Pilgrimage

There’s more to Britain than England, of course, so I’m continuing my 2020 northbound journey through Scotland towards the distantContinue Reading

I risked more smoked salmon with scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning and all was well. Today was more likeContinue Reading

Wooler to Fenwick I knew it would happen. For the past three weeks my bag has been magically transported fromContinue Reading

Kirk Yetholm to Wooler You might have detected from the time and probably incoherent nature of yesterday’s blog that IContinue Reading

Windy Gyle to Kirk Yetholm More glorious sunshine, more cloudless skies, more autumn colours on the moors, more English folkContinue Reading

Byrness to Windy Gyle What weather!! We’ve been blessed with another fine day today. When I was fighting my wayContinue Reading

Bellingham to Byrness Goodness, what a remote part of the world. It’s an endless land of moors and a fewContinue Reading

Once Brewed to Bellingham It’s not what it used to be, the night life along Hadrian’s Wall. I ate sausagesContinue Reading

9am taxi this morning because he’s busy ferrying the children to school before then. Today’s walk was only 10Km andContinue Reading

Slaggyford to Greenhead A strong wind blew all last night but the day dawned peacefully, a bright sunny day withContinue Reading

Garrigill to Slaggyford Imagine this. You’re walking the Pennine Way and you have two nights in a B&B half wayContinue Reading

Dufton to Garrigill “The highest, most remote and most exposed part of the route” says my Pennine Way guidebook aboutContinue Reading

Langdon Beck to Dufton “Would you like a cooked breakfast?”, Andrew Milnes asked me this morning. “No thank you, justContinue Reading

Middleton to Langdon Beck and back Today was almost a rest day because I have two nights in the sameContinue Reading

Bowes to Middleton Great breaking news!! 82 year old Pennine Way hiker found safe and well near Keld. He’d hitContinue Reading

Keld to Bowes The mountain rescue teams were out early looking for an 82 year old man who went missingContinue Reading

Hawes to Keld It’s a day where the 1:25000 series map becomes a work of art. I could snip outContinue Reading

Horton in Ribblesdale to Hawes Every weekend a different charity organises their own Three Peaks Challenge in which participants haveContinue Reading

Malham to Horton in Ribblesdale And that photo is the fearsome Pen-y-Ghent, today’s big challenge. I’m in the Yorkshire DalesContinue Reading

Skipton to Malham Kirk Yetholm is the end of the Pennine Way in case you thought it was almost over.Continue Reading

Haworth to Skipton I had just finished my pint at the Black Bull last night and was walking through Haworth,Continue Reading

Hebden Bridge to Haworth When it comes to Wuthering Heights, some never got beyond Kate Bush. She summed up allContinue Reading

Hebden Bridge I’m not usually the first to admit that I’m wrong. My plan was to stay in my pubContinue Reading

Standedge to Hebden Bridge At 27km, today’s walk was the longest of the Pennine Way stages but also one ofContinue Reading

Hattersley to Standedge Actually I’m exhausted and I haven’t even started it. Today was meant to be a quick 16km.Continue Reading

Bollington to Hattersley I am now working my way around Manchester. It’s always cold and wet here and it wasContinue Reading

Leek to Bollington The Premier Inn doesn’t have a loyalty scheme. It’s a shame because I’d be a gold memberContinue Reading

Kingsley to Leek The storm continued all night. The wind howled. The rain lashed against the window of my B&B.Continue Reading

Uttoxeter to Kingsley Small mishap last night when I dropped my toothbrush into the toilet. I bought a new oneContinue Reading

Rugeley to Uttoxeter Last time, when it asked me to upgrade to a meal I said no. But this morningContinue Reading

Shustoke to Lichfield I stayed in the Old Station Guest House which was ok for the cheap price. I justContinue Reading

Kingswood to Shustoke I stayed in a hotel called the Punchbowl last night and it was first class and forContinue Reading

Last night’s Travelodge was well outside Alcester (pronounced Ulster) and it occupied a prime site on a busy roundabout whichContinue Reading

Chipping Camden to Alcester I stayed at the Volunteer Inn in Chipping Camden last night. It was okay except theyContinue Reading

Bourton-on-the-Water to Chipping Camden I stayed last night at The Manse Hotel in Bourton-on-the-Water. It’s a Greene King and excellent.Continue Reading

Woodstock to Bourton-on-the-Water Yesterday I left the Thames Path at Oxford and walked along the Oxford Canal path to Woodstock.Continue Reading

Abingdon to Woodstock I forgot to mention that yesterday’s headline was written by Bob Dylan, not me. It comes fromContinue Reading

Wallingford to Abingdon near Oxford After a few nice days, today saw the return of normal English weather. The staffContinue Reading

Reading to Wallingford This pilgrimage is very last minute and because of the pandemic and all the uncertainties of lockdownContinue Reading

Marlow to Reading We have an extreme heat wave at the moment so I set off at 6.30. I wouldContinue Reading

Breakfast options were limited this morning in Windsor. Nothing was open at 7am except McDonalds so I went inside. TheContinue Reading

One of the advantages of starting a pilgrimage from home is that I’m not short of good company for theContinue Reading

Had all been well, I would have been wandering down Italy soaking up the Mediterranean sunshine, eating gelato, drinking PeroniContinue Reading

It was a strange evening ceremony in Temple 6 last night. But first we enjoyed another inadequate dinner made upContinue Reading

Sorry for losing your comments yesterday. Something got switched off by mistake. This is a very weird feeling, reaching TempleContinue Reading

Today there were mini mountains with steep trails and urban highways with nothing of note. I told Blanca that myContinue Reading

What a relief to set off this morning and to close the door forever on that awful Momo-ya ryokan. OneContinue Reading

As you might have gathered by now, choosing accommodation on this pilgrimage is a lottery with mostly winning tickets butContinue Reading

The day opened with a 6am morning service in Temple 75. The few benches were already occupied by the busContinue Reading

It was like arriving home, turning the corner and seeing Temple 75. I came here four years ago only toContinue Reading

As I opened the door this morning there was an enormous flash of lightning followed by a loud crash ofContinue Reading

I crept out of the hotel before dawn this morning and took a deep breath to get in the mood.Continue Reading

There’s a gap in the map between Temples 64 and 65 of some 50 kilometres with little of interest andContinue Reading

Sometimes on this pilgrimage I find it difficult to plan a day and today was one of those days. TheContinue Reading

I only had a very short walk from my hotel over the road to Family Mart for breakfast at 6.30.Continue Reading

As I walked through dilapidated Hojo yesterday afternoon looking for my accommodation I was prepared for the worst. But asContinue Reading

My expectation for today was an interesting walk around the city to the coast and then a beautiful walk upContinue Reading

I have the luxury of a 2nd rest day in Matsuyama. It’s the perfect place for a rest because there’sContinue Reading

Everything you want to see seems to be covered in scaffolding at the moment. Long gone are the days whenContinue Reading

Autumn has finally arrived. The temperature has dropped from 30 degrees last week to a more reasonable 21 and theContinue Reading

Today felt like a day off after yesterday’s marathon. First there was a return walk up the road to TempleContinue Reading

I was ready to leave at 6am this morning and I set off at 6.05. That’s how long it tookContinue Reading

I was happy to depart from the dreadful Fujino-ya ryokan this morning. Somehow they charged me 8200 yen, the mostContinue Reading

A 6am departure from the pleasant Ailin hotel in Yoshinoya. I wasn’t hanging around for breakfast because a short distanceContinue Reading

For the first time my 5.45 alarm awoke me from a deep sleep and an hour later I had draggedContinue Reading

I was happy to reach Sukumo last night even if it meant staying in a business hotel. A business hotelContinue Reading

Actually I enjoyed my stay in the Tatsukushi-en minshuku last night. It was right on the beach. I had theContinue Reading

I’ve left Sandrine behind at Cape Ashizuri because she has to return to France for work. Last night’s accommodation wasContinue Reading

I left at 6.30 this morning clutching my bag of croissants and set off down the coast for the lastContinue Reading

If you’re used to paying for your cappuccino with a slight flick of your Apple Watch you’ll struggle in Japan.Continue Reading

Sure enough there was chanting at 6am in the temple but I was already awake from the first train pastContinue Reading

No winners of yesterday’s photo competition. I thought it was a breakfast cereal factory but the owner of the ryokanContinue Reading

If you struggle to get started in the morning try walking out into Typhoon No 18. Mercifully it is followingContinue Reading

The little town of Tosa, where we stayed last night, scored highly on my list of essentials for the walkingContinue Reading

Summer is back. 31 degrees (88F) and humidity at 125%. It was a hard walk from Temple 31 to 34Continue Reading

It was only good fortune that I should be in Kochi on a Sunday for the weekly market. The centreContinue Reading

I marched across rice paddies visiting temples 29 and 30 today. On the way I caught up with a largeContinue Reading

Back at Temple 11, as I was walking to my ryokan, a kind man called over to me, gave meContinue Reading

A night of total luxury, last night. And this morning I was expecting a light breakfast of coffee and bread,Continue Reading

The sun returned but the temperature is a more modest 26 degrees; plenty warm enough. I left the hotel andContinue Reading

Life couldn’t be better. The mighty Pacific Ocean pounding the shore, endless beautiful beaches and a surfers heaven. Great bigContinue Reading

The Pacific Ocean is my view on my left side and the hills of Shikoku on my right side. AfterContinue Reading

Such a pleasant day yesterday, who would have thought a typhoon was in the neighborhood. Mercifully it steered itself awayContinue Reading

We had a good stay in Panda House last night. It’s surrounded by bamboo. The house looked like it mightContinue Reading

Just the two temples today, 20 and 21 but each was on a different mountain and our accommodation was aContinue Reading

After breakfast in Starbucks, Tokushima, I set off along the straight and rather tedious main road out of town withContinue Reading

Last night’s accommodation next door to Temple 13, “Myozai” looked less than impressive but once again the owner couldn’t haveContinue Reading

Last night’s guesthouse, the Farm Morian Loft, was a truly excellent experience. I enjoyed a superb dinner and a massiveContinue Reading

Today I had my first proper Japanese breakfast and it slightly exceeded my expectations. Miso, seaweed, rice, egg, ham, picklesContinue Reading

I ordered chicken for dinner last night but it turned out to be chicken sashimi. I sent it straight backContinue Reading

I caught the 06.37 train from Tokushima back to Temple 3 with S&E to meet サラ and continue our pilgrimage.Continue Reading

I’ve had a very pleasant last couple of days in Kyoto viewing 3 more [insert adjective] temple gardens and aContinue Reading

Hello from Kyoto, the former capital of Japan and home to numerous Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples with their tranquilContinue Reading

There is no finer way to end a pilgrimage than to receive a Papal blessing. I hurried along to StContinue Reading

Three months and three days after leaving my home in Weybridge, Paul and I arrived in Rome. Does the VaticanContinue Reading

Campagnano di Roma celebrated the feast of its patron saint, John the Baptist long into the night. The bishop ledContinue Reading