When I first heard about this I was intrigued to say the least. I had never really considered doing a pilgrimage before or even doing extended length hiking trips of any kind. Enter Kelly, a lifelong friend and adventurer. She tells of this adventure in England where she was planning to hike from town to town and follow the original Pilgrims Way laid out in the Canterbury Tales.
Well, us being the adventurous types that we are, we asked if there was room in the group for us too! As it turned out, the three of us would be that group which actually worked out really well. So we started planning the adventure of a lifetime.
We decided early on to only being what we could carry in our backpacks. Gone would be the “checked bag” at the airport as well as bringing computers and the associated baggage required for their operations. This actually made the airport part of the journey very easy as we didn’t have to stand in lines for the check bag counter nor did we have to deal with baggage claim at all. It was very liberating to be honest.
Since we had decided to travel so light, i took a hard look at the camera kit I would use on the trip as well. I whittled it down to just the Leica CL, the TTartisan 17mm f1.4 L mount lens and the 35mm f0.95 L mount lens. That’s it, no other gear what so ever. Well… there were batteries and a charger, but you get the point here. So I quickly learned that I liked the 17mm in London and then once we got to Winchester I switched to the 35mm and left it in place almost the rest of the trip. Enough about the camera gear and back to the trip…
Once in England we started in London where we did the usual tourist stuff for a couple of days ahead of starting the pilgrimage proper. This included a bus tour and a short trip to the British museum as well. We even took in the Phantom of the Opera while in town. What a treat.
Old city gate to Winchester.
Then it was off to Winchester to start the official pilgrimage. When there we attended a service at Winchester cathedral and received a blessing from the priest before we started which was a really nice touch to add to the whole experience to be honest. If you do this hike, I recommend attending a service at the cathedral even if your not really religious and hear the boys choir. The singing is beautiful. It also just adds a little something special to the trip in my opinion.
Now the adventure officially begins and we strike out for the next town on the list. Alresford is a quaint little village in the countryside that has several really old buildings (which becomes a reoccurring theme on this trip). One of which was constructed before the USA even existed.
Some of the things we have learned are that stinging nettle is a legit plant you don’t mess with and it is literally EVERYWHERE. Another ones is the locals are very friendly, especially the older one and are a real treat to chat with when you find them here and there. The trail also isn’t just a hiking trail through the woods, but more of a “way” which will cross fields, go down designated paths or even along roads at times. You really have to pay attention to make sure you don’t miss your turn…ask me how I know.
All that aside we had a wonderful first day on the trail, albeit a long one where we ran into really interesting people and also learned a few things about the local flora and fauna we didn’t know either. Tune in for Episode 2 to see what we find next on our adventure across England!