Leigh Hatts

Concern is being expressed in the Wey Valley area and nearby Alton in Hampshire over a proposed multi-million-pound incinerator near the Pilgrims’ Way. The possible impact on visitors including walkers along the Pilgrims’ Way was highlighted during Thursday’s BBC South Today programme. No Wey campaigners are calling for the plan to be decided by the […]

The Little Gem pub in Aylesford has quietly reopened after being closed for ten years. The tiny building dates from 1106 which is fourteen years before the birth of Thomas Becket. Prior to becoming a pub in 1968 it was a cafe. It is now Kent’s smallest pub. Today the PW almost passes the door […]

Tuesday 24 August is St Bartholomew’s Day and forty days after St Swithun’s Day. It seems that global warming may have upset the old August pattern of consistent weather. Although the period which began in sunshine is ending in good weather there was a lot of rain in the middle. However, there is a saying […]

The Woolpack at Chilham, which claims to have been in existence since 1480, has a new inn sign. The image on the hanging sign has changed at least five times during the last century. The latest painting is by Julian Kirk and depicts the pack horse passing a milestone on the Pilgrims’ Way which runs […]

This year St James’s Day 25 July falls on a Sunday which means that 2021 is a Holy Year in Santiago de Compostela. Many seek to be a pilgrim to Santiago in a Holy Year and due to the pandemic this special year is going to continue into 2022. The Pilgrims’ Way from Southwark to […]

Ambitious plans to save and make accessible the Archbishop’s Palace at Charing have been abandoned. With no prospect of being able to achieve its objectives in the foreseeable future it has been resolved by the trustees to wind up the Charing Palace Trust . This is a blow to all who are aware of the […]

It’s a special day at Winchester this week. Thursday 15 July is St Swithun’s Day when choral evensong and the procession to the shrine will be broadcast online from Winchester Cathedral at 5.30pm. The body of St Swithun was until the Reformation in Winchester Cathedral. However, pilgrims from Winchester would have found St Swithun’s head […]

The Friends of Winchester Cathedral’s 90th anniversary festal evensong on Saturday looked back to St Swithun and the beginning of the cathedral . The service, broadcast online to Friends unable to be present, included impressive camerawork featuring unusual views around the building. After a procession to St Swithun’s shrine there were prayers of thanks invoking […]

Choral evensong is being broadcast online live from Canterbury Cathedral on Wednesday the Feast of the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury. Before the pandemic the annual service was in the choir and followed by a procession of canons to the shrine in a pre-Reformation tradition. At present services are sung in the nave. This […]

David Guest, vicar of Otford, is coming up the Pilgrims’ Way to host Southwark Cathedral’s Stories of Cats day. Cathedral cat Hodge is expected to be around on Saturday 7 August to welcome visitors joining the day event. Speakers include George Hoyle (aka Cunning Folk) on The Folklore of Cats, Dr Kathleen Walker-Meikle on Literary […]