Expect the flag to be at half mast today at Lullingstone Castle where the funeral of Guy Hart Dyke is being held at the church in the grounds. He celebrated his 90th birthday a few days before a peaceful death on Monday 12 February. The church is St Botolph’s, known as ‘the church on the […]
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This year is the centenary of the Muriel Spark’s birth. The novelist was born in Edinburgh on 1 February 1918. She died in 2006. Her complicated and at first stressful adult life saw her living at many addresses. One was Aylesford Priory on the Pilgrims’ Way where she arrived in October 1954. After a short […]
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Pilgrimage can be made in many ways, by luxury group travel, on foot or by bike. But it does not need to be expensive or painful. A free one day event at Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 24 February will offer advice from experienced pilgrims on how to prepare yourself physically and practically with suitable kit, […]
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The Royal Oak in Southwark will now stamp your Pilgrims’ Way passport. The award-winning pub, on the corner of Tabard Street and Nebraska Street, is popular with real ale enthusiasts. Food is available every lunchtime. The Pilgrims’ Way passes the Royal Oak main doorway as Tabard Street was the continuation of Old Kent Road. Passports can […]
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On the fifth Day of Christmas 847 years ago Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. This Friday 29 December the anniversary will be kept with a special evensong at 3.15pm. Becket died as Vespers was starting. So during sung evensong at Canterbury Cathedral there is a procession to the Martyrdom where a few […]
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In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay, Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage To Canterbury This appears on the first page of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer published in 1896 by the Kelmscott Press. The 87 wood-cut illustrations are by Edward Burne-Jones. A Folio Society facsimile edition is available for visitors to leaf through as part […]
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With pilgrimage expert Marion Marples I shall be leading a Saturday morning mini pilgrimage from Southwark to the Old Kent Road on 21 October. It will be a walk from Southwark Cathedral attempting to go in the steps of Geoffrey Chaucer, and many others, a couple of miles into Old Kent Road. We shall look […]
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Needing overnight accommodation in Winchester for a quick visit I stayed at Cathedral Cottage where pilgrims sometimes spend a first night. This bed and breakfast is in the Winchester city centre. The cathedral wall runs along the bottom of the garden from where there is a view of the cathedral. A special attraction is an […]
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The Red Lion on Shooters Hill is at the end of your first day out of London. It is almost certain to be open when you arrive. In addition to real ale and food you can now ask for a stamp to be added to your pilgrim passport. The milestone outside Christ Church opposite says […]
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The Thomas A Becket in Old Kent Road from today has its own stamp for marking pilgrim passports. The famous pub building, opposite Tesco, is now Rock Island at Thomas A Becket and is open 12 noon to 12 midnight. After Southwark Cathedral, where you can obtain a pilgrim passport in the shop, this is […]
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