Leigh Hatts

There is briefly a rare aroma along the Darent Valley as fields begin to turn purple. The first serious colour on England’s largest lavender plantation appeared last week and it will increase day by day until harvesting in mid-month. Castle Farm, between Lullingstone Castle and Shoreham, only planted lavender in 1998 giving the already beautiful […]

A week after the Translation of St Thomas, with the focus on Canterbury, there is St Swithun’s Day on Saturday 15 July. At Winchester Cathedral the boy choristers will sing the first evensong of St Swithun on Friday 14 July ay 5.30pm. On Saturday, St Swithun’s Day, evensong will be sung at 4.30pm by the […]

This year 2023 the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, falls on Friday 7 July. The day is the anniversary of St Thomas Becket’s body being moved in 1220 from Canterbury Cathedral‘s crypt to the shrine upstairs in the rebuilt Trinity Chapel at the east end of the cathedral church. Some pilgrims aim […]

Before you set out from Southwark Cathedral on your pilgrimage you may wish sit next to William Shakespeare in the churchyard or say hello to Hodge the cat. This summer you can also look for a large golden nest made from reflective wire in a plane tree. You will find the nest by Angela Wright […]

There are plans for the former Kentish Drovers pub building in Old Kent Road, part of the Pilgrims’ Way, to be restored. The pub, on the corner of Commercial Way, has been a landmark since at least 1838 due to having England’s longest pub sign. This takes the form of a curving mural of extremely […]

If you are walking from Halling to Aylesford on Sunday 25 June you will find the annual summer fair at Aylesford Priory.

Those planning to start their pilgrimage to Canterbury this Thursday or Friday morning from Southwark may wish to know the arrangements at Southwark Cathedral for Ascension Day, Thursday 18 May. At 8am on Thursday the Dean will be leading a group of people up to the top of the tower to sing Ascension Day hymns […]

A window has been unveiled at the City of London’s Brewers’ Hall to remember the Brewers’ patron St Thomas Becket. It was commissioned from the Stained Glass Studios at Canterbury Cathedral and designed by its director Léonie Seliger whose work is seen in the Pilgrim’s Way churches at Boughton Aluph and Godmersham. The design features […]

The label for Carolean Crown, a limited edition ale brewed to mark the Coronation of King Charles III, is based on a pub sign found on the Pilgrims’ Way in Southwark. The pub’s name is a reference to the future Charles II hiding in an oak tree during the Cromwellian period. The pub sign, above […]

Morris dancers will be up early on the two high points of the Pilgrims’ Way on May Day, Monday 1 May. On St Martha’s Hill near Guildford the Pilgrim Morris are being joined by the Guildford Vox Community Choir at 5am to await, with song in the darkness, sunrise at 5.35am. Further east the Kingston […]