 10

👣 London Camino Day 10: After a soggy start to the morning in which our waterproofs were properly put to the test for the first time, we enjoyed some very muddy fields as we made our way through some lovely villages to Daventry Methodist Church where we had another great meal and community event! We have a kind of routine now but each day is very different because of the people we meet, the places we pass through and the conversations we have. 😊

Reflections – Day 9

👣 London Camino Day 9: We had a brilliant day with warm welcomes at churches in Cosgrove and Yardley Gobion including a chat with some excited students from Yardley Gobion Church of England Primary School! We reached St Lawrence Church, Towcester, had yet another fantastic meal cooked for us (Levantine food this time) and spoke at a community event at the Sawpit Centre. Tomorrow we look forward to showers at the leisure centre before setting off 🐳

Western Camino – Day 5

👣 Western Camino Day 5: Over 20 Caministas left Stroud, after a beautiful silent sit at St Laurence’s Church. We were lead by Hugh from St Laurence’s Church who navigated us to Gloucester! Highlights of the walk were a) reaching the top of the Painswick Beacon for lunch b) some very curious cows and c) waving our flags above the M5 bridge and getting lots of waves from motorists. And would be remiss not to mention the colourful and scrumptious food awaiting for us at St Mary de Crypt Church, Gloucester!