Norfolk Pilgrim

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...

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) 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 inca...

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 ...

There's a story untold in the Bible -  how the returned to life Lazarus went on to be the first Bishop of Larnaka.  The stone coffin in which he lay is preserved in a crypt beneath the high altar of the Church of St. Lazarus,  When I went down into the crypt it reminded me of  the Cave of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  In Orthodox pilgrim mode I have kissed the rock in both those places! But there was to be no kissing Lazarus in the crpypt His coffin is empty! He has not yet been raised from the dead a second time, in spite of the empty tomb! The body was nicked by the high principled Crusaders who took it off to Marsailles!  However, there was no need to rely on a Homeopathic Theory of relics - i..e. the notion that there's a holy place where the relic used to be. The Crusaders  conveniently left a portion of skull behind. It is upstairs in the church, in a golden relique. Kneeling in the near darkness of ...

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 vineyards. 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 the vine. There in the vinyard were these dead looking sticks! That's what Committed to Growth looks like! ©Richard Woodham 2008

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...

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. Prayin...

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 –...

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 ...

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 ...

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! ...

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...

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

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,...

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 go...

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 Al...

Fursey Pilgrimage? Saturday 6th October 2007 · We join the Fursey Pilgrims for their annual pilgrimage to 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 t...

Roll up! See Eng land ’s oldest hawth orn 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 to...

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 ope n 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 s ensitively 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 w orking 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 Ma...

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! © Richard Woodham 2007