Soon after the beginning of the Pilgrims’ Way Stage 2 at Alresford the route follows Whitehill Lane to Bishop’s Sutton.

The lane is now temporarily closed due to the building of an industrial estate and a realignment of the road.

The one mile walk up Whitehall Lane is replaced for now by a 1.5 miles diversion:

On reaching the end of Tichbourne Down road bear left into Sun Lane. Follow this road (pavement on left) north to the railway bridge. Do not cross the bridge but go right to follow a footpath.

At the far end go right along Bishops Sutton Road (pavement on left) into Bishop’s Sutton.

There is a welcome suggestion that in 2027 the reopened Whitehill Lane should become a traffic free ‘green link’.

The good news now is that after walking the diversion you will find The Ship pub at Bishop’s Sutton reopened.

This week Tuesday to Friday there will be haymaking in the paddock, or meadow, on the northern side of Winchester Cathedral.

The site is where the Minster stood which preceded the cathedral and where St Swithun was first buried. His grave is marked.

This is an experiment started recently to nurture wildflowers and re-establish the meadow.

Bales of hay will be available to purchase.

‘Of all the tears that St. Swithin does cry, St. Bartholomew will wipe them dry‘, says today’s rhyme.

St Bartholomew’s Day, or Bartlemas, being 24 August is forty days after St Swithun’s Day on 15 July when the much quoted lines in Winchester are:

St Swithun’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.

So it’s the last of the forty days of rain or sun.

Diamond Geezer has been keeping a record with his Swithinometer.

There is a St Bartholomew’s church at Hyde Abbey on the edge of Winchester.

There is also one at Otford where the pilgrims, from Southwark and Winchester unite on the way to Canterbury.

An arm of St Bartholomew was in the care of Canterbury Cathedral from the 1030s until the 1530s. The monks accepted the relic from the Bishop of Benevento, near Naples, in return for a fine cope .

Bartholomew is one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus who first saw him under a fig tree.

The Ship in Bishop’s Sutton is reopening today at 10am.

Kelly Shaw, who grew up in nearby Winchester and worked in its pubs, is the new landlady of the village inn which is mainly late 18th-century but probably dates from the 1600s.

The Ship’s wine list is now entirely organic and the menu will follow the seasons. ‘You won’t find strawberries in winter here,’ insists Kelly who describes The Ship as ‘an all day pub in the truest sense’.

The food can just be described as affordable with snacks at £8 and small dishes £14. Coffee and pastries are available all day in the stables now called The Ship Studio.

The Ship opening times are Tue-Thu 10am-11pm; Fri & Sat 10am-11.30pm; Sun 12-10pm.

Pub food is available Wed-Sat 12-2:30pm & 5:30-9:00pm; Sun 12-3pm.

The Ship is on the Pilgrims’ Way at the corner of the main street and Church Lane which leads to the church.

The pilgrim stamp is obtainable from the church which has an unusual Norman beakhead doorway decoration.

Today Friday 15 August is The Assumption of Mary.

Once the day was known as Our Lady of the Harvest and today it is a holiday in many countries although in England now it is little noticed.

Upper Foyle in Hampshire is rare in having its 13th-century church dedicated to St Mary of the Assumption. This is probably because its patron at the time was Winchester’s St Mary’s Abbey, Nunnaminster.

It is interesting how important the doctrine was considered at that time since it was not finally defined, and the 15 August made a major holy day, until 1950. However, King Alfred the Great of Wessex (871-899) had made the day a holiday.

The 19th-century lord of the manor was Sir Hubert Miller who with his wife spent the autumn in Venice, winter in Rome and spring in Florence.

So he was home for The Assumption and saw that his church had the best vestments from Italy.

Sadly there is no Assumption celebration in the church today nor any service next Sunday.

But the church is usually open for pilgrims to see some of the vestments on display and the window featuring Winchester and Canterbury cathedrals.

Upper Foyle is on the Pilgrims’ Way out of Winchester between Alton and Farnham. Statues of saints are attached to the estate houses.

St Radegun’s Day is Wednesday 13 August which is a good date to visit Canterbury’s Parrot Inn. This is the city’s oldest pub and has a strong claim to having been accommodation for pre-Reformation pilgrims from 1370.

The late 14th-century hall house building is the former St Radigund’s Hall belonging to St Radegun’s Abbey (with an e) near Dover.

St Radegund was a 6th-century German princess and a vegan who founded Poitiers Abbey.

The ‘oldest pub’ claim comes from the understanding that it was an inn or hostel.

Many of the inns in Southwark were permanent London lodgings belonging to a diocese or monastery but open to pilgrim guests when not needed by the bishop, abbot or prior.

A hostel can be collection of buildings and it is known that the Abbot of St Radigund’s main house was at the end of Duck Lane opposite today’s pub. The site is behind The Dolphin in St Radigunds Street. The hostel complex, just beside North Gate, appears to have straddled the city wall.

Canterbury’s Parrot pub, little visited by tourists and opposite a section of the city’s Roman wall, is found down the very narrow Church Lane off The Borough.

The building returned to being a place of hospitality only in 1987 after a long closure and is now in the hands of Shepherd Neame who brew the Pilgrims’ Way ale known as Bishop’s Finger.

The pub’s present name, first used here in the 19th century before lapsing, is inspired by mention of a parrot in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.

The Parrot, 1-9 Church Lane CT1 2AG is open all day.

Canterbury Cathedral now issues an accreditation for the pilgrimage to the shrine of St Thomas Becket.

This is the equivalent of the Compostela issued to pilgrims arriving at Santiago de Compostela with a well stamped credential or pilgrim passport.

Canterbury’s Pilgrimage Certificate bears the signature of the Dean of Canterbury The Very Revd David Montieth.

Pilgrims arriving at Canterbury Cathedral should ask at the reception, alongside the Christ Church Gate, to see the Pilgrimage Officer.

Pilgrims’ Way passports are available from the cathedral shop at Southwark Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral.

Pilgrims arriving at Canterbury Cathedral this summer have been surprised to see a textile hanging behind the high altar and in front of the Thomas Becket shrine site.

To some it may look slightly familiar. Is there a London bus seat or a tube train seat somewhere in the middle?

The work, called Moon Landing, is an immersive music and textile collaboration.

The inspiration is the little-known story of the women who wove the integrated computer circuits and memory cores which enabled the 1969 moon landing.

The 52 foot hanging is by British textile artist Margo Selby who is responding to the moon landing score, an original musical piece, by award-winning composer Helen Caddick.

But thoughts of buses and trains are not out of place for Margo Selby has been commissioned by London Underground and worked with the London Transport Museum in creating a unique fabric to highlight the long relationship between London Transport, good design and moquettes.

Her distinctive bath mats, towels and duvets are available from John Lewis.

There is already a poll for the weather next Tuesday 15 July, St Swithun’s Day. A popular rhyme claims that if it rains on 15 July it will rain for forty days

This is Winchester Cathedral’s patronal festival and those starting out on the Pilgrims’ Way may wish to be aware of the special occasion.

Evensong followed by a procession to the shrine in Winchester Cathedral is next Saturday 12 July at 4.30pm when many Cathedral Friends will be present.

The First Evensong of St Swithun is at 5.30pm on Monday 14 July.

On St Swithun’s Day the Eucharist is at 12 noon and Festal Evensong at 5.30pm.

Evensong is live streamed via the Cathedral website.

*** The 15 July is the Translation of St Swithun recalling his body being moved on this day in 971 from the outside burial ground into the Old Minster (outlined in grass on cathedral’s north side). The body was moved again twice: in 1093, into the new cathedral, and in 1096 within the cathedral -always on 15 July.

***If you are setting out from Southwark Cathedral you will find St Swithun and St Thomas Becket depicted together among the saints on the great screen behind the high altar.

Saturday 5 to Monday 7 July is the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury weekend.

On Saturday there is the Canterbury Medieval Pageant with a parade and many pilgrimage theme activities.

On Sunday the focus is on the Cathedral where the First Evensong of the Translation is at 5.30pm.

Later that evening, as always on the eve of the translation, St Dunstan’s Church (the last on the PW before West Gate) at 7.30pm hosts the annual St Thomas More lecture. The day is the anniversary of his martyrdom in 1535.

This year’s speaker is mediaeval historian Professor Robert Bartlett.

Monday 7 July is The Translation marking the day in 1220 when Thomas Becket’s body was moved, or translated, from the cathedral crypt to the specially built shrine in the main church. This was to be the focus of international pilgrimage for more than 300 years.

Solemn Evensong at 5.30pm is followed by a procession to the shrine site.

At 7pm Solemn Mass will be celebrated by the Papal Nuncio and will include a Blessing with St Thomas Becket’s relics. Entry is by free ticket available from Jubilee 2025/Pilgrims of Hope.

‘His death and subsequent canonisation continues to have an impact upon the cathedral and community of this city and diocese.’