Norfolk Pilgrim

Ely

2012-01-25T11:15:00.000Z

Ely was as much a holy island as Lindisfarne or Iona in Saxon times. To this day the cathedral stands on its little hill above the flat black fens, but since the meres and marshes were drained, on an island no more!

I had come to Ely in search of St. Withburg. In the 10^th century monks stole her body from Dereham churchyard and enshrined her relics in the abbey church next to those of her royal and saintly sisters – Etheldreda and Sexburgh . Etheldreda founded the monastery in the 7^th century and when she died Sexburgh became abbess.

The tides of time have washed away most traces of the holy sisters. HenryVIII’s commissioners made a thorough job of destroying their shrines. And, with the passing of the monasteries, the abbey church became the Cathedral for the Diocese of Ely.

I did find one direct link to the foundation years, parts of a memorial that once marked the grave of Ovin, Etheldreda’s steward. Dug up by chance in the 19^th century, Ovin’s Stone now stands in the south aisle of the nave.

I was disappointed to find no trace of the St.Withburg but the memory of St Etheldreda has been revived in recent years A plaque marks the place of her shrine in front of the high altar and there is a modern statue in a side chapel.

Ely Cathedral is full of light and life. After more than 1300 the site remains a vibrant focus of pilgrimage and prayer. Among the signs of the liveliness are exciting pieces of modern art dotted around the building.

I liked David Wynne’s (1967) Easter morn sculpture of Jesus and Mary in the south transept and was disturbed by his blond, bimbo (?) Mary in the Lady Chapel! Best of all I loved Jonathan Clark’s (2001) massive Way of Life that greets visitors as they enter through the west door. It set me to pondering about centuries of Christian life and faith in East Anglia.

St. Felix and St. Fursey began the Christian mission at the invitation of King Anna who was father of the three sisters. He and their brother Jurmin both died in battle against the pagan Mercians. They took up the torch of faith and passed the flame on . Several generations later, in this Olympic year, the responsibility of living this Way of Life and passing on the light falls to us.

Buckenham Rook Roost

2011-12-02T16:48:00.002Z

Beneath a winter sky the sun sinks slowly in the west . Wrapped against the cold - and rapt by the beauty - I pondered on the generations before me who had stood and watched as day turned to night. Millions of sunsets and millions upon millions of the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. I found myself signing with the Psalmist:

You appointed the moon to mark the seasons

and the sun knows the time of its setting,

You make darkness that it may be night

in which the beasts of the forest creep forth

(Psalm 104)

Across the darkening marsh the whistles and murmuring of widgeon quietened, a thin mist rose and deer emerge from the woodland to graze beneath a reddening sky.

All this was but the overture to the evening’s main event. I had come to see a wild life spectacular which is repeated every night during the winter period and the station platform was the grandstand from which to view it.

From far and wide streamed “ in a countless host” each as black a clergyman’s cassock and each with shiny bright button eyes. Tens of thousands of Rooks and Jackdaws! In fading light wave upon wave of birds came in ‘til the fields were covered and the electricity lines jammed full. Then, as if on a conductors cue, they were up and moving to the trees of Buckenham Carr, noisily jostling for position in the trees. After a while, just as suddenly, a great quietness descended and it was night!

There are an estimated 50,000 birds at the Buckenham Roost making it the biggest in Europe. It features in Mark Cocker’s “Crow Country: a meditation on birds landscape and nature” which is a wonderful read! And got a mention in the Doomsday Book too.

As I retrace my steps to the RSPB car park beside the station, a train, windows brightly lit, rattled by on its way from Great Yarmouth to Norwich - and the rest of Psalm 104 echoed in my heart

O Lord how manifold are all your works

In wisdom you have made them all

The earth is full of your creatures….

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live

I will make music to my God while I have my being

(There is vehicular access to Buckenham Marshes using the level crossing at Strumshaw with a dirt road leading down to the River Yare.)

South Cornwall Pilgrimage

2011-10-18T08:58:00.001Z

In September I was down in Cornwall for a week and made a flying visit to pay my respects to Winwaloe at Gunwallow and the Church of the Storms , Selevan at St Levan and incorprated a visit to the Minack Theatre.

Fiddler on the Roof beside the seaside?!

Extra-ordinary! Made me think about the place of faith in our Global Village!

On a dafter note I wondered if Selevan preached to the fish down in Cornwall I should have a go at preaching to the seals when I got back home.

John's Garden

2011-09-18T07:32:00.006Z

Decades ago I made some clever cogs comment that's in a way has come back to haunt me!

In the middle of the well manicured Vicarage lawn, overnight, a dandelion had the cheek to raise its golden head.

John, the vicar, spotted it as we came out of morning prayer! I, his curate, spoke up for the interloper! "The beauty! The wonder! God's Providence! " If truth be known it was just a glib comment.

John remembered the exchange I forgot! It took me years to hear and respond the Master's command to consider the flowers of the field.

Visiting my old friend I noticed that his garden, for all his fullness of years, is still well tended and well stocked

Taking leave of him I caught sight of a bunch of cyclamen nestled in a rockery by the back gate and thought of the wild cyclamen growing on Nazareth's hills. Something to consider - ehh!?

There's something here about what grows wild in Galilee and is cultivated in Surrey!

Extreme Fish ! No Swearing!

2011-08-18T16:29:00.007Z

Great day out Tope Fishing with
www.norfolkfishingtrips.co.uk

last Tuesday.
Many thanks to the skipper Adam and crew Tammy.

Unlike Mr Robson Green I hooked, played and boated the beast without an expletive. Oh! O.K.! One or two "Why bless me"s!

Duly measured weighed and tagged, the fish was slipped back into the sea and swam off with vigour.

Afterwards I fell to thinking about the effort of winding the fish in. The fishing gear had been provided on the boat. All of the best quality. What we today call a reel Izaak Walton, he of the Complete Angler, called a pulley.

George Herbert, one of his fishing chums ( he also fished with John Donne and the Kenna who appears in the Complete Angler was Thomas Ken's half-sister!) wrote :

The Pulley

VVHen God at first made man,

Having a glasse of blessings standing by;

Let us (said he) poure on him all we can:

Let the worlds riches, which dispersed lie,

               Contract into a span.



               So strength first made a way;

Then beautie flow’d, then wisdome, honour, pleasure:

When almost all was out, God made a stay,

Perceiving that alone of all his treasure

               Rest in the bottome lay.



               For if I should (said he)

Bestow this jewell also on my creature,

He would adore my gifts in stead of me,

And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:

               So both should losers be.

	

               Yet let him keep the rest,

But keep them with repining restlesnesse:

Let him be rich and wearie, that at least,

If goodnesse leade him not, yet wearinesse

               May tosse him to my breast.

So here's a thought - God winding you and I in!

Hard work, but joyful and no expletives!

I know myself to be thoroughly hooked and tagged.

By tagging the tope naturalists hope to get an understanding of their lives - their journeys and resting places.

It seems to me God has a complete knowledge of my life

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
   My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
   intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
   all the days that were formed for me,
   when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
   I come to the end—I am still with you.
( Psalm 139)

Risen Christ over Altenau

2011-07-23T09:04:00.001Z

On a rocky outcrop, above a small park, stands the village church of St. Nikolai. Built of timber in 670, it is a smaller version of the famous Marktkirche in nearby Clausthal.
A weathervane, atop the bell tower, represents Christ Risen from the tomb. Inside the lavish, but by comparison with rococo Catholic baroque churches, restrained Lutheran Baroque has Christ arisen, above the pulpit.

With this altar piece I had finally discovered a church interior that perfectly complements the baroque music of Handel's Messiah

It was good to find the church doors open and a warm welcome from the Christian community that meets there .
Like many of our Norfolk Churches they welcome visitors and seek to share their faith with those who respond to their invitation to stop and rest a while.

Back in 740 AD when St. Boniface, Walburga and others were doing their thing spreading the Gospel to the, then, heathen Germans, King Alfwald wrote to them assuring them of the prayers of the royal monasteries of East Anglia.

It looks like their mission has born plenty of fruit. So much so that they can teach us a thing or two!

As I contemplated the altar piece of St. Nickolai's church I wondered where I placed preaching in the life of the church? Above the sacraments, as the pulpit was above the altar here?
And what about the Risen and Glorified Christ? So often we English put the cross above everything . But surely above the Cross and defeat is Resurrection and victory! In the quietness of that holy place and in the stillness of my mind, my heart danced and sang to Handel's Alleluia Chorus!

Witches over the Brocken

2011-07-23T08:22:00.000Z

O.K. the Brocken is no great peaked mountain. Its just the highest point of the Hartz.

But anyone will tell you that is where the witches gather on the eve of May Day - Walpurgis Night.

In Goethe's Faustus the Brocken is where the witches gather:

Now to the Brocken the witches ride;

The stubble is gold and the corn is green;

There is the carnival crew to be seen,

And Squire Urianus will come to preside.

So over the valleys our company floats,

With witches a-farting on stinking old goats.

In the tourist towns shops are full of souvenir witches.
The pre-Christian religion seems to linger here.

In the Middle Ages they replaced the feast day of St Walburga on May Day and focussed on the light of the Christian faith driving out the darkness of evil. Walburga was a Devon girl, part of St. Boniface's mission to Frisia and Germany, she died in Heidenheim in Franconia.

A Pfennig Dropping Moment

2011-07-14T17:21:00.004Z

As I left the Marktkirche in Clausthal I had not expected to see the royal arms and cipher of George III. How daft is that?! George was Elector of Hanover and here we were in the what had been part of George's realm! So you'd expect to see it , surely?

No! One war had drawn a veil over the Anglo-German past. The House of Windsor was not longer of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Moutbatten was not longer Battenberg and my own family name changed from Bergman to Woodham. The next war completed the job and drew a blackout curtain over it!

Time had come to own my Anglo-German origins. So next day, when I stood before the war memorial in Altenau and thought about it all, I found that for the first time I really was honouring our dead (unserer toten)!

No only our dead, but our saints and heroes as well! I'm thinking about those who saw what the Nazi world view was doing to the country and acted.

Deitrich Bonhoffer understood that the tragedy that had overtaken Germany and its neighbours had come about because Germany had forgotten its Christian faith.

And now the whole of our western (so-called) civilisation seems to have forgotten its faith!

There are lessons to be learned from history, not just for the German nation, but for all of us!

Wandering in the Harz

2011-07-10T08:43:00.005Z

June took us to the Harz Mountains. We were camping and had family join us for the weekend. It was great!
I'd describe the landscape as Dartmoor with lots of trees and lakes !

At times the scenery had me wandering about in a hymn that I have never much enjoyed - O Lord my God when I in awsome wonder consider all thy hand hath made! It was the verse that goes "When through the woods and forest glades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees".

When through woods and forest glades....

Yes, well we were doing that and swimming in the cold blue lakes (remember your baptism!). The tall trees are such - think soaring columns in a cathedral - that they lift your eyes and heart to heaven!

Its a bit off the beaten track for most Brits . The footpaths are wonderfully kept and well way marked. The natives are friendly! We stayed at Camping Prahljust just outside Clausthal-Zellerfeld. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Way of the (Whissonset) Cross

2011-05-27T15:10:00.000Z

(Forgot to post this in March ! Better late than never!)

At Whissonsett there is a Saxon cross half as old as the Christian faith.

At Mileham a striking new east window.

I wanted to see both so I decided to walk. I'd take in the Coke family memorials at Tittleshall and the deserted village of Godwick on the way and make it a way of the cross.

In as much as the walk went to plan it was good. The memorials and Godwick village acted as momento mori – reminders of my mortality. The cross and the window (did what all good sacred art does) linked particular times and places to the eternal realities. I particularly like it that Pippa Blackall's stained glass Baptism of Jesus has, in the background , the Lamb of God pastured with Richard Butler-Stoney's Guernsey cows! For all the beauty and meaning of these works of art it was the unplanned elements of the walk that made it a way of the cross. It was such tough going! I had allowed 3 hours to walk the circuit. It took 5!

I got lost! More than once! The leg between Whissonsett and Mileham where new fields and ditches had been put in and way marks lost was particularly difficult. An Ordinance Survey map and a compass where an absolute necessity. But it was the going underfoot that caused the most delay. Wet Boulder Clay is perilous to walk on (my companion fell twice) and the mud sticks so your boots become as heavy as lead!

On the way I discovered a piece of sacred art that seemed to put everything in context. Leaning against Chancel wall of Tittleshall church, in complete contrast with and next to the grandest of memorials , was a processional cross. Its solid oak shaft pierced by three, splintered bits of wood forming the horizontal. Humble and holy it had been made by someone who knew the value of wood and the cost of nails!

It reminded me of my own jagged bits of brokenness and the call to follow not just up the aisle but to Golgotha and beyond . In Mileham's east window the newly baptised Jesus embraces his new life, and prefigures his own death, with arms wide open.

I trace the sign of the cross on my forehead, remember my own baptism into Christ's death and resurrection and wondered if I dare to walk in the way of the cross?

Walk on the Edge

2011-05-27T07:54:00.001Z

I parked opposite Pentney church and walked back towards Narborough. At the first opportunity I turned right and followed a road and then bridle paths down to the river, where I joined the Nar Valley Way and headed west towards Pentney Abbey.

The abbey used to sit on an island surrounded by the waters of a tidal creek, where the Nar flowed into the Fens. Today the Fens have been drained, the river embanked and the only thing that’s left of the priory is its gatehouse! But, if you were looking for Norfolk’s version of St. Michael’s Mount, or Holy Island, Pentney Abbey could have been it!

At one time the Nar was called God’s Holy River on account of all the religious houses on its banks. It’s still a holy, wild and lonely place.

In a strong wind birds kept their heads down. But several brave Skylarks and Yellow Hammers sung out their songs and Swifts, Swallows and Sand Martins swooped and dived. From the water meadows along the valley nesting Curlews and Oyster Catchers set off in search of food .

Pausing to take a drink I was overcome by the tranquillity of the place. Then from across the flat sea of fenland crops I heard the sound of the war birds –Tornados taking off from RAF Marham! Were they Libya bound?

That morning I had heard a report about systematic use of rape by pro-Gaddafi forces! I can’t believe that I can listen to horrific stories like that and be unmoved. It had been like water off a ducks back. Now, in solidarity with the monks who had been there before me and the biblical exiles who had sat by the rivers of Babylon, I sat by the river and wept!

The path back took me past where the Priory of the Holy Trinity, St. Mary and St. Mary Magdalen had stood and close by the broken shaft of a long gone wayside cross. On the way, I found myself on the brink of understanding and with a Song of Sion forming on my lips!

My body will hang on the cross of the world
Tomorrow,” he said, “and today,
And Martha and Mary will find me again
And wash all my sorrow away,” he said,
“And wash all my sorrow away.

Sydney Carter: Said Judas to Mary

Considering Birds, Flowers, Butter (and) Dragon Flies

2011-05-22T08:15:00.002Z

Norfolk Hawker copyright Ben Revell used with his permission

One day last summer......

High summer with big blue skies, a warm sun and butterflies and dragon flies on the wing. On such a day I went to Strumpshaw Fen. My intention was to “consider the flowers of the field”. You can go there at anytime of year “to consider the birds” . June is the month for flowers!

Strumpshaw Fen’s wildflower meadow is a remnant of, once common, flower rich pasture. Plantlife UK estimate that 97% of the habitat was lost between 1930 and 1980! The names of the flowers are poetry in themselves : - Ragged Robin, Yellow Rattle, Marsh Orchid, Marsh Cinquefoil, Yellow Flag. They were a joy to behold!

Soon my attention was taken by the Swallow Tailed Butterflies – what beauty ! Next it was the turn of dragonflies…….

A chance meeting with a wildlife photographer led to a master class in dragonfly identification. It was difficult not to share his enthusiasm. At the very least I can now tell the difference between a Four Spotted Chaser and a Norfolk Hawker! And I want to learn more.

As my new friend Ben ( see his photos at http://benrevell.me.uk/) helped me to name the animals, I was reminded of the first man , Adam, doing the same for God in Genesis 2 . When I learned that Aeshna Isosceles – the Norfolk Hawker – is an endangered species I began to ponder the previous chapter where God appoints human beings to be stewards of Creation.

For me, wonder at the Creation easily spills over into praise of the Creator. My heart was full on that summer’s day and my spirit sang! But when I considered the fragile web of life that links and supports plants, birds and animals I realised that Stewardship of Creation requires more consideration than I usually give!

So thank God the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds who run the reserve, their supporters and similar conservation organisations. Contact them to give your support on 01603 661662 or go to their website.

The Strumpshaw Reserve ( Grid Reference TG341065) is open to the public every day. You can get there by train and foot – its just 1.4 miles from Brundall Station – or by bike through quiet lanes.

To find out more about Butterflies and Dragonflies you can join a guided walk at Strumpshaw on 19^th June from 2 p.m. – 4.30 p.m. for more details phone 01603 715191 or E-mail: Strumpshaw@rspb.org.uk

Holy Land

2011-04-24T13:46:00.009Z

To the west of the B1113 is the source of the Little Ouse on the east the source of the river Waveney. When it rains Norfolk is an island! Holy Island?

Holy Land

When rain falls hard on Lopham Fen

Flooding marsh and filling drains

Norfolk is an island then

And in my mind it still remains

Down the river line the Ouse

Traces the bounds to fenland drains

Round wash and coast to Yarmouth strand

Then up the Waveney home again

Walsingham a Nazareth

Broadland lakes a Galilee

Where fishermen are called to faith

And Christ comes walking by the sea

Into a boat to the other side.

One lies sleeping in the stern.

While sandwiches on picnic rugs

Are taken, blessed and shared in turn.

A green hill outside a city wall

A place of punishment provides.

When viewed from it’s own Olivet

The city’s temple seems to thrive.

Blind, halt and lame, the deaf and

Dumb, addicted, prisoner, stranger, ill

Christ’s presence in his little ones

Challenges his followers still

And Providence whose birds and flowers

Sing and blow along my way

Leads me down Emmaus paths

To brightness at the end of day

When rain falls hard on Lopham Fen

Norfolk is an island then

Immodesty at Wroxham

2011-03-08T17:20:00.001Z

I went to take pics of St. Mary's Wroxham yesterday for tourist websites. Its part of what I do for Churches Together on the Broads.

I've been in and out of the magnificent doorway at St. Mary's for decades and never stopped to look before! There next to the carvings of foul fiends is this immodest lady showing her parts! What is called a sheila na gig from the Irish Gallic

What's it all about, then? Rude ladies represented on church doorways? I imagine sheila na gigs are not primarily a warning against lust etc.. but more likely to be a reminder that "man born of woman has but a short time to live!" All those born of woman will die!

Just inside the door is the original site of the font.

What I think is being communicated is something like:-

When you enter the Church and become one of the baptised

you are no longer subject to the powers of evil and death.

You have been born again - given new life!

Hmmnnnnn.......

Candle Mass at Walsingham

2010-12-31T11:14:00.000Z

Love it or loath it, there’s more to Walsingham than the shrine! Never mind summer’s high church high jinks! I recommend Walsingham’s wet winter woods in February.
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, some call it the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Candlemas falls on 2nd. Forty days after Jesus’ birth Mary, Joseph had taken their new baby on pilgrimage. At the temple in Jerusalem the infant Christ was recognised by the elderly Simeon and Anna who spoke to his parents about their child and his destiny.

One misty February morning found me on pilgrimage in Walsingham. I had parked at the Slipper Chapel, then walked the Holy Mile to the Abbey - avoiding the traffic on the main road by following the new path along the old railway line.

Paying my entrance fee, I passed into the Abbey grounds and made straight to the pack-horse bridge. Wow! Snowdrops, Candlemas Bells some call them, bejewelled with dew, bowed their heads beneath the skeletal spindles of bare branched trees. And here and there among the Snowdrops the gold of Aconites shone through. Here was a treasure beyond price.

Alternative names for Snowdrops are Fair Maids of February and Purification Flowers. Walking the paths my mind turned to Mary, motherhood, joy and pain, life and death, the mystery of suffering and Anna’s prophecy that a sword would pierce her heart.

I thought about Simeon too. Like him I’m near the end of my life. Like him I believe that Jesus is the answer to all the worlds ills - “a light to lighten the nations!” But will I be ready to sing the Nunc Dimittis when my time comes?!
I tried saying the words out loud:
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation…….

And in the wintry wood the flowers shone like stars in the night sky!

The Abbey Grounds are open daily 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. £3.50 for adults. £2.59 concessions. Tickets from February – to the end of October are available from the Shirehall Museum. Visitors are advised that stout shoes should be worn: dogs be kept on leads; and although not all the grounds are wheel chair accessible and there is a wheel chair that can be borrowed by visitors

Fursey Pilgrimage 2010

2010-10-23T14:47:00.001Z

2nd October was the annual Fursey Pilgrimage at Burgh Castle

Lovely day! Well done everyone!

http://churchestogetheronthebroads.org.uk/2010/10/04/annual-st-fursey-pilgrimage/

Fursey celebration at St Matthews, Norwich on 15th Jan

More info ......

Flixton in Loving Land

2010-10-23T14:29:00.001Z

In 1630 the Rev’d Brisley preached at the rededication of St. Andrew’s, Flixton. He called his sermon, 'The Glory of the Latter Temple greater than the Former' .
When published in London in 1631 it carried a sub-title 'A Sermon preached at the Consecration or Restitution of the Church of Flixton, in Lovingland, Suffolk, being sometimes the Mother Church of the East Angles.'. The Glory has passed! All that is left are ivy clad ruins

I was following my St. Felix obsession. Was the farm, the ton, that bore his name – Flixton - once part of the saint’s estates? Had Felix’s feet walked these paths? and had he and his fellow monks worshipped on this hill?

Other visitors had noted Roman tiles in the crumbling walls. Were the tiles from Burgh Castle, the near by Roman fort, where Felix’s fellow missionary St. Fursey had his base? Now there’s a thought! . Fursey and Felix neighbours on what in the 7^th century was an island at the mouth of the great estuary.

Lothingland we call the area but the Rev’d Brisley called it Lovingland !

That seems a more appropriate name . Out of love for God St. Felix left Burgundy and Fursey, Ireland to bring the Good News that in the Saxon tongue we called God-Spel!

That was long ago. So much has happened since. Viking raids! The Norman Conquest! The Black Death! Civil War! Industrial Revolution! World Wars! Today machines cultivate fields where men once followed ox drawn ploughs. Pylons march across the land carrying electricity from off-shore wind farms!

And to this day the conversion of the East Angles, which the saints began, has not been completed! Will those who take up the baton and (try) to follow in their footsteps find the challenge has lost anything of its urgency or the God-Spel/Gospel lost any of its power?

I explored the network of paths between Oulton and the Blundeston /Oulton Road that meet at St. Andrew’s Church on a rise to the south of Home Farm. I parked on the road, walked up the farm drive – it doubles as a footpath - and turning right before reaching the house. At the top of the hill at the side of the track a fingerpost sends walkers on a circular path. Look on the opposite side of the track for the ruins.

St. Andrew’s font stands outside the priests’ door of St. Mary, Blundeston

Haddiscoe

2010-10-23T14:09:00.001Z

There was a settlement at Haddiscoe long before fishermen began to dry their nets on the sandbanks at the mouth of the estuary - sandbanks that were to become Great Yarmouth!

Parking my car beneath the church, with its 11^th century Anglo-Norman round tower, I walked in the Beccles direction, on a footpath that crossed a bridge over the Landspring Beck . The first right turn took me, via quiet lanes, past Haddiscoe Hall and, at a junction a mile on, another right turn took me to the bottom of the valley. A final right turn put me on an indistinct path along a ditch and field edge leading back to the St. Mary’s church. The path was rich with flowers. Butterflies flitted from flower to flower and dragonflies darted about my head as I made my way through waist high grass and masses of Lady’s Bedstraw!

As I got near the church a Buzzard flew out of the trees and the path plunged into a wooded glade known Devil’s Hole. This is where the beck rises from a spring. It is frequented by Little Owls and thick with Bluebells in the early summer.

The church sits on a flat area that falls away suddenly to the valley and marsh below. Before the rivers were embanked and the marshes drained it would be the seaside! That it was a former fishing village suggests the identity of the mysterious guardian of the church. Above the beautiful and elaborately carved south door there is a relief carving. Who is it?

My best guess is - the fisherman - St. Peter. There is a throne and something (tongues of fire?) is going on over his head. If it is Peter, then the objects in his hands are keys to the eternal gates. Together the door and carving proclaim the church as an outpost of heaven. Lines of a psalm come to mind “I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84. 10

Going inside I knelt a while and prayed . Then, having touched base, went on my pilgrim way “looking for the city that is to come!”
“Happy are those whose strength is in you,” sings the Psalmist, “ in whose heart are the highways to Zion” …….⁷ “They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion” Psalm 84.5 & 7.

Broads Brand

2010-07-26T19:23:00.001Z

Broads Brand? Hmmnnnn

See Churches Together on the Broads

North Elmham

2010-07-26T19:00:00.002Z

I’d come to North Elmham pursuing a mystery. Did the Bishops of Elmham from Bedwinus in the 7th century to Herfast in the 11th have their cathedral in Norfolk or Suffolk? North or South Elmham?

I’d followed a circular walk I’d found in the Norfolk Health Heritage and Conservations Walks leaflet (You can get hold of one from Norfolk County Council or on-line at www.countrysideaccess.norfolk.gov.uk .) It took me through parkland, along quiet lanes and ended up at the parish church (Well worth a visit in its own right!)

My final destination was indicated by a brown tourist sign. Uncompromisingly it asserts “Saxon Cathedral”! But when you get to the ruins and read English Heritage’s helpful interpretation boards there’s no certainty at all. What you see are earthworks and ruins of a castle built by Henry Despencer, the fighting Bishop of Norwich. He was famous for putting down the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. A man not without enemies, Henry had obviously felt the need of protection! To make his castle he converted a church built by Herbert de Losingia the first Bishop of Norwich. Herbert’s 11th century church may have been built on the site of the former cathedral.

Now here the mystery deepens, Herbert’s church had an unusual floor plan. It is the twin of a church he built at South Elmham! Whatever the explanation, it’s a fair bet that North Elmham was an important Christian centre in the early days of the conversion of East Anglia. It is next door to the largest known Early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Spong Hill! Dr. Sam Newton ( see the Wuffings website) argues for both Elmhams being mission stations established by St. Felix. Maybe both were cathedrals.

Cathedrals or not, the Herbert’s churches in North and South Elmham lie in ruins today. Birds sing where once monks chanted psalm and prayer. Standing amidst Cow Parlsley and listening to the Blackbird’s song I found myself singing the Te Deum. “All creation worships you the father everlasting”!

How different were these three bishops - St. Felix, Herbert and Henry - an evangelist, an empire builder and a war lord! And today’s bishops? More like Felix than the others I hoped. The conversion of East Anglia started long ago has yet to be achieved! The descendants of Spong Hill Man need to hear the gospel!

South Elmham

2010-07-26T18:54:00.002Z

Within their own earthworks the stubbs of flint walls delineate where once a proud building stood. Not the Saxon Minster promised by the Ordinance Survey map but a rather later build, like churches in Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn and the cathedral in Norwich, the work of Herbert de Losingia. But Herbert built where a church had stood from the earliest days of Christianity in East Anglia. Beneath ancient Hornbeams the all pervading green is relieved by flowers - patches of Red Campion and the white filigree of Queen Ann’s Lace. And from tree top stalls Blackbirds sing antiphonally where once choirs sung their Creators praise.

This is South Elmham. I had walked to the glade on way marked paths from a car park at South Elmham Hall where I’d called into the café to pick up a leaflet.
The parishes of the Ferding of Elmham form a block of land which might have been given to St. Felix by King Sigbert in the 7th Century.
“Of Elmham” Bishops were designated from the time of Beaduwine in the 7th Century to Herfast in the 11th with a break of a hundred years when Vikings disturbed the peace. “Yes, but!” I hear Norfolk voices objecting, “North Elmham in Norfolk.! Not South Elmham is Suffolk!” Here in a nutshell you have the “Elmham Question”. Were the bishops Bishop of North or South Elmham. I offer no solution here. Where the bishop’s had his official seat - his cathedra - doesn’t seem all that important. Whatever the answer South Elmham is a place where prayer has been valid and Bishops of Elmham had oversight of churches on both sides of the Wensum.

My first stop in Suffolk had been to Flixton Church a rebuilt in the 19th Century. Architecturally it is a Victorian homage to the Saxon past and like the church it replaced it is set on a hill overlooking the valley. The churchyard is a nature reserve full of birdsong and flowers. Both the church dedication and the name of the village link it to St. Felix. The name Flix –ton is Felix’s – farm! It proves nothing of course still and well I prayed for the continuing conversion of East Anglia

Before crossing back into Norfolk I went on to St. Peter’s. It’s the home of St. Peter’s Brewery – another sort of pilgrimage I suppose! Their beer and good food are served in the moated hall an amazing 16th century building incorporating ecclesiastical material from the dissolved Flixton Priory.

The Primrose Path ?!

2010-07-26T18:44:00.003Z

I walked down the lane at the height of spring enjoying the sun . The air was as heady as chilled champagne and I was following my nose. There was a new whiff of pig on the air. I set off to investigate passing down Horstead’s Primrose Lane but for all my searching I couldn’t find even one! Stitchwort and early Bluebells? Yes. Primroses? No. Yet there must have been lots of them once upon a time. Did thieves plunder them ? There are lots of wild Primroses in local gardens, but my guess is that a change of maintenance of the verges will have played largest part. In days gone by they made as much hay as they could. Now the verges are cut and left. Un-raked grass soon becomes rank and humpy and can strangle plants. Primroses are especially vulnerable.

Saddened by the loss of Primroses I found two places where rubbish had been dumped by the roadside. Doesn’t fly tipping make you cross!? We talk about dirty pigs. What about dirty humans? I eventually found the porkers I’d been looking for recently moved into their new quarters. They were spread out across a wide rolling field, their housing giving the appearance of a well scattered shanty town. I like pigs! They reminded me of two Gospel stories .
In one swine possessed by evil spirits had run madly downhill and to drown in the sea. I wondered if the fly tipping and loss of wildflowers were signs that our 21st century consumer culture is stampeding us downhill to certain destruction? Does our careless living and lack of concern for what we are doing to the natural world -from Global Warming to Fly Tipping - put us on “the Primrose path that leads to the everlasting bonfire” ?
More hopefully, I also remembered the story of the Prodigal Son. It was among the pigs that he came to his senses.
A few days later I noticed the rubbish has been cleared away ! Well done Broadland District Council! And there’s more rejoice over on the wildflower front. Norfolk County Council has over 15 kilometers of verges designated as Roadside Nature Reserves and they add more each year. The latest, number 101, is at Binham Priory where care is being exercised to preserve Wall Bedstraw.

The Norwich Diocese Environmental Policy, a booklet on Climate Change and Covenant by Bishop David Atkinson and other resources are available on-line at the the Diocesan Website at http://www.norwich.anglican.org or by application to Diocesan House.

Crowland

2010-05-14T10:42:00.001Z

Reducing your carbon foot print? Travel by bus! The X1 starts at Lowestoft and passes through Yarmouth, Norwich and Kings Lynn. At Peterborough it connects with the number 37 (Spalding) which will take you to Crowland and its famous abbey church.

It was a boat that brought St. Guthlac to Crowland on St. Batholomew’s Day 699 AD! On what was then a marshy island he established a hermitage in the ruins of a plundered grave mound. Struggling with demons, marsh ague and strict asceticism Guthlac followed in the footsteps of St. Anthony of Egypt and the desert fathers. As his reputation for holiness grew many found their way through the watery Fenland wilderness to seek his counsel. Among them was the future King Ethelbald of Mercia.

After Guthlac’s death in 714 AD Ethelbald founded an abbey on the site. The abbey endured through several re-foundings and re-buildings until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Thereafter the cloisters and monastic buildings were abandoned and semi-demolished but the nave continued as the parish church and is still in use today.

The 19th century poet John Clare wrote of “the old abbey struggling still with time” and captured something of the feel of the place when he visited the abbey by moonlight

The grey owl hooting from its rents awhile;
And tottering stones as wakened by the sound,
Crumbling from arch and battlement around.
Urging dead echoes from the gloomy aisle

Away from the abbey a curious 14th century stands in the middle of town . Trinity Bridge has three arches that once crossed three separate streams. These have been long diverted away from the streets and the bridge leads nowhere. It’s said to replace a wooden bridge established by Guthlac’s friend King Ethelbald. A mysterious statue – Ethelbald or Christ in Glory – has been incorporated into the stonework of the bridge.

If you were to travel by car you might extend your trip to include Helpston John Clare’s home village and Barnack whose famous, now disused, quarry provided stone for the abbey and bridge. In the grass covered holes and hills of the quarry wildflowers abound – among them the rare pasque flower that flowers around Easter time. For those more interested in the flowers of the field than ruined buildings the 201 bus to Stamford passes through Barnack and runs every hour.

St.James, Bawsey

2010-04-02T13:44:00.006Z

Streams of cars speed down Kings Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Way everyday. High above the traffic a ruined church has paid witness for a thousand years and more. For decades it has been drawing me like a magnet. So on a sunny Spring day I finally found my way up the hill.

Church Farm, Bawsey is managed under a Higher Level Stewardship scheme and provides parking and permissive footpaths. You can approach the farm from the Gayton Road turning left into Church Lane just beyond the crematorium. Maps showing the paths and parking are available online on the Natural England website (cwr.naturalengland.org.uk). They are also displayed at strategic places around the farm .

I had intended to walk from Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Roydon Common, via the Grimston Warren reserve but that was closed as the work there continues. They are converting it from commercial forestry back to its original lowland heath. I followed a path to the edge of the warren through recently restored pasture that supports a herd of Red Poll cattle. Crossing the Gaywood River I saw Lapwing and Curlew feeding on the edge of flooded water meadows. In half an hour I saw more Brown Hares than I have seen all winter and more Grey Partridges than I’ve seen in years!

Seen from afar it’s easy to imagine what the church looked like in 8th century, when the hill it stands on jutted out into the waters of the Wash. The archaeology suggests there was an ecclesiastical settlement here from early days and if you were looking for a mother church for the Kings Lynn, St. James would be it! A thousand years ago when river was silting up activity moved to Lynn and the buildings eventually fell into disrepair.

From the top of the hill I got a sense of perspective from the busy world - traffic sped by in the distance. The ruins - a central tower and work in different styles - had an atmosphere as special as I had imagined . Overhead a Skylark sang and I glimpsed the greening valley through the riven west wall I was reminded of the empty tomb. “ He is not here, he’s gone before you into ……” Kings Lynn? Gaywood? Pott Row?…….

Will Hancock, who farms the land, Natural England and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust are to be praised for their work to restore the valley to its former glory.

A Walk on the Fringe : Come and Join us

2010-02-26T11:06:00.000Z

On 17th April join Journeying for a Walk on the Fringe from St. Andrew Eaton to St. Walstan's Well and Shrine at Bawburgh.

I travelled the path a couple of years ago here's my notes:

You might describe it as, “a walk on the edge .” From start to finish the sound of traffic and distant sirens provided background noise. I chose to begin my walk from the car park next to St. Mary’s, Earlham, by the bridge on the B1108. You could choose to make the walk longer by starting by the old bridge at Eaton or even at Marston Lane.

The path follows a crystal clear River Wensum as it skirts the south of Norwich’s built environment. It goes through Eaton, by the University, then past Earlham and Bowthorpe housing estates.

I was on my way to pay respects to St.Walstan at his shrine and holy well at Bawburgh. Born to wealth and royalty, the saint lived a life of prayer and poverty, choosing to support himself a farm worker. (You could describe him as a Franciscan before St. Francis!) He had known this landscape. But how it has changed! As I sat on the new brick wall of the ancient holy well, I wondered what he would recognise.

Were there stone churches at Earlham, Bawburgh and Colney? I had seen Colney’s round tower peeping through the trees on the opposite bank. All three buildings incorporate late Saxon work so they would have been quite new. But there were certainly no electricity pylons! Nor discarded supermarket trolleys! Nor, even, Egyptian geese!

He would have felt at home with sheep in green pastures, as he passed through the water meadows, but he might have been surprised at the comparative lack of wild flowers. Work is newly in hand to manage the meadows to support a diverse range of flora and fauna. They already carry a wide variety of birds butterflies and dragonflies and the river its self abounds with life. So thank God for DEFRA schemes

and the Norwich Fringe Project who look after access and have a care for conservation.

Maybe townscapes and pylons don’t have much of an aesthetic appeal but a willow warbler sang his heart out from an electricity cable. I can’t imagine Walstan unmoved by that, nor the joy of Bawburgh churchyard rich with flowers.

From Bowthorpe the path runs along the road and turns left into Bawbugh Road to go under the by-pass. Once in Bawburgh turn left over the bridge and take the first right, by the village sign, up the hill to the church.

Although the church is kept locked a key can be had from Mr. Munro, who lives just down the hill at Flint Cottage, Church Street.

Spring a Springing!?

2010-01-29T11:18:00.004Z

A ruined church, winter bare trees in the deserted churchyard and the jackdaws’ cry. All are reminders of mortality - a fitting backdrop for the Lenten fast! The reused bricks and conglomerate stone incorporated by the 11th century the builders recall “the glories that were Rome”. Once this building housed a miraculous wonder-working image of St. Theobald to which pilgrims flocked. Often when I come here to pray , there’s just me and some friendly horses. That’s fine for someone who seeks solitude but do these deserted and neglected ruins point towards the Church of England future?”

Ah! I have left out the most amazing thing that one day totally transformed a dismal scene! “A host of ….daffodils !”

On a March day back in 2009, like William Wordsworth’s Lake District flowers, these were abundant and “danced and fluttered in the breeze.” I think I know what the poet meant when he wrote:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

I might share a dancing heart in retrospective joy but William and I have to part company. I need to go beyond his Nature Mysticism! I seem to hear from each golden trumpet the silent music of an Easter fanfare glorifying the Creator and proclaiming the giddy , impossible, miraculous, wonder of the Risen Son.

Still in pensive mood , joyful memory takes me back to the Mount of Olives where once I marvelled at anemones as red as blood among the green springtime grass and delighted in daffodils standing in dappled sunlight beneath the ancient trees of Gethsemane.

St. Theobald’s Church stands in the meadows south of the River Bure . A track runs towards the river from the road that goes past the Girl Guide’s Hautbois House and on to Hautbois Green. Those arriving by foot or bike might have come off the Bure Valley Railway path at Hautbois Green.

Miss Elizabeth and Philippa Patterson who left the Hautbois estate to the Guides are buried in the nave of the old church. Their enthusiasm for Guiding lives on!

Love was his Meaning

2009-12-07T17:30:00.000Z

Above the steamy warmth of the café, in the still prayerfulness of high arched church, a steady stream of people quietly come and go and light floods in through clerestory windows. Here the shop-weary can find sanctuary from retails restless rat race and allow themselves time to respond to Wisdom’s bumper bargain.

Mancroft is not alone in offering such space. There are two cathedrals and St.John, at the top of Timberhill ( between John Lewis and the entrance to the Castle Mall), is always open. But best of all, and a short walk away, is St. Julian’s Church just of Rouen Road

In the 14th century this was the commercial centre. In the midst of the teeming city Mother/Lady Julian lived out a solitary life of prayer and reflection the very embodiment of Wisdom in the Marketplace. Her book, still in print after all this time, sums up The Reason for the Season in four short words, “Love was his meaning!”

Wisom in the Market Place

2009-12-07T17:13:00.001Z

Christmas shopping and the January sales will bring many into Norwich this winter. In a time of financial crisis people will be looking for value for money while trying to stay within budget. It can be quite trying! For Christian shoppers there are other considerations, not least The Reason for the Season. How can we celebrate the Christ in Christmas with the cards and presents we give?

The Norwich Christian Resources Centre, in St. Michael at Plea Church on the corner of Redwell Street and Queen Street, is one place where you might find that special gift. While there take advantage of the in-house café. It’s an oasis where a shopper can relax and re-fuel. There are similar Christian cafes dotted around the city: at the Kings Church in King Street, the Salvation Army in St.Giles, the All Saints Centre in Westlegate (opposite John Lewis) and the ever popular Octagon at St. Peter Mancroft.

Wisdom in the Market Place is a striking picture on the way into the Octagon Cafe. It draws on Proverbs Chapter 1 where Holy Wisdom offers her wares - free to those who seek! The artist - Juliet Wimhurst – has imagined a motherly, much sought after, lady, next door to the Guildhall. In reality St. Peter Mancroft Church has set its stall out at the other end of the market.

Above the steamy warmth of the café, in the still prayerfulness of high arched church, a steady stream of people quietly come and go and light floods in through clerestory windows. Here the shop-weary can find sanctuary from retails restless rat race and allow themselves time to respond to Wisdom’s bumper bargain.

Via Beata (1)

2009-10-05T14:54:00.000Z

Going to mid-day prayers with the Carmelite sisters at Quiddenham I encountered a mother and child. The child was grievously ill – all floppy in his mothers arms as she carried him out of the Children’s Hospice. Two nurses accompanying her gave support and carried the oxygen that was keeping the little lamb alive. It was a heartbreaking! And yet the love and care was beautiful to behold. Such love! Such pain! I was privileged to catch a glimpse of something so precious.

After prayers, contemplating the Stations of the Cross, I was able to put the experience in context. Such love! Such pain! As I set out on the next stage of my journey there was plenty to turn over in my heart.

By footpath, bridleway and quiet lanes, I was making my way from Eccles, via Quiddenham to Steve and Gill Eggleton’s home in Banham. The route forms part of a project that they and friends are working on.

Via Beata (2)

2009-10-05T14:48:00.000Z

Imagine a string of beads – precious gems - stretched out across the heart of England and Wales, from Lowestoft Ness in the east to St. David’s in the west. Each bead representing an artwork communicating the Christian Gospel, set up in a place where people can stop and ponder. The string that joins these way stations is a pilgrim path – part of which I had walked - by which seeker and pilgrim can travel either the whole length ,or over shorter sections. They call it the Via Beata. (Way of Blessing)

The first artwork has already been set up in a summerhouse/shelter by the front gate of Steve and Gill’s garden. It is a carved triptych telling the story of the Return of the Prodigal Son. You are invited to visit. The address is: Rowancroft, Kenninghall Road, Banningham. NR16 2HE .

During the summer a small organising group has begun to pioneer some of the paths, talk with people about suitable artworks and places to display them and given some attention to publicity. If you think you might like to be involved do contact them Their phone number is 01953-887579 or on their website at: www.rowancroft.net/viabeata

Over a simple shared meal, around their farmhouse kitchen table, we met, chatted and prayed. When I took to the road again it felt as if Banham was a lot like Emmaus (Luke 24.13 ff) .

I had been greatly blessed on the Via Beata! You may be too!

Give Peace a Chance (2)

2009-10-05T14:37:00.000Z

Walking around the town I thought I had glimpsed dawning light against the darkness of warring madness. As well as the castle, churches and old coaching inns I’d seen the Abbey, the Grammar School and the statue of Thomas Paine, Thetford’s most famous son.

The monks who built the, now ruined, Abbey had pioneered the Peace of God movement. It urged barons to use force as a last resort and insisted on protection for non-combatants as a Christian duty. In post-Reformation times their concern for education found expression in the Grammar School that lists Paine among its old boys. His words inspired the American Constitution and the emancipation of slaves. The publication of his Rights of Man marked a huge step in the recognition of human rights. While his creed, “The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” still has the ability to challenge.

The birds of war still flew in and out of USAF Mildenhall nearby I sensed the brooding dove of peace!

Give Peace a Chance 1

2009-10-05T14:34:00.000Z

From Britain’s highest medieval castle mound the sea of green forest stretched to the horizon. I had followed the Heritage Trail around Thetford and climbed the hill to watch and pray.

The town has an image of being an unlovely London overspill and a centre for European immigrants, but is much more.

Since early days it has been the Gateway to Norfolk . The first fortifications were built 500 years before Christ. It was from Thetford Queen Boudicca set out to avenge the rape of her daughters and when the revolt was over the Romans came and burnt it to the ground ! Saxons followed Romans and then came the Vikings, time and again, laying waste and burning. After them the Norman Conquest brought more of the same!

To-day, atop the castle mound the Normans built all is peaceful but in the west I could see planes flying in and out of the USAF Mildenhall and I knew soldiers were training on the Battle Area. In Iraq and Afghanistan victims of war still suffer as they had here. As I stood and pondered I saw a patch of woundwort growing at my feet. Was this old stock of some long forgotten herbalist who had used their leaves to heal the wounds of war? The words of hymn informed my prayers. “For the healing of the nations Lord we pray with one accord.”

Dancing and Drinking the Mosel

2009-07-03T14:14:00.005Z

What brilliant hosts the people of Winningen are! Not only did they take Kemp's Men into their homes and hearts but into their cellars as well!

We danced, drank and chatted the festival through - renewing old friendships and making new ones too! Among them Romanetz a Ukrainian Dance group from Canada, a group from Treviso in Italy and others from Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Benin, Columbia, Switzerland and dozens from around Germany.

What was it about? I think the words of the Evangelische Kirche's minister at an ecumenical service on Sunday had it about right - God plays the music of life and we all respond to it one way or another - sometimes just tapping a foot, at at othertimes "putting your whole self in!"

After the service there was impromptu dancing on the green outside - the Treviso musicians appeared to be playing "She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes." What asked my friend is the significance of that?

Here is my considered response - She is God who is coming at the end of the world to judge all flesh! It appears to me the community that the people of Winningen created for us for the festival was an approximation of the New Jerusalem (see the last chapters of the book Revelations)

When, on the last night of the festival, I saw the Rev'd Canon Phillip McFadyen dancing with the Weinhexe I was reminded of William Blake's "Little Vagabond"

And God, like a father, rejoicing to see
His children as pleasant and happy as He,
Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the barrel,
But kiss him, and give him both drink and apparel.

Pelican on Hickling Broad (?)

2009-06-13T11:13:00.004Z

Well, no! I snapped this Dalmatian Pelican in the Danube Delta last week - where I was with with Honey Guide (www.honeyguide.co.uk) , being guided by Daniel Petrescu of www.ibis-tours.ro ( see also Danny's website www.danielpetrescu.ro )

I had a brilliant time - thanks Danny - and found an almost uncanny similarity with my own Broadland haunts.

The birds were amazing and a little different from what I'm used to on the Broads. Not only White and Dalmatian Pelicans, but Squacco Herons, Night Herons, Little Bitterns, Red and Black Necked Grebe.

I think I'll start a campaign to twin the Broads with the Danube Delta - please join the campaign if you can!

In the meantime you might want to add your protests to those of other bird minded people against the planned errection of 21 wind turbines on the rocky saddle of the Bespeke Hills the only high land that divides the Delta from an adjacent lake. Pelicans and migrating raptors using the hills to gain altitude are likely to be minced!

Brancaster Ring

2009-06-13T11:07:00.002Z

This walk has it all. Like Jesus you can walk by the seaside and on the hills above the sea. There are woods and wayside flowers, birds, heritage sites . And to top it all, there’s Noah’s Ark(!), or something that looks like it, the man in the moon (!) and a love story waiting to be discovered.

. I parked the car at Brancaster Staithe and walked east along the Coastal Path, past fishermen’s huts and boats high and dry on low tide mudflats. At Noah’s Ark I turned inland going a little of my route to look into Burnham Deepdale’s round-towered church.

Next to the busy coast road the cool interior is an oasis of calm. The church has some notable medieval glass – that’s where I found the man in the moon - as well as an interesting font with carved labours of the month around the edge. Across the road there’s a great café too!

Passing the café on my left, I took the next left uphill, along a metalled road through rolling farm land and into a shady wood with noble beech trees.

At Barrow Common I took the path that leads over the hill and down to the coastal road once more . Across the road is a large open space. An interpretation board identifies it as the site of Brandonium, the Roman shore fort. There’s nothing much to see. The once lofty walls were used as a stone quarry by later builders going into local churches and flint built cottages.

Sometime, in the 4th or 5th century, someone left a betrothal ring here. A tragic loss, buried for safe keeping, or thrown away? Who knows! There’s a love story waiting to be written! What ever the back story, the ring remained undiscovered until 1829 and now resides in Norwich’s Castle Museum.

The design is conventional. The heads of a couple face each other. The inscription makes it special, the oldest Christian artefact in the county. It reads “VIVAS IN DEO” – live in God. A recipe for Christian living then as now. At the edge of the marsh I turned right and walked back to the Staithe as swallows swooped over the reed beds

The walk is half Norfolk Circular Walk No.9 which you can find on the internet at http://www.countrysideaccess.norfolk.gov.uk/circular-walks.aspx. You can get to and from Brancaster Staithe on the Coast Hopper bus service.

New Buckenham Common

2009-06-13T10:54:00.003Z

I just can’t help myself! Each daisy and dandelion is a miracle , but I’ll still make the pilgrimage to New Buckenham Common to see the green-winged orchids! These flashy flowers also grow on the limestone hills of Galilee. I sometimes wonder if these were the flowers of the field Jesus spoke of who’s natural beauty far outstripped King Solomon’s designer label elegance. Conspicuous consumption on clothing and cosmetics are a near necessity for many who gauge their worth against the ever shifting orthodoxies of fashion. The orchid remains a fragile yet unchanging thing of beauty. Its scientific name is Anacampcis Morio, morio from the Greek for fool. The flower is said to resemble fools cap. Contemplating beauty and foolishness, I recall the well known phrase or saying, “if the hat fits wear it!”

Green-winged orchids maybe the stars of the show, there is also a full supporting cast on New Buckenham Common: buttercups, cuckoo flowers, meadow sweet, cowslip, meadow saxifrage – even the names are poetry. In the early summer whitethroats and blackcaps sing from the bushes. In and around the ponds, hidden from sight, great crested newts go about their business.

If you were coming by car you could park just outside the village of New Buckenham Turning left off the Norwich Road you’d easily find the car park by the swings. When you continue along this bye road you eventually come to a closed gate blocking your way, turn onto the common here and walk around the bushes and you’ll be close to the main populations of green – winged orchids

I suppose one aspect of our consideration for the flowers means that we ought to make our journeys with a minimum carbon footprint. Sadly, the buses from anywhere to New Buckenham are a dead loss. So maybe there’s a case of getting on ones bike.

That green-winged orchids grow in such profusion on New Buckenham Common is due to the consideration the Norfolk Wildlife Trust lavishes on them. The great thing is they, and other conservation organisations will have a reserve close to where you live where you’ll be able to enjoy all the wild-flowers without too much travelling. You can check them out on the Trust’s website www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk or in their Reserves Handbook available either on line, or from one of the staffed reserves visitors’ centres, or by post from:
Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Bewick House, 22 Thorpe Road, Norwich. NR1 1RY Telephone 01603 625540

Easter Swallows

2009-03-13T17:24:00.012Z

As spring unfolds and the birds begin to sing I look forward to summer Swallows swooping over field and fen. Today we can trace the swallows’ journey from winter roosts outside Durban, through Africa and Europe to East Anglia’s marsh and meadow. It’s an amazing story and many of us are glued to our televisions when Springwatch and other TV programmes unfold the wonders of our natural world.

18th century naturalists supposed that swallows hibernated through the winter’s cold beneath the mud at the bottom of ponds, breaking forth from their earthy tombs for Easter days! Not an entirely silly idea! The first Swallows are usually to be spotted around Easter time and over or near water as they hoover-up bugs and flies.

Truer to our modern understanding of the Swallows migration is the ancient Egyptian myth in which the souls of the dead on the way to the stars are represented as swallows. Nearer to our own time is the Armenian folk tale in which swallows fly from the empty tomb with good news of Jesus’ resurrection.

Once, in a Galilean spring, I shared communion on the lakeside where the Risen Christ prepared a barbecue on the beach. Beside still waters, in the shade of trees, I was mesmerised as Swallows dashed back and forth, skimming the presiding priests head and diving low over the outdoor altar. These, I suppose, were the descendants of the birds who had woven an Easter garment with invisible threads around the Risen Lord and his fishing friends.

So this Easter a picnic by the water, with sandwiches of bread and fishes, in the presence of the newly returned swallows, is called for. Where will you go? Norfolk abounds with suitable places - broads and fens, the sea-side ? You could, with benefit, visit the Pensthorpe Nature Reserve and Gardens just outside Fakenham. (www.pensthorpe.com. ). It is child friendly with the possibility of pond dipping, feeding the birds and binocular hire and visitors can get an insight into the captive breeding programmes with animals as diverse as Blue Cranes and red Squirrels. What is more, Pensthorpe is on the X29 bus route from Norwich to King’s Lynn and wheel-chair access is good . And Springwatch will be broadcasting from there again this year!

Walking Lavadas in a Financial Crisis

2009-03-04T10:16:00.005Z

I went walking in Madeira in February. Travelling the narrow paths alongside the levadas - water courses that contour round the mountains - was challenging at times. It makes you think! When a pair of Bonellis Eagles flew overhead I didn't dare look at them through my binoculars.

around the rugged rocks
the living waters run

drawn to the rock
shying the void
I instruct my feet to
move as along the
bench at school PE

halfway between heaven
and certain destruction
the song of rushing
waters fills the valley
on sunlit heights raptors
cry glide and dive

and who knows what
lies around the corner

Churches Together on the Broads Website

2009-02-25T16:02:00.005Z

I'm more than chuffed having got the thing up and half decent. See it at http://ctotb.wordpress.com

I am particularly happy with the bit on Broads Spirituality and Fishing. It was the fishing bit that made me offer to sort the site out.

Really when you think about it, Lots of Jesus' friends were fishermen then, what about now?

I'm glad to say the otters are not the only catchers of fish in our dyke. My grandson and I have pulled one or two pike out and several nice perch. Which is better than my record on evangelism!

Otters in the Dyke

2009-02-25T15:55:00.002Z

Its brilliant there's otters in the dyke outside our home. We had one visit us last year. This year we had a mother and 3 part grown kittens. I'm really sad I couldn't get pics of all four together.

St. Saviour’s and the Surlingham Circuit

2009-02-25T15:48:00.003Z

There is something special about St. Saviours Church, Surlingham. The ruins sit on a raised hillock above Church Marsh, looking out across the River Yare to Postwick.

The churchyard is the entirely appropriate last resting place of Ted Ellis. Ted’s weekly EDP articles and radio and television appearances did so much to educate East –Anglians about the wonders of nature on their own doorstep and encouraged people to think about conservation. Next to him, in death as she was in life, are the mortal remains of his much loved wife Phyllis. Their old home, just down-river, at Wheatfen now serves as a nature reserve. Church Marsh has been managed as a reserve since 1984. Together with land at Stumpshaw and Rockland, Church Marsh forms part of the Mid Yare Reserves National Nature Reserves managed by the RSPB.

From the churchyard I watched a Marsh Harrier, hanging low on the wind, quartering the marsh as it searched for its supper. Now, because of Ted’s pioneering work, this bit of God’s creation has been preserved for future generations. My heart sung as I gave thanks for marshes and Marsh Harriers and for conservationists in general and Ted and Phyllis in particular.

For a 2 mile circular walk follow the path as it leads past St. Saviour’s and avoid the temptation to turn off until you come to a metalled road. A left turn here takes you to the river and the Surlingham Ferry public house. Follow the old tow path where there are bird-hides open to the public. Then, after a while, turn left away from the river along a dyke and arrive at the round towered St. Mary’s, Surlingham . St. Mary’s is well worth a visit – historically interesting, well kept, showing signs that it is well prayed in and welcoming to tourists and pilgrims.

From the lych-gate go north and turn right at the corner of the churchyard. St. Saviour’s is down this track and only half a mile away.

St.Mary’s would be the obvious place to start and finish the walk if you came by car. By boat the moorings at Surlingham Ferry are best.

St. Mary’s Surlingham is a participant in the Open Churches project and is listed in the Church Staithe Guide.

The Rising of the Sun and the Running of the Deer…

2008-11-26T15:54:00.001Z

It’s great to get outside on a winters day, to stretch the legs and walk off the turkey. 21^st December is the shortest day. From then on the days will begin to lengthen and the singing of the birds surpass organ music and singing in the choir!

If you want a winter walk that with the sight of deer, head for Holkham. I you leave the car park in front of the Hall and head right around the lake and you will be on the Holkham Lake Path - leaflets are available at Holkham or on-line at www.holkham.co.uk/html/park_03.html. I can guarantee skeins of pink footed geese flying overhead and herds of deer sheltering beneath the trees. The deer are quite used to people, are tame and are very photogenic.

Following the path round the lake and into the woods you’ll soon come to the Holkham church. Heavily restored, it’s only the dedication, the site its self and west wall that give clues to its ancient foundation. Perched on a hillock, it is dedicated to St. Withbura, the 7^th century royal princess-turned-nun who was the first abbess of Dereham. The west wall shows signs of being as old as any church building in Suffolk and Norfolk. Famously Withburga and her sisters were supplied with milk from a doe deer that came every day to be milked!

I’m not sure if the church can offer visitors and pilgrims merry music or sweet singing save for that of the birds. Last time I passed that way the door was locked – conveniently they appeared to have locked God out. In the stillness and beauty of a place where prayer has been valid I thought I caught a glimpse! Rather, like the fleeting vision of a deer passing silently through a glade! There is certainly a holly tree in the churchyard but you would be hard pressed to find any ivy. Holkham’s foresters have a hatred of it and wouldn’t let it choke any of their beautiful trees.

A walk in Broadland turns one’s mind to fishing …

2008-10-14T15:14:00.003Z

Photo by Ray Jones and Alan Price is used with permission from Norfolk Wildlife Trust

Bright red hips and haws hang in the scrub. A party of long-tailed tits squeak noisily through the branches. The board-walk runs through reeds at the river side no longer busy with the hullabaloo of holidaymakers and the chugging of a dozen diesel engines. Autumn has come to Broadland and quietness cloaks the scene like the early morning mist.

Less than a mile from Woodbastwick on the Ranworth road, where the road turns sharp right, a lane runs down to the river. The walk starts from a small car park just across the river from Horning’s Ferry Inn. It’s wheelchair friendly all the way – about a mile - to Cockshoot Broad. In summer the water lilies along the dyke are sensational!

Along the path fishing platforms jut out through the reeds. Perhaps you’ll stop and chat to a fisherman as you saunter. Walking by the water and talking to the fishermen are Christ-like activities – the easiest most of us will ever manage!

But is fishing a suitable pastime for serious Christians? Besides the chief of the apostles - Peter, James and John were all fishermen - some of fishing’s finest proponents have been outstanding Anglican clergy! The hymn writer George Herbert and the poet John Donne were both fishing partners of Izaak Walton. Izaak’s book “The Compleat Angler” remains fishing’s classic text. He was in no doubt of its suitability. The book is sub-titled “The Contemplative Man’s Recreation” and the title page quotes St. John’s gospel “Simon Peter said, I go a fishing: and they said, We will come with you.”

Don’t return home without looking into Woodbastwick’s church - a pool of deep quiet and stillness! It is dedicated Saints Fabian and Sebastian - saints of 3rd century Rome. Fabian, as bishop once stood in the shoes of the fisherman and wore St. Peter’s ring. Like St.Peter, he to became a martyr and witnessed to Christ by his death.

Before leaving the village, should you want for refreshment, the Fur and Feather stands at the far end. It is adjacent to Woodforde’s Brewery. Parson Woodforde, after whom its named, the 18th century Vicar of Weston Longville was another angling Anglican. His diary recounts fishing exploits along the river Wesum. In what company goes the fisherman!

St.Fursey Pilgrimage 08

2008-10-06T11:07:00.006Z

There was standing room only at Burgh Castle church on Saturday 4th October when the annual pilgrimage of the Fursey Pilgrims took place. Joining the pilgrims this year was Fr Nicolas Jouy, the Parish Priest of Peronne in the Somme area of France. St. Fursey died before returning to England from France in the year 650 AD. His shrine was established at Peronne.

The service only took places after the pilgrims had refreshed themselves at the Church
Farm pub. Some had earned a good lunch by walking the Breydon Water path from Great Yarmouth train station. Others had come long distances to honour St.Fursey so they could not be denied a delicious carvery meal looking out across the water to the Berney Arms windpump and the Fleggs.

Pere Nicholas preached the sermon developing the idea of ecumenism as putting the pieces of a jig-saw together - it may seem impossible at first, there should be no attempt to force pieces together where they do not belong, miraculously we find there is a fit between pieces as they come together, the outcome is a clearer picture of the things of God. After the service he led the pilgrims to the ruins of Burgh Castle Roman fort. It was within the walls of the fort that Fursey and his brothers first established their humble monastery and from here they went out to evangelise the people of Norfolk.

Sr. Pam's new terrier Matthew made his first pilgrimage to Burgh Castle on this day. It was a day of double celebration for him as it coincided with the feast of St. Francis! Having been blessed by Pere Nicholas the pilgrims gathered for tea and delicious cakes courtesy of the ladies of Burgh Castle.

© Richard Woodham 2008

Whatsoever walks in the paths of the Sea

2008-07-16T10:45:00.004Z

On an autumn day, where cattle grazed, I crossed marshy fields to the beach. Ragged Robin, the summer’s last flowers danced in the breeze. The first skeins of wintering geese honked in the sky.

Beyond the dunes 30 seals were hauled up on the sands, lolling around like so many enormous slugs. More were out at sea impersonating inquisitive black Labradors. I sat. How therapeutic it is to sit with seals! They have the art of being and not doing!

I’d parked at the National Trust’s Horsey Mere car park. There are toilets and a café open every day to the end of October and at week ends through November.

I’d used the permissive footpath that leads off from the other side of the road - if you are at all in doubt ask at the café they’ll direct you! Once on the beach, turn right and you soon come to the seals . A few are there most of the year but they turn up in numbers in September and October.

My way took me back past the pub – refreshments here are recommended - and crossed the main road to the thatched, round- towered church. Sitting in the stillness I found myself wondering about fundamental things with the Psalmist. “What is man?” He asks in Psalm 8 “You give him mastery over the works of your hands; you put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, even the wild beasts of the field, The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.” Global warming and rising sea levels acutely threaten this low lying area as they threatens us all. Before leaving I gave thanks for all I was enjoying that day and for the stewardship of the National Trust, the Horsey Estate, the Buxton family who manage it and for small group of people who maintain the church as a “house of prayer” with open doors.

If you do go to see the seals please don’t stress them by going too close and don’t let dogs off their leads. There’s no bus service to Horsey Mere so if you were going by car could you car share or offer someone a lift?

A quieter calmer Walsingham

2008-07-07T09:33:00.004Z

Remembering how they “ went with the throng,^* and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving.” (Psalm 42)

Last year’s National Pilgrimage to Walsingham!?

A great and holy place I know! But when I’ve been there on my own, I find it too restless with pilgrims to settle to prayer. Scilla Landale introduced me to a quieter, calmer Walsingham. Here are some highlights:-

1) On a raised section of lawn in the Abbey grounds is a six inch wooden square. It marks the site of the original place of pilgrimage. I stood on the spot, took in the very English country scene and reflected about the vision that had led the Lady Richeldis to build the replica of Jesus’ and Mary’s Nazareth home.

2)Crossing the grass to where the Priory’s high altar once stood, I tried to imagine the generations of Christians, from 1061 to the present day who had come here to pay homage to the human Jesus and the mother who had nurtured him. I marvelled anew at the mystery of the incarnation - God in Man! Heaven in the ordinary!

3)Passing through the ruined arch I soon found myself in a quiet garden next to a clear running brook - the site of the original holy well. Psalm 42 provided words for my prayer, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.”

4) Later I knelt in the new Roman Catholic Church in the Friday Market Place. There’s nothing restless about this place! It is close to the still centre of the turning world! In the quiet I thought about Henry VIII who came as a pilgrim to Walsingham but whose reforms destroyed the shrine and led to the Anglican break with Rome. Remembering the bloody cost of the Reformation I prayed for reconciliation.

5) Great Walsingham’s parish church is short walk away. The notes say, “St. Peter’s Church is a fine example of the decorated style…” what caught my attention was broken glass. All the windows down one side of the church had been vandalised. Inside pictures on a display board revealed lively children’s work. Mary would have liked that! Beside broken glass, I found myself praying with Mary at the foot of the cross. How evil longs to spoil the holy!

Scilla Landale’s booklet Walk around and Discover Walsingham is available from the Shrine Shop in Common Place. Guided tours leave the Tourist Information Centre (opposite) at 11.00 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays from May 1^st to 25^th September and at 14.00 on Saturdays in June, July and August. Group tours can be arranged throughout the year by phoning Scilla on 01328 820250.

John the Baptist and his Dad

2008-05-07T12:07:00.003Z

I'm just into name dropping now! Did I tell you about going to visit the head of John the Baptist at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus or St. Zecharia at the Umayyad Mosque in Allepo

I wasn't much impressed by the tomb of Salladin but felt I need to show my respects and apolgise for Richard Coeur de Lion. And I wasn't too fussed by visiting the chapel at the place where St. Paul was allegedly let down from the walls. They would, I'm sure have chosen a place well away from a gate and sentries if he was making a get away! I liked the House of Annanias. That was believable !

OK if you are doing believable then, no I don't think it is John the Baptist's relics. There are two churches in France that claim that distinction. One having the head of John the Baptist as a young man! But I liked being welcome in the Mosque and having the Prophet John the Baptist, Peace be upon him, in common with the Moslems and I liked praying there and daring to hope that the prophecy of Isaiah - who we have in common as well - about living in peace, might become a reality.

©Richard Woodham 2008

Kissing Lazarus

2008-05-07T11:35:00.002Z

There's a story untold in the Bible how the returned to life Lazarus went on to be the first Bishop of Larnaka and in the Church of St. Lazarus in Larnaka you can see in a crypt beneath the high altar the stone coffin in which he lay.

I went down into the crypt that reminded me of both the Cave of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. I've kissed the rock in both places! But there was not kissing Lazarus yet!

The coffin is empty! He has not yet been raised from the dead a second time in spite of the empty tomb! His body was nicked by the high principled Crusaders who took it off to Marsailles. But we do not need to rely on the Homeopathic Theory of saints relics - there's a holy space left where they used to be - to get close and cuddly with Lazarus. They conveniently left a portion of his skull behind.

It is kept, upstairs in the church, in a golden relique in the church!

I have to say that kneeling in the near darkness of the crypt tomb was a profound experience own mortality. I like my brother Lazarus will rest in the sleep of death and by God's grace will be raised up on the last day (whatever that means!?)

Going above ground again I found my way to the relique. St. Lazarus skull is covered with a bit of perspex but I kissed it none-the-less. And that brought me close! Close to the Bible story, close to the reality of death, close to the hope of resurrection and close to the thousands of Christian folk who have come to honour the saint over the millennia.

©Richard Woodham 2008

Committed to Growth

2008-05-07T11:20:00.002Z

The Church of England Diocese of Norwich has a bad attack of the intiatives - caught it from the politicians I shouldn't wonder! Committed to Growth, it's called! For busy church people it can seem like a burden - Do something more! Be more committed! it seems to shout. Those of us with long memories and a touch of the cynic about us remember Moving Forward and from Maintenance to Mission ( nobody really wanted people to cease maintenance on the 600+ medieval churches in the diocese to cease from maintenance no matter what the slogan said!)

I was turning these things over in my mind as I hiked through Cypriot vinyards. I knew the Allegory of the Vine (John 15) as well as the next well educated person in the pew. What I had forgotten, even if I had originally known, was how harshly a vine-dresser cuts back.

There in the vinyard were these dead looking sticks. That's what Committed to Growth looks like!

©Richard Woodham 2008

Pilgrim Path 2008

2008-05-07T10:56:00.004Z

Accompanied Walks in 2008

On pilgrimage we are brothers and sisters of Christ sharing the path and one another’s company.

Mindful of our own and our companions’ need for silence or talk—we share both

We try to be aware of the presence of the risen Lord who promises to be with us ‘til the end of time

He is the way who’s gracious call we follow.
Little journeys are sacramental of the bigger journey

We make space to consider the birds of the air and flowers of the field and

Expect to be refreshed

You are invited to join us on the following days:-

1st July at 6.30 p.m. meet on the southern end of the seafront at Walcott Gap. Map Ref:- 35915,32955. An gentle walk along the seashore turning in land and returning via Broomholm Priory for a fish supper on the shore

16th August at 1130 a.m. meeting at 40 Anchor Street, Coltishall we proceed by land or river to St. Peter, Belaugh and return for a barbecue and shared lunch. (Please let us know a few days in advance if you intend coming to this one!)

4th October Annual St. Fursey Pilgrimage

From Great Yarmouth Station to Burgh Castle for lunch and service

Want to know more about any of the above contact

richard.woodham@virgin.net

On yer bike!

2008-05-07T10:44:00.003Z

The long summer days and quiet Norfolk lanes make this a great time to get on a bike! It’s a great way of seeing the country and a perfect way to get the exercise that’s so good for you. With legs pumping and heart rate raised one can feel one’s self unwind as spinning wheels eat up the miles.

Is it sometime since you were in the saddle - perhaps not since you were a kid? The sheer exhilaration of going downhill with the wind in your hair hasn’t altered. It’s still great fun! Fun remains an un-negotiable aspect of Christian living, part of the child-likeness that allows entry to the Kingdom of God! Besides, rising fuel costs and the need to reduce our carbon footprint, makes cycling a moral choice. There’s no better time to give it a try!

Gliding through country lanes gives an opportunity to consider the flowers of the field and the birds of the air. And if while peddling you encounter a burning bush or pearl of great price it is easy to stop and look and wonder. Praying’s easier too! Peddling on its own, or accompanied by a simple repetitive words like the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.” can still the racing mind and calm the jumpy heart. Life in the slow lane is worth chasing after!

An answer to practical questions like “how”, “where” and “when” is provided by the Broads Bike Trail. Published by Broadland Cycle Hire with support from the Broads Authority and the Norfolk Broads and Rivers Open Churches Project, it describes trails of varying lengths. The longest at 35 miles goes through Hoveton, Wroxham, Ranworth, South Walsham, Upton, Acle and Horning. On route are Fairhaven Gardens, Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Ranworth Visitors Centre, 16 Broadland churches and for those who, have prayed and peddled their way through quiet lanes and are thirsting after righteousness, there’s the Fur and Feather at Woodbastwick, the brewery tap for Woodforde’s Norfolk Ales.

Broadland Cycle Hire’s base is at the Bewilderwood Treehouse Adventure (more fun for children and the child-like!) between Hoveton and Horning. Tel. No. 07887 480331. They can provide well maintained, modern cycles, helmets and all the appropriate safety equipment together with the necessary advice.

Broads Bike Trail leaflets can be obtained from Broadland Cycle Hire, Gateway Churches of the Norfolk Broads and Rivers Project (www.norfolkopenchurches.com) and Broads Authority information centres.

©Richard Woodham 2008

Taxonomy as Prayer

2008-04-02T14:22:00.002Z

The names of wild flowers are a poetry all of their own. “Wood anemone, ramsons, bird cherry , bluebell….” Just the mention of bluebells conjures up images of a bright blue, sun dappled carpet on a green wood’s floor, all fresh and new. If I concentrate on the inner vision I can almost hear the sound of a woodpecker hammering and feel the sun’s warmth on my skin fade as I walk into dappled shade. And there’s a sense in the vision of a spiritual presence too – the “sound of the Lord God walking in the Garden”.

As I recite more names, the images become more detailed ……… “early purple orchid, wood spurge, hairy St John’s wort, woodruff, herb Paris, twayblade, yellow archangel…..” soon I can (almost) hear birdsong!

Nowhere in Genesis does the story-teller recount that God brought the flowers of the field before Man/Adam “to see what he would call them”! But we are told about the naming of animals in Genesis 2. 18 and following! Considering/wondering and uttering names – be they common or scientific – can be poetry and prayer !

My inner vision is a collage of memories, some from childhood some more recent. If I let the slide show run for any length of time I know I’ll catch the glimpse of deer slipping silently between the trees – there and then gone! That comes from recent memories and time spent in Foxley, Ashwellthorpe and Wayland Woods.

Trips to the woods in early summer are pilgrimage for me. Though bluebells might be Hyacinthoides non-scripta, or H. hispanica, or the hybrid H. x massartiana the exact variety doesn’t bother me ! Even though losing our native species would be a shame! I go to re-acquaint myself with the reality behind my memories and to connect with the Poet behind Poetry - the Creator behind the Creation!

Experience tells me that if I wait quietly and attentively both deer and God will come close. Well not come close actually! They are already there! Mostly we are too noisy and self-obsessed to notice!

Ashwellthorpe, Wayland and Foxley Woods are managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

Details of the benefits of membership and access to these and their other reserves can be obtained from their offices at:-

Bewick House, 22 Thorpe Road, Norwich NR1 1RY

Telephone 01603 625540

or on-line at www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

Photo© Bluebells in Wayland Wood. Photographer David North. Used with permission of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust

Otherwise © Richard Woodham 2008

Blood, Baptism and Mermaids

2008-02-19T10:18:00.005Z

The path leads downhill through woods, to open park land with views over the sea. Turn right in front of the big house and you come to the village of Upper Sheringham. The church is dedicated to All Saints. It’s very beautiful, prayerful and welcoming. Visitors are invited to make themselves a drink. A kettle and all the other bits and pieces are left out on a table.

Outside the church a spring of bright water bubbles up from the depths of the earth,. It has been quenching thirsts since first humans passed this way. I wondered if the first Christians were baptised in this water. The walls that bound the springhead and the pool around it were built to celebrate the end of the Napoleonic Wars. An inscription reads “Peace 1814”. I imagined the water of baptism washing away the blood and grime of battle – the water and the blood! How the world needs that purification still!

Taking a little water on the tips of my right hand I blessed myself remembering my baptism. The words of the book Revelation and Jesus promise to the woman at the well came to mind. “To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” “…..springs of living water welling up to eternal life!” I guess our thirst for peace and justice will never be fully quenched this side of Kingdom Come!

In the mean time I decided to go and have a cup of coffee in church. Inside the door there’s a 15th century pew-end - a carving of a mermaid! And attached to the pew framed short story tells how a mermaid sneaked into church to hear the Gospel. It occurred to me that all the baptised are like mermaids! We live in this world, but we’re not entirely at home here, we yearn for somewhere better. As Hebrews has it “Here we have no abiding city but we look for one that is to come!”

Holy Rood of Bromholme

2008-02-19T10:12:00.002Z

I parked on the promenade at Walcott and headed towards Mundesley. Gulls wheeled overhead while others stood at the tide line. Near the shoreline Sandeling ran about like clockwork toys on the sand and Turnstones, well, turned stones! In the bitter wind I thought of Mary. Her name in Hebrew Miryam is derived (some say) from the words Mar Yam, Bitter Sea. Bitter wind! Bitter sea! It seemed about right for a Lenten walk!
At the end of a line of bungalows a flight of steps led off the beach. If you come this way you can’t mistake it! There’s a red dog poo bin at the top! From there I followed the rutted track and crossed the main road. Ahead of me was the archway and ruined gatehouse of what had been Bromholme Priory – my destination! The wonder-working Holy Rood of Bromholme, to which pilgrims flocked, was said to be a piece of the True Cross. Found by St. Helena in Jerusalem, it had been brought to England after Constantinople fell to the Muslim armies. After the dissolution of the monasteries, in Henry VIII reign, the once grand building became a stone quarry for the local community and the relic was lost.

Skirting left along the boundary walls I got glimpses of the ruins through the hedge. What, I wondered, was I doing visiting a priory that’s no longer there and a relic that - even if it had been genuine in the first place - was long gone? Walking the Way of the Cross, perhaps! Confronting loss!? Something like that!

I stopped to trace the sign of the cross on my forehead, where I was marked at my baptism! It too is sort of there and not there even though it was renewed in soot on Ash Wednesday and again with healing oils when I was anointed! I walked back along the road finding courage to face some of the sadness of the broken world and some of my own losses too. By the time I got back to the sea front, I could taste the bitterness through and through!

On the promenade was a fish and chip shop still boarded up against the winter gales! I resolved I’d return some day to eat fish on the seashore and celebrate the Risen Christ! With salt and vinegar I wondered!

A Walk in Norwich Cathedral

2008-02-19T10:05:00.002Z

When it’s cold, wet and dark before tea time how nice it would be to go for a walk inside. You can do it! A handy guide “A Walk Round Norwich Cathedral” is available from the Visitors Desk

As I wandered I stopped to look and wonder, think and pray. It’s not escapism! The Chapel of the Holy Innocents is dedicated to victims of persecution and cruelty in every age!

At St. Luke’s Chapel, I contemplated the beautifully painted reredos that re-tells the story of Christ’s Passion. It was commissioned in 14^th Century to celebrate the crushing of the Peasant’s Revolt by the soldier/bishop Henry Despencer. It’s said that Henry returned from his victory to celebrate Holy Communion his hands still red with the blood!

At the Royal Norfolk Regiment’s Chapel I looked at the Book of Remembrance. The 1^st Royal Anglian’s who carry the regiment’s tradition today are fresh back from Afghanistan and not unscathed. I remembered the dead, the grieving, the injured and families!

Finally, sitting in the Bauchun Chapel I found myself gazing equally at John Skelton’s statue of the young Virgin Mary and John Opie’s painting of Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Mary steps forward with eagerness. Simeon proffers the infant Christ as if he was already a sacrifice! I wondered about Temple and cathedral, bloody sacrifices, the joys of motherhood and swords that still pierce mothers’ hearts!

Depressing stuff? It could be, if death had the last word! Revisiting St. Saviour’s and St. Luke’s Chapels, I noticed that both had altar pieces that include the Resurrection. As Christ bursts from the grave, the soldiers are fast asleep! How strange that this world changing event should be missed!

St. Agatha's Easby

2007-12-10T13:18:00.000Z

Until the owner of the house in the foreground cuts down the non-native conifer hedge you wont see this picture again! None-the-less the ruins of St. Agatha’s Abbey, two miles down stream from Richmond, is as atmospheric as it was when Turner painted it in 1816.

Parking at the Old Station at Richmond, we crossed onto the north side of the River Swale and followed the track that leaves the road beneath the churchyard. By keeping to the right it follows the river all the way to Easby.

During summer months the church is open, when we called in the autumn it was closed. I think it is a good prospect to join the Small Pilgrim Places Network and will approach them as soon as SPPs new website is functioning. In spite of my disappointment in finding the church closed the Priory site, managed by English Heritage, was open and welcoming. I stood in the Priors Chapel, joining my prayers with theirs across the ages, then settled on a comfortable garden seat to have sandwiches and hot soup.

Continuing down stream we crossed to the south bank over the old railway line and returned to the Station along the rail bed. A leaflet describing the walk is available in the Tourist Information Office.

Pilgrim Prayer at York Minister

2007-12-10T12:54:00.000Z

In the south transept is the seat of custom. Here they take your money and issue tickets.

If you have come to the Minster for a service or for private prayer and they will wave you through.
Away from the buzz of tourists and guided tours there is peace behind the doors of the Zouch Chapel. It is set aside for private prayer. I think it counts as a small pilgrim place – a pool of silence, close to the still centre of the turning world!

Beneath the east window, in the middle of a terrifyingly expensive restoration, is the Lady Chapel. Who should be presiding at the 12.30 p.m. Eucharist but The Very Rev’d Henry Stapleton one time Vicar of Wroxham et al and Dean of Rochester. Afterwards his eyes shine as he speaks St. Peter’s, Belaugh and asks to be remembered to God’s people on the River Bure

York Minster Pilgrimage

2007-12-10T12:14:00.000Z

The statue is of Constantine lolling in a chair, just outside York Minster’s south door. On the other side of a pedistrianised roadway one of the great columns of the Roman Garrison’s Principia building has been re-errected. As I stood and surveyed the scene I was very close to the place where in 306 CE the IX Legion proclaimed Constantine Emperor, the successor to his father Constantius.

Before Constantine died in 337 CE he had converted to Christianity and the privileges and status that had once belonged to those who promoted the cult of the Divine Emperor fell to well placed churchmen. Some thought the privilege, power and status too much and retreated into the cleansing austerity of the desert. Other’s relished in it, climbing the dizzy heights of hierarchy and enthusiastically taking over Imperial Rome’s loveof monumental buildings pouring endless resources into the building, beautifying and maintenance of Christain basilicas.

I am inclined to say, “This is where, or at least one of the places where, the rot set in!” Of course, those who lived through those times would have argued that if kings had great palaces, the King of Kings should have even more splendid buildings dedicated to him! And yet I cannot avoid thinking that most were not simply built to the glory of God. And here, in York, we have what is said to be the biggest Gothic Cathedral in the world still sopping up great wodges of money just to keep it upright!

Do I think we should let it fall down? Probably not! It is a good thing that the Archbishop of York and Cathedral Staff in their stewardship of the building are steadfast in their allegiance to the Carpenter King.

A Pillar of Cloud by Day

2007-10-31T16:58:00.000Z

I parked by Buckenham Station in the depth of winter. You could come by train! The potholed road leads south across the marshes to the River Yare. Birds are everywhere ! On either side of the road thousand upon thousands of widgeon. Some grazing, others overhead, filled the air with their whistling cries. Like shoals of fish on a reef, they swooped, wheeled, parted and merged - an intricate, carefully choreographed dance.

I‘d come on St. Nicholas’ day – 6th December – not just to see the Widgeon, nor the rare Bean Geese, nor yet the wildlife spectacular when tens of thousands of Rooks and Jackdaws gather at twilight before roosting in the trees. I’d come to pray. I find it easier to be mindful of the Creator in the midst of the Creation.

Perhaps it was a coincidence that the church I could glimpse through the trees belonged to St. Nicholas, Buckenham. St. Nicholas is patron saint of sailors, churches bearing his name often doubled as navigation marks. In days gone by, when the river was wider, before the marsh was drained, did they place a guiding light atop the tower? “A pillar of fire by night”?! As I remembered the words of the Exodus story I was surprised to catch sight of “a pillar of cloud by day”! It was issuing from Cantley’s sugar beet factory chimney! In the wilderness the presence of God had been signalled by pillars of fire and cloud. Of course God was there! Always had been but I sensed myself to be on holy ground!

At the fag end of the year, I was trying to get my bearings and see my way ahead to Christmas and beyond. Where was I on my pilgrimage in life? Dare I allow myself to be led and fed by God as in the Exodus? Or to follow the steps of saints who shine like beacons in a dark and sometimes stormy world?

I remembered that Nicholas, patron of children as well as sailors, had by his own generosity saved three young women from a life of prostitution. Would any of my Christmas giving do anything as positive for the Kingdom of God? I hoped so!

Buckenham Marshes are a R.S.P.B. nature reserve adjacent to Stumshaw Fen ( see www.rspb.org.uk) Buckenham Church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust a key is available from a neighbouring house.

In Search of St. Withburga

2007-09-28T09:11:00.000Z

I wanted to honour a founding mother of the faith but even before I started I feared I was on a fool’s errand. The old books tell how the monks of Ely Abbey came to Dereham and stole St. Withburga’s body! So what relics could I hope to find?

She, a royal princess, is said to have founded a religious community in Dereham in 654AD. The town sign depicts her with deer - two does - whose milk, it is said, sustained her community in its early days.

One can’t imagine many deer in Dere- ham today! So instead of going straight to her holy well, I turned left in front of the church, into St. Withburga’s Lane and headed for what looked as if it might be country. On the right I found Rolling Pin Lane. Crossing into an open space, I followed a path downhill and turned right along a little brook. At a T-junction I went right again and approached the church from the valley.

For the first time I thought that I might catch the sight of a deer as the path passed through some Alder Carr. I was surprisingly pleased. The legend recounts that it was to a bridge crossing the stream, close by the church, that the sisters came to meet and milk the deer. I could easily imagine how it might have been.

Once up the hill and into the churchyard I went straight to the holy well. Tradition says it is a healing well that sprang up when St. Withburga’s body was snatched away! Here it was! But the sceptic in me imagines the spring has always been there! To have a church and community by a source of clean water made a lot of sense in 654 AD! In any case, it was still St. Withburga’s well!

The present day church is open during daylight hours. There are good guide books and lots to see. But if, like me, you travel as a pilgrim you will want to take some time in the Lady Chapel. As I stilled myself in that beautiful space I saw all round me evidence for the continuing work of the church and remembered it had begun 1353 years ago. As I prayed I had a sense of someone, there and then gone, like a deer passing through a glade. The Saint? I wondered! Hmmnnnn…..

Pilgrim Path

2007-09-06T10:52:00.000Z

Fursey Pilgrimage?

Saturday 6th October 2007

We join the Fursey Pilgrims for their annual pilgrimageto Burgh Castle.
We meet outside Great Yarmouth Station at 10.07 a.m. and will leave on foot from there to Burgh Castle as soon as the Norwich train arrives.
The train departs Norwich at 9.36 a.m..
Those arriving by car might like to know that on past occasions we have parked in the, adjacent, Asda Car Park!
It is 4.5 miles to Burgh Castle along the southern shore of Breydon Water
We arrive at Burgh Castle at about 12 noon.
Lunch is available at the Church Farm pub. They do a great carvery! Please let Maureen from The Fursey Pilgrims know if you are coming so she can reserve places. Contact her on :01493-781747
Church Service, preacher Bishop Graham, at 2.30 p.m.
Followed by a walk to and prayers at the site of St. Fursey’s monastery within the walls of Burgh Castle.
Then refreshments at the village hall
We will either beg lifts or catch the No.7 bus back to Yarmouth. It departs the Cherry Tree pub at 4.44 p.m and arrives in Great Yarmouth 5.17 p.m.
Norwich train which departs at 5.47 p.m. and arrives Norwich at 6.22 p.m.

Look forward to seeing you on the day! Bring a friend!

For further details be in touch with Richard and Margaret Woodham on 01603-736411 or at

norfolk.pilgrim@virgin.net

Hethel Old Thorn and Church

2007-08-20T16:03:00.001Z

Roll up! See

Eng

land

’s oldest hawthorn tree, the smallest nature reserve and a church with a history spanning a thousand years and more!

Hethel Thorn and church are away from the Lotus works and wartime airfield, on the far side of the wood. It is said the thorn was a meeting place for rebels in the reign of King John! A legend links it to Joseph of Arimathia’s staff. Whatever the truth, the tree is certainly very old! A figure of 700 years is often given! Today it is in the care of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and stands in its own micro nature reserve.

The name Hethel comes from the Old English meaning heather hill but visiting the parish I failed to find anything that resembled a heather hill. I couldn’t even find a hill! But the thorn grows at one end of what looks to be an ancient earthwork. Was this the heather hill? I wondered. Perhaps there had been a meeting place there long before a church was built!

Whatever the case, the church is certainly old! Its tower, with long and short work and the ghost of a doorway in Roman brick, seems to be a genuine Saxon build. It is set in a yard, rich with wildflowers and remains a place of meeting to this day. Week by week a small congregation gather to worship, keep the doors open and makes sure there’s a welcome for tourists and pilgrims alike! Among the pilgrims are those who come to honour the American 389^th Bomber Group. From 1943-1945 the Sky Scorpions flew from Hethel airfield. A memorial by the church door records their wartime service.

The roar of Liberator B-42 aircraft is now just a memory. Inside, the stillness of the church’s plain nave, quietens the racing mind and draws one out from the swirl of historical events into the timeless world of prayer and an awareness of the eternal!

Hethel Church and the Thorn are both on the Kett’s Country long distance path. There are several permissive conservation paths around Church Farm, Hethel that take the rambler past the thorn and through the meadows. You can access the paths from the Church. Across the road, beneath a sign announcing the Hethel Nature Park is a map showing all the footpaths. By car turn west off the B1113 in Bracon Ash, pass Bracon Ash church on the left and keep going straight ahead for about half a mile.

Martham Part 2

2007-06-16T14:16:00.001Z

Return to your car the same way you came but if you want a longer walk continue westward on the same path. At Martham Staithe turn left towards the town and head towards the church. It’s a Gateway Church of the Open Churches Project.You will find an open door and welcome for pilgrims and tourists alike.

St. Blide, the mother of St. Walstan , princess of the royal house of East Anglia is buried here! Walstan chose to live a life of prayer as a humble farm labourer. One imagines it was his mother who introduced him to the faith!

St. Blide’s Chapel in the south aisle is a sensitively re-ordered modern prayer space overlooked by some high quality 15^th century Norwich glass. Time and eternity interweave as you pray before resuming your pilgrimage, Here the Communion of Saints can feel very real. Princess, holy working man, glassmakers, the church at Martham (past and present) and you all following the Carpenter King!

Leave town on the West Somerton road, just before the Martham town sign turn left. A track leads down to a T-junction and a metalled road, turn left, then just past Rectory Cottage right . The footpath will bring you back to Staithe Road, West Somerton. A round trip of 5 miles.

Martham

2007-06-16T14:05:00.000Z

There is a secret place, a clearing in the woods, where clear water laps upon a sandy shore. Tread softly and let the green music of the place slow you into the rhythm of its stillness…….

To get there, park at West Somerton by the Green, head south and turn right into Staithe Road, then right on the footpath that goes along the dyke side. Soon the path goes away from the water and runs along the south side of the Martham Broad Nature Reserve. In summer hidden warblers twitter and churrr and Marsh Harriers swoop and glide low over a sea of reeds. If you are in luck you may catch sight of Cranes circling high in the sky. After about 15 minutes walk you come to a place where tall trees separate the path from the reeds. Find a path off to the right. It leads you to the water’s edge - Boathouse Broad!

On a hot day its almost impossible to resist a paddle! On a very hot day a swim might be in order. Remember your baptism!

Little Terns

2007-06-16T13:58:00.001Z

On a sunny day at the end of June I had come to North Denes. It is at the other end of Great Yarmouth from the Pleasure Beach and about as far removed from the rides and the candy floss as anything could be! A large part of Jesus’ ministry was exercised around the Sea of Galilee and whenever I am beside the seaside I keep hearing echoes! On that particular day two sayings of Jesus held sway: “Come apart and rest a while!”; and “Consider the birds!”

I like consider and its’ Latin roots: con = together and sider = sit down! Better than walking by, or just sitting down , I had come to swim close to where the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds guard an important breeding colony of (rare) Little Terns!

In 2002 vandals trashed the site, now the R.S.P.B keep watch throughout the breeding season. The eggs and chicks are at constant risk from raiding hedgehogs, foxes. cats, gulls and birds of prey as well as human-beings!

Little Terns - swallows of the sea – are dainty birds with v shaped tails. As I floated on the tide, they were flying in with whitebait sized fishes in their beaks and the air was full of sound! They seemed not to notice me as they fished, hovering to spot their prey, then folding their wings to dive into the sea close by.

I remembered that I am one of the baptised, a bird hovering over Jesus at his baptism and Simon Peter sploshing fully clothed from boat to water as he raced towards the risen Lord. I wonder, was it fanciful to feel the presence of the same Lord as I swam towards the shore ?!

To visit the colony, park or take a bus along Yarmouth’s North Drive to a point north of the boating lake, head towards the sea and then go north until you see the fences around the colony. Swimming is not compulsory!

More about Little Terns, the work of the RSPB and how you can get involved can be obtained from the RSPB via their website at www.rspb.org.uk or from

The Eastern Region office at :

Stalham House
65 Thorpe Road
Norwich
Norfolk
NR1 1UD

Tel: 01603 660066

Botolph and Black Shuck

2007-05-11T11:04:00.000Z

On a warm summer’s day there’s nowhere more beautiful, nor peaceful, than Iken Church! It stands the end of a wooded promontory jutting out into the tidal mudflats of the Rive Alde! You can get there by foot following the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Path that begins in Lowestoft! The day visitor might find it easier to walk, cycle, or motor from Snape Maltings only three miles away.

However lovely on a summer’s day, in winter with the wind straight from Siberia via the North Sea it would be quite different! Summer and winter you will find an open door during the hours of daylight.

Within an 11^thCentury Norman nave, is a 9th century Saxon cross, first erected to mark the place of a monastery burnt by Viking raiders.

The monastery was founded in 654 AD, the year Anna, king of East Anglia, was killed in battle against the pagan Mercians.

Its first abbot? Botolph! St. Botolph brought the Rule of St. Benedict to England. He was sought out by the Ven. Bede’s abbot, Coelfrith, who called him "a man of remarkable life and learning, full of the grace of the Holy Spirit"! Among the laity Botolph was famous for doing battle against evil spirits of the marshes. For those who dismiss such ideas as ancient superstition, remember Black Shuck! He still has the ability spread fear and there are few in East Anglia today who walk marshland paths by night!

What better place to rest and remember in prayer those caught up in the violence of war, all who dwell in fear and those who live under the shadow of evil. On Fridays there is a vigil of silent prayer from 12 noon until 1 p.m.. Pilgrims are welcome to attend.

Returning home by way of the A12 why not stop off at Blythburg church . It was to an earlier church on this site, overlooking the river, that the body of king Anna was brought after the battle of Bulcamp. On the present church door burn marks can be seen! “Left by the paws of Black Shuck,” it is said, “ Or perhaps the Devil’s hoof-print, when the steeple fell down in 1577!”. Enough of darkness! Inside the church is flooded with light from the clerestory and intricately carved and painted angels adorn the roof! “He will give his angels,” charge over you…” sings the Psalmist!

St. Piran, Trethevy, Cornwall (not back home yet!)

2007-05-02T09:26:00.000Z

From the Reformation until 1941 the chapel was used as agricultural buildings. It was returned to the Church by Sidney Harris - may he rest in peace and rise in glory!

© Richard Woodham 2007

St. Piran and the Conversion of Cornwall

2007-05-02T09:12:00.000Z

Walking on from the Rocky Valley Labyrniths we turned left at the main road and walked up-hill to Trethevy.

St. Piran's Well and Chapel are just off the main road on the right.

I found the still centre I had been looking for here. In the cool darkness of the chapel.

Coming out into the light, I blessed God for St. Piran and the light he brought to the people of Cornwall. I prayed for the success of the continuing Christian mission here and throughout the world. And reminded myself of my own baptism, as I blessed myself with water from the well.

I set off with a new spring in my step refreshed on my earthly pilgrimage, thankful for those who keep the church open and welcoming

© Richard Woodham 2007

Still Abroad ! The Rocky Valley Labyrinth

2007-05-02T08:36:00.000Z

We parked by Trevalga Church famous now through Rev'd Christine Musser and the TV programme "A Seaside Parish". Trevalga is on the sea side of the road from Tintagel to Bostcastle. From the church we went through the farm-yard and down the lane towards the coastal footpath. Turning left towards Tintagel, we enjoyed the sun, wind, flowers, birds and scenery as we looked out for puffins, razorbills and guillemots nesting on Short and Long islands - but had no luck.

There's no mistaking Rocky Valley. The path zigzagged down to a stream, which we crossed and turned left. Shortly at a ruined mill we came to the famous carvings. A week before I had run my finger around a copy made by the arts and spirituality project Breathing Space Arts ( www.breathingspacearts.co.uk ) The effect was to make the hairs at the back of my kneck stand on end! The originals were carved sometime between 1400 and 1800 BC! Kneeling before them and running my finger around the lines again I found my way to the centre. But found no stillness, no calm!

Strips of cloth, votive offerings I imagine, hung from trees. Stones, rocks and rolled invocations (I suppose!) were wedged in cracks or ledges of the rocks. I walked onwards and upwards!

© Richard Woodham 2007

Norfolk Pilgrim Goes Foreign

2007-05-02T07:34:00.000Z

St. Winwaloe appears in Norfolk weather law - First comes David, Then comes Chad, Then comes Winnold roaring like mad (i.e. March 1st, 2nd and 3rd) . He also gave his name to the horsefair at Downham Market. How does a 5th century Cornish saint get to be remembered in Norfolk?

In France, St. Winwaloes is known as Saint Guénolé or Guennolé. His relics were transferred from a moanastery he founded at Landévennec, Brittany to Montreuil-sur-Merand away from the Viking raids in 914 AD. Following the Norman Conquest the monks of Montreuil-sur-Mer were granted land at Wereham. And so his fame and cult came to Norfolk.

Winwaloe is patron of the Lizard Peninsular and where he established a Cornish monastery. Last week I parked at Poldhu Cove and walked over the hill to Church Cove. The path was surrounded by wild flowers - bluebells, wild garlic, thrift, sea campion and the golden flowers of the gorse. High above a raven and buzzard disputed territory and newly arrived swallows swooped after fresh hatchings of mayflies.

The first sight of St. Winwaloe's Church revealed it as a perfect location for a 5th century monastery. It is sheltered from the south and west by the bulk of a hill that doubled as a coastal castle from ancient times. Close by a clear running stream discharges into the surf on a sandy beach. Nothing of the original church remains but the free-standing bell tower is said to incorporate the original hermits cave.

The deep stillness and subdued light of the church contrasted with the wind, waves and sunshine outside. The prayerful atmosphere is remarkable. Many holiday makers and pilgrims find there way here. The visitors book and book for prayers both provide evidence of how moved people are and what a precious place it becomes for them. Truly a thin place, where God may be encountered.

The church has been called - The Church of the Storms! I'd really like to be there when a Force 1o south-westerly is raging and mountainous surf is crashing on the beach.

© Richard Woodham 2007

Castle Acre

2007-04-13T15:29:00.000Z

We parked by the West Acre church and walked east. It was too early to stop for refreshments at the Stag public house, instead we turned right and crossed the river on a footbridge. At the way mark, we went left through woods to arrive by another ford and footbridge, ignoring these we took the way-marked path just down stream. It is part of the Nar Valley Way, a long distance path that connects Kings Lyn with East Dereham.

On a summer’s day one can imagine families and children playing in the river at the fords. The river is one of the finest lowland chalk streams in the country supporting a wide range of wild life. We saw trout going against the current and a grass-snake swimming from one side to the other. The trees and meadows were full of birds and the path was not too soggy underfoot.

Our destination was Castle Acre where the Peddar’s Way crosses the river Nar. The crossing was fortified by the Earl of Surrey soon after the Norman Conquest. Its earthworks and ruined buildings are impressive to-day, what the conquered Saxons thought of them one can only guess?! The Priory, founded in 1089 is impressive too and must have given hope to the conquered! Cluniacs were independent of the local aristocracy and were promoters of the Peace of God movement which did much to protect the innocent and reduce violence in feudal society. They even promoted town councils!

Entry to the Priory is £4.70 for adults. Its open from 10 a.m. –6p.m. in summer English Heritage do a wonderful job of maintaining the ruins and interpreting the past, but it is a dead past! The Church is different! It is living heritage! The Cluniacs were great enthusiasts for pilgrimage and offered a welcome to travellers. Castle Acre Church keep up the tradition. They were Tourist Church of the Year in 2006. And there’s no entry fee! The church is dedicated to St.James, who appears on the Rood Screen wearing a scallop shell badge and carrying a pilgrim staff. He had answered our Lord’s gracious call “Follow me!” a call that still challenges pilgrims and tourist

Oxnead, St. Michaels and All Angels

2007-03-11T09:01:00.000Z

From Buxton Station, on the Bure Valley Path and Railway, I crossed the tracks and walked into open fields. A gentle gradient led over the crest of a hill, where my spirit rose as a skylark provided the appropriate sound track! The path fell away to a wooded valley. Here a bridge over River Bure provided the opportunity to play Pooh Sticks. It’s a good occupation if there are things you need to let go of, believe me! I reflected about some of those things, forgiveness and baptism. There were no doves to be seen, but a chorus of birdsong gave me much to consider! Pensively I took the path that led up-stream, through green pastures and beside still(ish) waters! Two mares, each with a foal, lifted their heads as I passed by. At the main road I turned right, crossed the bridge, avoided going to the Haflinger Stud and took the next road on the right. After about a quarter of a mile, I turned right again, just before the out-buildings of Oxnead Hall. No sign announced it but, at the end of a rutted track, lost in the woodland, was Oxnead Church!

An enchanted glade ?! Holy is better than enchanted! There seems to be a presence! Angels?! Go yourself! Taste and see! If walking or cycling are out of the question, then, when the ground is dry, you can drive right up to the church!

The building has a stillness that is almost tangible and provides a history lesson in itself. Some of the brick is Roman, some Stuart and some 19^th or 20^th century – bricks Ancient and Modern! It is a place “where prayer has been valid”! So bend the knee! Elaborate monuments of the Paston family dominate but a garden seat, against the south wall of the church, is in memory of “Tim Bush a most treasured and wonderful Dad”! I sat in warm spring sunshine and said the Our Father!

The way back? Return to the metalled road and turn right. Pass Oxnead Hall, the large house adjacent to the churchyard, then take the next farm track to the right – there is a way-mark! This leads down to Pooh Stick Bridge, from where you can retrace your steps to Buxton Station. (distance 3.5 k) For a longer walk, go left along the river bank to Buxton Mill (2k extra).

The people who walked in darkness........

2007-03-11T08:54:00.000Z

Before central heating, electric lighting, sodium street lights and supermarkets, the harshness of late winter and Lent scarcity was experienced first hand. It was cold and dark. The waxing of the moon and lengthening of days, the growing warmth, Good Friday’s hot-cross buns and Easter’s eggs, were looked for and longed for. In the 21^st century none of us experience these things with the same intensity but they need not be lost to us entirely, especially if we get outdoors a lot.

The when of Easter is really important. It was settled for us long ago, in the 7^th century, at the Synod of Whitby. The principle for fixing Easter is simple. It should fall on the first Sunday, after the first full moon that follows the first day of Spring. Its about new beginnings and darkness and light! We do things with candles in church but outside the full moon shines and, for the first time in the year, night’s darkness is shorter than the length of the day’s sun!

Reflecting on these things in the 8^th century the Ven. Bede wrote about “ the sun of righteousness (Jesus) , in whose wings is salvation, …….. by the triumph of his resurrection, dispelled all the darkness of death, ascended into heaven, and” filling his Church with grace. The Church, in this extended metaphor, was represented by the moon! Like the Church the moon’s glory is reflected from elsewhere!

Some of us are privileged to live in places without street lamps and need go no further than our back gardens to experience winter’s cold, darkness and the splendour of night sky. Others may need to go further afield.

Do go! Beneath the starry sky you should expect to find fresh meaning and intensity in the Psalms – try 136, 147 and 148! In the glory of the Easter full moon you will find that Psalm 8 sings in you:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?

(Cultural Notes: In Norfolk the phrase human being is pronounced human bean. Gardener’s plant their spuds on Good Friday to be ready for Ascension Day.)

Dominus Flevit

2007-01-22T16:47:00.000Z

The path that leads down the Mount of Olives gave Jesus and his fellow pilgrims a panoramic view of the Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Overshadowing all, mid-stage, was the great bulk of the Temple. Similar views of Norwich are visible as one walks down from Mousehold Heath. In the midst of the cityscape, the Anglican Cathedral.

Above Gethsamane is another olive grove. In spring the green of the grass is punctuated with the brilliant red of anemones, reminders that Jesus sweated blood on this hill! In the corner of the grove is a tear shaped church - Dominus Flevit! The Latin translates as The Lord Wept. It marks the traditional place where pilgrims to the Holy Land stopped to remember that Jesus had wept over the city and prophesied its destruction.

Destroyed and re-built it is a different Jerusalem the modern pilgrim sees today when she stops to pray. In place of the Temple are the Al Asqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. There is tension in the air, and to Jerusalem, the City of Peace, peace is yet to come! If Jesus shows us what God is like then we cannot doubt that he weeps forJerusalem still! Nor that he weeps for our city too!

Seeing clearly that the world needs a saviour, there is nothing more frustrating than finding the Gospel falls on deaf ears! It’s enough to make one weep! As a mini-pilgrimage, showing solidarity with your Lord, you might park a car on Britannia Road and walk onto the lookout point on St. James’ Hill to watch and pray for our city, the Holy Land and all the lands God counts as holy. Best of all park at the Silver Road end of Mousehold Avenue and take the footpath that leads along the top of the allotments and over the grassy hill behind Heathgate flats.

Below you are the law courts where thousands of tragedies unfold day by day. Up on the hill to the left is our prison, full to overcrowding! Spread out before you a city peopled by those whom God loves and calls to be his own. Among them servants of God live and work as salt in the stew, leaven in the lump and light in the darkness. You might complete the pilgrimage by following the roads down to the cathedral and ending with a prayer there.

Bridgham World Peace Centre

2006-11-23T17:25:00.000Z

On the edge of the village of Bridgham, where the river Thet winds its way to Fenland Drains, past Lynn and on to the sea and oceans beyond, there is a certain bend. On the bank opposite half mature trees reach for the skies and to get there you walk through a grove of newly planted oaks. At this point the river arrives from the south-east, on the left, and then turns sharply to the south-west, on the right. Here, facing south, so the sun rises on the left and sets on the right, open to the wind, but shaded from the noon heat and protected from the rain that feeds the living river, is a shelter. It looks as if it might have grown out of the dark earth. A bandstand ? A pagoda? A pavilion?

It’s called “The Bridgham World Peace Centre”! To which you are invited to come and sit for a while. To: reflect! meditate! ccntemplate! pray! All in the context of the great cycles of the natural world. It is all very Psalm 104!

In my experience the effect of just being there is immediate. Tension lets itself go, rushing out like a great sigh! In its place there is calm elemental energy that flows around, in which one can rest and breathe. Come on your own, or with a close friend or friends, even a coach- full!

This place is the creation of sculptor and film-maker William Fairbank. The centre is part of the Small Pilgrim Places Network and is open to seekers and people of all faiths who will guard and value its quiet and sanctity and pray for the Peace of the World. The Peace of the World, in this sense meaning not only the harmony, healing and wholing of the world’s peoples but of all the creation, in a world where global warming, over consumption and pollution threaten its very existence

William asks that people contact him before visiting, just so he knows who is coming! An e-mail, or a phone call will do.

The Bridgham World Peace Centre can be found at:-

Whitegate,

76 The Street,
Bridgham
Norfolk

NR16 2ABTel: 44(0)1953718114
Fax: 44(0)1953 718611
williamfairbank@breathemail.net
http://www.williamfairbank.com

Burgh Castle

2006-10-30T09:09:00.000Z

Where curlews cry, looking west across Breydon Water to the Berney Arms and Windmill and the marshes beyond, stands four-square the walls of Burgh Castle. Here they have stood for over 1600 years! Within these walls a young Irish abbot and his wandering monks built their home sometime around the year 632 AD. The castle was the gift of Sigbert the first Christian King of East Anglia. From here, the faith spread upriver, westwards to the North Folk and along the Waveney Valley. You might say Burgh Castle is one of the cradles of Christian faith!

The Fursey Pilgrims (www.furseypilgrims.co.uk) came into being to remind people of these, all but forgotten, fathers in Christ. On the first Saturday in October they make an annual pilgrimage to the site. But you could go any time! Canon David Abraham, who led the 2006 pilgrimage tells that, it was a series of visions of the afterlife that so fired the saint that he became an evangelist. “They profoundly affected his teaching and preaching, and gave him a passionate concern for the salvation of souls!”

The most enduring memory of the pilgrimage is a sense of Burgh Castle as a holy place. In Canon David’s words “ ...a thin place, where we felt again the presence of this man of God. A monk committed to the service of God, a priest with a deep love of people, an evangelist who ceaselessly proclaimed the Gospel of Christ. Ecumenically, he is a saint that all denominations can own and unite behind. The Venerable Bede much admired Fursey and wrote of how he “inspired by the example of his goodness and the effectiveness of his teaching”. Fursey still has the power to inspire!”

How to get to Burgh Castle:

By car: Leaving Great Yarmouth on the A12 turn right at Southtown and follow the brown signs to Burgh Castle, park by the church then walk a little over half a mile. Alternatively the management of Church Farm Free House are happy for pilgrims to park in their car park. You’ll find a warm welcome there and it’s a great place for refreshments!

By bus:- Route 7 and 7 a from Great Yarmouth go to Burgh Castle

By boat: Moor at the 24 hr free moorings at Burgh Castle and follow the way-marks on the wooden posts marked with the castle icon

By foot: Follow the way-marked Wherrymans’ Way from Great Yarmouth Station. Distance 5 miles.

Of Beavers, Skylarks and Cats

2006-10-06T15:46:00.000Z

The Babingley River has long been tamed, but in days gone past it was treacherous! It was a tidal estuary where, the story goes, St. Felix, the first person to evangelise the East Anglians, was shipwrecked – shipwrecked and then rescued by beavers!

Apart from the (now dilapidated) village sign celebrating Felix and the beavers, farm buildings, a ruined 15^th century church and a charming “tin tabernacle” there’s not much left of old Babingley! But there is archaeological evidence of a once bustling settlement around the church. Knowing the way missionaries operated in the early days of Christianity in East Anglia, it is safe to guess that Felix established a monastery and evangelised the whole area from here.

There is nothing to see at the church but a well marked permissive path takes today’s pilgrim 2 ½ miles in a circular route around the church, through wide meadows and open skies. The walk begins opposite the place where the B1439 joins the A149. It follows the farm track past the farm, turns south towards the river after a small wood and then comes back along the river. Finally, it returns to the start along a metalled driveway.

I walked along the river bank on a grey March day, enjoying the thought that in Felix’s day I would have been under water. The words of the psalm came to mind, “And whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea….”! As I went I contemplated the possibility of beavers bringing Felix to safety. Just then the song of a rising skylark drew my eyes and heart to heaven! As if to remind me animals do help in the Christian life!

At the metalled drive I chose to turn right to Castle Rising. Norman Fahy, who looks after the Castle, is convinced that the castle had an earlier life before the Norman conquest. He thinks it began life in Saxon times, as an extension of the imagined Babingley monastery. If you go to Castle Rising, check out the font in church just above the castle gateway. You’ll see Felix’s sign, the cat! ( In Latin cat is felis, and luck, felix!)

Q: Was it luck that allowed Felix to bring us the faith?

A: that really was,” more than lucky!”

Access – Buses run along the A149 between Kings Lyn and Hunstanton. Castle Rising Church has good wheelchair access!

Mannington July

2006-10-06T15:16:00.000Z

In early July the Rev’d Jane Durell visited Mannington Hall’s boardwalk and bird hide.

We arrived as the light was beginning to fail. Coming from noisy Norwich, the great stillness impressed me - just the whisper of the wind in the mature willows surrounding the wet meadow. All the colours were muted and harmonious, almost as if a mist was beginning to rise. We were privileged to see a Barn Owl slowly and silently beating it’s way back into the trees. My friend said it was carrying something - I wondered if it was taking supper home to a hungry nest full?

We had passed the sign announcing parking for “the less able”, and ventured down a narrow, grassy and overhung path to find a neat parking place cut in the undergrowth conveniently close to the board walk. From there it was an easy push to get among the marsh flowers and grasses. Hundreds and hundreds of them in all directions – beautiful! Some I knew - others I did not! Red Campion; and shyly peeping out, Ragged Robin; Orchids, some singly, others in groups, and one hanging out into the board walk all ready for close inspection - a Spotted Orchid, I was informed; and there were lots of what as a child I knew as Eggs and Bacon (Bird’s-foot-trefoil), or rather it’s larger cousin, which favours boggy ground.

At the end of the boardwalk we found the hide over looking a pond - empty and welcoming I did not need to transfer to a bench as the viewing slit was at a good level for wheel chair use. We watched a Grey Heron catching frogs. Some were swallowed easily, others appeared to take some arranging before they went down in a great gulp. I was fascinated to watch how the heron’s neck shorten and almost disappear as it prepared to pounce on another frog. At one point a mallard joined the heron. He was totally ignored! They did look an incongruous pair standing side by side on the small artificial island. The Water Lilies must look lovely when they open in full sun - pink or yellow I wonder - but for atmosphere and the birds a summer’s evening is best.

Mannington is signposted near Saxthorpe by the B1149 Norwich – Holt road. Turn left (towards Holt) at the roundabout and soon after turn right towards Matlask. The Car Park and Walks are open every day from 9 a.m. until dusk. Parking costs £2.00. There is a wheelchair accessible lavatory.

Spixworth in Spring

2006-10-06T15:03:00.000Z

“Consider, the flowers of the field” says Jesus. As Winter gives way to Spring, it is the flowers of the woodland that lead the way but it’s the same idea! Aconites, snowdrops, primroses, bluebells, orchids…… Snowdrops were being celebrated at St. Peter, Spixworth on Sunday 12th February 2006 with an open day and walks in the churchyard and the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately the heavens were open that day too and February Fill-Dyke lived up to its name! St. Peter’s repeated the exercise on 26th February. On Monday 1st May between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. it was Bluebell Day at Spixworth. Beginning at the church there were walks of various lengths - ¾, 11/2 or 3 miles - with prayer stations on the way, as children’s environmental activities and refreshments.

Jesus’ spiritual practice led him away from the towns and villages. Many of us need to go “apart from the world” too. At bluebell time one of the places worth retreating to is Foxley Wood. It is a true sanctuary, Norfolk’s largest area of ancient woodland, under the care of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The wood is open daily, except Thursdays. You’ll find it signposted from the A1067 Norwich to Fakenham road at Map Ref TG 049 229 . Buses stop a 15-minute walk away. Entry is free. Apart from bluebells in early May a visitor can expect to see early purple orchids, a host of other wildflowers, birds and butterflies. Perhaps you will catch a glimpse of a deer passing silently through the trees! Dogs are not allowed in the wood.

Wheelchair users will find the tracks and paths at Spixworth, Foxley at best quite bumpy and at worse impassable but its worth knowing that Norfolk Wildlife Trust is very serious about disabled access. Details of opening times, disabled provision etc. at all their reserves can be seen on their website www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk or in their reserves handbook which can be ordered on 01603 -625540 . In addition there are 67 Roadside Nature Reserves in Norfolk some with a spectacular number of species. For example, try Backwood Lane. It runs to the east of Brooke Wood (Map Ref. TM 270979 -268990)

Considering the Birds

2006-10-03T10:37:00.000Z

For those who first brought the Christian faith to Norfolk the wild goose was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The creator spirit that brooded over the face of the waters in the beginning, continues to hatch out things out today! The mighty rushing winds, fiery sunrises and sunsets and hundreds of thousands of over-wintering geese suggest that north Norfolk in winter could be a place of extended Pentecost!

At the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (R.S.P.B) Reserve at Snettisham you may be lucky enough to see thousands of Pink Footed Geese fill the air at dawn and nightfall on their way between roost and feeding grounds.

Waiting for the birds can teach much about the dynamics of what it is to watch and pray. Sometimes the birds don’t show for some reason. When they do, how the heart skips! Responding in praise one cannot avoid joining in the hymn of the universe as Creation sings the praise of the Creator. Psalm 148 provides words for the experience – “Wild beasts and all cattle, creeping things and birds on the wing; kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the world; Young men and women, old and young together; let them praise the name of the Lord. In the order and chaos of our built environment, against the background of traffic noise and the two-tone call of emergency vehicles, Psalm 148 makes little contemporary sense. Away from 21st century comforts, on the edge of the inhabited world, even the discomforts of Fire and hail, snow and mist, and tempestuous wind” are experienced as fulfilling God’s word and doing his will

Beyond praise, humankind’s stewardship and consideration of and for the created order are frequent biblical themes. Consideration (con-sider from the Latin to sit down with) suggests prolonged, quiet attention and friendliness. In another sense it means taking thoughtful care. Is it possible to pursue these matters in a consistent way? No organisation has more consideration for the birds of the air than the RSPB! And they provide many opportunities for people to engage with the birds they aim to preserve. Even without leaving home you can take part is their Big Garden Birdwatch on 27^/28^th January! Get further details from the local RSPB office on 01603-660066. On the internet go to www.rspb.org.uk .

Snettisham RSPB Reserve car park is 200 yards inland on the Beach Road on a sharp bend! A footpath takes visitors a little over 2km or 1 ¼ miles to the hides between the beach and a series of lagoons. For disabled access to the reserve, phone 01485 542689 for a permit.

Another place to see Pink Footed Geese in their twilight spectacular is Holkham.

Don’t go looking for them on nights with a full-ish moon. They may stay on the feeding grounds all night!

Cromer Beach

2006-08-12T15:03:00.000Z

In some small matters the call for Christians to be Christ-like is easy! Anyone can walk by the seaside! A favourite walk is from Overstrand to Cromer. On a summer’s day, with sunlight dancing on the sea, a breeze blowing your hair everywhere and with the rhythm of the waves on the shore, everything seems alive. A paddle or a swim can intensify a sense of being part of it all and can become an occasion to reflect on baptism. Even on a summer’s day the water can be cold and it’s not all blue skies! Imagine the same beach on a dark and stormy winter’s night. Baptism Service speaks of “the deep waters of death”!

Cromer and Cromer men have a proud history of saving life at sea. Henry Blogg, coxen of Cromer boat from 1909 to 1947 is probably the best known lifeboatman ever! He carried out 350 rescues and saved 800 lives. Now the RNLI have done him proud by building the new Henry Blogg Museum at the bottom of the Gangway (opened Spring 2006). It is well worth a visit, if only to enjoy a thrilling piece of modern architecture and the refreshments in the, first floor, Rocket House Café!

Of course, Henry Blogg and most of the lifeboat men were fishermen and lots of Jesus’ friends were fishermen but when it comes to saviours………… I never go to Cromer without remembering Margaret. By her own telling she was an awkward, unhappy and unloved child. But she found a Saviour when she came to know Jesus through a summer holiday beach mission. The good news of God’s love never left her! Henry Blogg, Margaret, you and I can’t dodge the deep waters of death. But we do have a Saviour! Remembering them all and that breakfast on the shore (John 21) when the resurrection faith was brand new I like to buy a crab and picnic on the beach.

Cromer’s has brilliant public transport connections and the Promenade is great for wheelchair users. Those with disabled parking badges can park on the Promenade. The lift at the Henry Blogg Museum connects the cliff top with the Promenade and the Rocket House Cafe there are toilets for the disabled at the Museum and on the Pier.

Praying where the Cows come Holm

2006-08-12T11:51:00.000Z

On the Horning to Ludham road turn right at the Dog public house and take the back road to Ludham. After half a mile a farm road and bridle path on the right leads, a mile across the marshes, to the ruins of St. Benet’s Abbey at Cow Holm.

Tradition has it that the first monastic community was established by Abbot Suneman and a group of hermits in 800 AD on what was then an island used for grazing. Great work has been done to reclaim land for agriculture, but then, before the rivers were embanked, the whole area was tidal marshes and open water where the rivers Bure, Thurne and Ant met.

This first monastic community was destroyed by Viking raiders, but in the 10^th century it was re-established by Wolfric and seven companions still following as their predecessors the Celtic pattern of monastic life. Under King Cnut the community was refounded and endowed as a Benedictine house. It was named after St. Benedict ( St. Bene’t’s!) but until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VII the community continued to celebrate St. Wolfey’s Day on 3^rd December.

Today the site is owned by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust whose interpretation boards help visitors imagine its past glories. Very little of the abbey survives except the gatehouse and the stubs of a few walls. A tall cross marks the place of the high altar!

Once a year, on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday, there’s a well attended service on the site. At other times pilgrims find themselves alone with the cows that continue to graze the pastures. St. Benet’s at Cow Holm is a place “where prayer has been valid”. If one wanted to follow Jesus’ command to “come apart and rest a while”, or his example, by going to a lonely to pray, it is fit for purpose. There are few better places to recover a proper perspective on life or where the communion of saints is more keenly felt.

Most visitors to St. Benet’s arrive by boat. Many come by bike. Cycle’s can be hired from Broadland Cycle Hire (1603- 783906). There is a bus to Ludham, route 54 from Norwich to Stalham and from Ludham a round walk of 5 1/2miles (9 kilometers) follows the banks of the rivers Thurne and Bure to the Abbey and back along the farm road and back road to Ludham.