Rochester to Aylesford (26-27/8/2021)
After walking the Pilgrims Way, mostly solo, in August 2020, I started exploring the possibility of the Augustine Camino, having picked up the guide book on a visit to Rochester Cathedral. After email discussion with Andrew Kelly, I asked him to book me accommodation for the end of January 2021. But it was not to be; another Covid lockdown meant that I had to cancel. Come August, and an easing of restrictions, it seemed like a good time to try again. Looking at the web site again, I discovered that Andrew was about to lead a pilgrimage that very week! Just in time, I signed up.
I met Andrew, his daughter Kitty, and fellow-pilgrims Mark and Lesley, outside Rochester Cathedral at 9:30. Kitty was joining us just for the day, and took group photos with each of our cameras. She also fixed adhesive waymarks on various posts along the way.
While waiting for the cathedral to open, Andrew gave us an introduction to the history of Rochester, and we visited the plaque marking the house of Bishop John Fisher, who was executed by order of King Henry VIII alongside Thomas More.
Access to the cathedral was limited, as they had two funerals booked for that day and the guests for the first one were already arriving. So we did not walk up the pilgrim steps. However, Canon Gordon Giles showed us some of the highlights, including the ancient law book Textus Roffensis, the oldest surviving copy of the laws of King Ethelbert, King of Kent when Augustine arrived in 597. (To my delight, I was able to buy a small spiral-bound notebook with a copy of the one illustrated page of the book, and made it my log book for the journey.) Canon Gordon dismissed us as the clock struck 11 with a pilgrim blessing.
I had covered the first day’s walk in preparation for leading it for the Friends of Southwark Cathedral. The blackberries along Nashenden Farm Lane have ripened since then, and were the juiciest I have tasted this year.
Lunch was at the Robin Hood pub on the North Downs Way, where Andrew was disappointed that homemade Scotch eggs were no longer on the menu. After lunch came the hardest part, an uneven path descending steeply, but it was much easier than on my recce – less slippery, and no motor bikes.
We reached Aylesford at 16:20. Andrew helped us to check in, and Mark to track down a suitcase lost in transit. Then he and Kitty departed for the station. Having found my room in the medieval building pictured above, I wandered round the grounds before returning to my room to start the log. It was a bit chilly outside, and I had no sweater. With a few other visitors, I joined two friars for evensong, which finished with 10 minutes of silent prayer. Then it was dinner time in the Pilgrims’ Hall – a welcome pasta bake. Mark’s suitcase had arrived, to his relief. Lesley’s knee was swollen, but she was hoping to be able to continue walking after a night’s rest.
Unfortunately, her knee was still painful in the morning. Her husband came to pick her up. She hoped to return later (and joined us for dinner on the last night of the pilgrimage).
Andrew gave us a historic introduction and a tour of the Prior’s Hall, cloister, shrines, the Rosary Way and finally the Peace Garden. There is so much to see here, especially the ceramics by the Polish refugee Adam Kossowski. We didn’t leave until noon.
The first part is similar to the Pilgrims Way, leaving Aylesford along Pratling Lane. Then at a T junction, PW goes left, up hill, and under a main road, while AC goes right, downhill, and over a footbridge, past Tyland Barn wildlife centre to the gate to Boxley Abbey – as near as we can get – and along a path through new vineyards.
We had only walked about 3 miles before stopping for lunch at the King’s Arms, Boxley. The garden was crowded with families, and service was very slow. A short path joins the pub to the church. As we approached, we saw a woman locking up. Fortunately, we were just in time, and she reopened for us.
The most interesting thing in the church was a plaque to the Wyatt (Wiat) family, the major landowners after the friars left Aylesford. The inscription covered several centuries of family history, one man imprisoned under Richard III and fed by a cat (?), others were victims of the Reformation, and one became Governor of Virginia and “still” had descendants living there. There was also evidence of a project on Hope at the primary school, with clay models, drawings and text.
It was 18:00 by the time we reached the Black Horse in Thurnham where Mark was staying in the Pilgrim Suite. Andrew and I walked another mile to Bearsted Station to take trains to our respective homes. For I have to miss the next part of the pilgrimage, as I am on duty at church on Sunday. Tomorrow, Andrew and Mark will walk to Doddington, which is not on a railway line. Two more pilgrims will join them there for Sunday’s walk to Faversham.
Faversham (29/8)
I returned to the Camino on Sunday afternoon, arriving at Faversham station at 14:30 – an hour earlier than I had expected as I managed to make a quick getaway after church. Having downloaded a street map, I found my way to to St Jude’s shrine, where the others had not yet arrived. So I continued to the A2 and found Andrew, Mark and the two pilgrims who had joined at Doddington that morning, Lisa and Angela, outside the medieval building Maison Dieu, wondering whether to go in.
Maison Dieu is all that remains of the Hospital of Blessed Mary of Ospringe, founded by Henry III in 1234. Its purpose was to care for the sick and aged giving hope that they had not been forsaken by God. It served as the last stop for pilgrims travelling to Canterbury. It is now a museum administered by English Heritage. The volunteer who greeted us was the former vicar of Ospringe, just down the road.
A short walk brought us to the shrine of St Jude, patron saint of lost causes. Like Aylesford, it is a Carmelite house, and has similar ceramics and stained glass. The office is closed on Sundays, but the shrine was open, and so was the church above.
We then made a small detour to a lake across which we could see the home of Bob Geldof, before entering the town centre along West Street, with its quaint shops and the Sun Inn where the other pilgrims were staying. There were no more rooms available by the time I decided to come, so I am at the Railway Hotel. On the way, I bought odds and ends at the Co-op for tonight’s supper and tomorrow’s picnic lunch. I thought of finding a park to eat my picnic, but by the time I had written up the log, it was getting cool. I walked to the parish church in case they had Evensong, but this is only on the first Sunday of the month. I did find a recreation ground on my way back to the hotel.
Faversham to Canterbury (30/8)
The walk from Faversham to Canterbury began with a tunnel under the railway line and proceeded through a field of long wet grass. My boots are not as waterproof as I thought they were. Several fields later, we came to a view of SS Peter and Paul, Boughton under Blean, and knew that here at least we were on the track of Chaucer’s pilgrims. We then entered Harbledown Forest on a delightful path through old woodland, with coppices of sweet chestnut trees whose branches were culled to support the hops. (Today there are fewer hops and more vines, as climate change makes Kent warm enough to produce good wine.)
We emerged on the Pilgrims Way at Chartham Hatch, but rather than staying on the road we soon turned off on the North Downs Way, past No Man’s Orchard (common ground where each family might have one apple tree) and the site of Bigbury Fort which was attacked by Julius Caesar. Rather than stopping for a picnic, we pressed on, passing through St Nicholas’ Hospital to the Coach and Horses for drinks and a toilet stop.
We entered Canterbury, like thousands of pilgrims, via St Dunstan’s Church. Henry II came here on his penitential pilgrimage, and was flogged by monks for the rest of his journey to the Cathedral. The church now has a shrine to St Thomas More, his head being buried in the family vault of his son-in-law’s family. (Thomas Becket and Thomas More were both Chancellors of the Realm under kings called Henry; both quarreled with the king over questions of the relationship between church and state; both were executed as a result; and both are now saints. The shrine also makes a comparison with Oscar Romero, and displays one of his stoles, very much like my Fair Trade one. Or was that the next day, at St Thomas’s? While we were there, a woman arrived to test the piano, at the request of her music teacher who would be playing it at her wedding.
We decided to check in at the hotel before visiting the cathedral, and were only just in time; in fact, the woman was locking the door to the Visitor Centre as we arrived, but opened it for us. It was my fault we were so late; I was struggling to change my wet socks and put dry ones over my still-damp feet.
Anyway, we made it, and were allowed an hour to walk round before they closed at 5. I only took one photo in the cathedral: the site of Becket’s murder:
We returned twenty minutes later for Choral Evensong, sung by a choir of Occasional Singers. The prayers, led by the Archdeacon of Canterbury, focused on Pilgrimage, and the hymn was Bunyan’s pilgrim hymn, “He who would valiant be.” After the service, the Archdeacon gave us a pilgrim blessing.
Canterbury to Grove Ferry (31/8)
I returned the next morning, for Morning Prayer and Holy Communion in the Crypt. Our day’s pilgrimage began by crossing the road to the church of St Thomas of Canterbury (RC), which has a small relic of Becket and a large wall painting of all the saints of Canterbury. Then, passing the old city wall and a display board for the Via Francigena pilgrim path to Rome, we reached the church of St Martin, where Ethelbert’s queen, Bertha, worshipped. It is the English church that has been longest in continuous use.
Leaving St Martin’s, we quickly gained a woodland path which led to a meadow and then to the river Stour – clean, deep, and with a clear view of fish – and a picturesque bridge to Fordwich, said to be the smallest town in England. The church is now run by the Churches Conservation Trust and used for “champing” (glamping in churches), with camp beds in the box pews. We had planned to lunch in the George and Dragon, but they were short-staffed and serving food only to those who had booked in advance. I had food in my lunch box (a sausage roll and an onion bhaji).
The high spot of the afternoon’s walk was the Annunciation window at St Andrew’s Wickhambreaux. There were also angels with the Christmas message supporting the roof, and “Gloria in Excelsis” on tiles around the choir.
Finally, a long walk through the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve brought us to the Grove Ferry Inn, where Andrew and Lesley joined us for dinner. It was foog to have all the pilgrims together. Andrew’s wife and son joined us afterwards, Paula for a drink and Charlie for dessert.
Grove Ferry to Ramsgate (1/9)
I ordered a “half English breakfast”, which filled a dinner plate with toast hanging over the edge. Good job I didn’t ask for a “full English” one.
I don’t know if there is still a ferry at Grove Ferry, but river trips and canoe hire are on offer. We started along the river bank, then the path crossed a mesh of waterways before coming to the road at West Stourmouth where we spent time in silent meditation in the church. After rejoining the Stour at Pluck’s Gutter, we walked round the edge of a ploughed field and along a raised path called the Abbot’s Wall – part of the process of reclaiming the land as the sea receded.
St Mary’s Church in Minster is sometimes known as the Cathedral of the Marshes, and contains 14th century miserichords. Minster Abbey was closed at the Reformation, and returned to religious life in 1937 when Benedictine nuns arrived from Germany. Because of Covid, we could only visit its tea room, where we lunched on cakes and scones.
We crossed the railway line, and found the path alongside so overgrown that I was thankful for my long-sleeved shirt, and protected my face from stinging nettles – even though Andrew had cleared the path recently! Emerging onto a road, we were just round the corner from the Augustine Cross, where he met Ethelbert and preached to the English for the first time.
A short walk took us to the sea front, with the “Viking” ship presented by Denmark, and views of the cliffs. The path along them was hedged in, blocking the sea view and saving us from falling over the edge. Reaching the Esplanade, we speeded up, and reached the shrine at about 16:40. The church and abbey were constructed by Augustus Pugin in accordance with his views about Gothic architecture being the only style suitable for worship. Such modifications as to the church as were made post-Vatican II have been reversed.
I was delighted when Andrew asked me to give a pilgrim blessing, and tried to remember the words of the Irish prayer “May the road rise up to meet you …”
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
May the rain fall soft upon your fields.
and till we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be with you now and remain with you always.
Amen
emeritablog: life after work 