Keep your eye’s peeled when on the Walsingham Way
Between Ringland and Weston Longville there’s a flock of feral goats !
Or is this a sheep?
New Kids on the Block
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All Clear on the Ringland Crossing
Since Stop the Wensum Link forced Norfolk County Council to re-think the route of the road planned to join Norwich’s Northern Distributor Road with the Southern Bypass, contractors equipment and the temporary bridge roadway have been moved off the marsh and calm has been restored.
Crossing the busy (fast flowing) Fakenham Road the route follows the drive and keeps left of the farm buildings, before arriving at the fast flowing River Wensum.
From the bridge over the Wensum a diagonal path takes pilgrims to a new bridge over a drainage dyke. The woods on the skyline are where Europe’s largest roost of barbestrelle bats is located !
The next leg heading to the left of Low Farm is a bit boggy where the temporary roadway has been taken up but otherwise fairly dry.
The route up and over Royal Hill now runs through pig city
On reaching the quiet road , the hum of the traffic on the other side of the valley can just be heard. A left turn takes pilgrims to Ringland Church with an angel roof and some medieval glass. A right turn leads towards Weston Longville.
Sweet Briar Marshes
Might a donation towards this appeal be an act of devotion ?
Leaving Norwich pilgrims track the River Wensum as it winds a green corridor through edgy industrial and residential estates. Some of those with a devotion to Jesus’ mum, may be travelling with rosary beads in their back pockets. The Rosary derives its name from titles given to Mary Rosa Mystica or The Rose of Sharon that refer to Mary’s role as the final blossoming of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Jesse Tree – “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11)
The Virgin and Child in a Red Rose, about 1480–1490, Tempera colors and gold leaf
Leaf: 11.9 × 17 cm (4 11/16 × 6 11/16 in.), Ms. 101 (2008.3), fol. 78v
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 101, fol. 78v
The native English Dog Rose, so abundant along the Walsingham Way, is not, so the experts tell me, an actual Sweet Briar but its very like. Like enough for this pilgrim’s mind to turn to Mary at the sight of a flower or bright red hips in the autumn hedgerows.
Baptism of Christ
For your prayers……
Rivers near and far are under threat from pollution and over extraction. True of the River Jordan and true of Norfolk’s rivers.
As Christ was baptised in the Jordan, it is imagined that the first Christians in East Anglia were baptised in rivers, as Paulinus baptised Northumbrian converts in the River Glen.
Walking the Walsingham Way, from Norwich to Great Ryburgh in the Wensum Valley to the healing waters of the Walsingham Shrine beside the River Stiffkey; a pilgrims own baptism and the promise of “living water, welling up to eternal life” is often a recurring theme.
In a post COP26 world caring for the creation has to be the concern of all people of good will
The good news is ………
Improving the condition of our rivers is the concern of the Norfolk Rivers Trust
A threat ….
A controversial new road linking roads north and south of the River Wensum would cut across the route of the Walsingham Way.
The case against it is argued by Stop the Wensum Link , the case for by Norfolk County Council
2021 Review of the Year
January
Lockdown kept many pilgrims close to home. Back gardens, parks and local churches in the landscape took on new significance. In the nick of time, an unexpected, last of E.U. money grant, enabled us to waymark the Norwich to Walsingham leg. It was exciting to see the new finger posts appearing appeared along the route.
February
March and April
And then the scramble to finalise, waymark and publish the first and last bits of the route – from each of Norwich’s two cathedrals
……………………………………….to Walsingham direct, or via the Slipper Chapel.
And, because pilgrims need to sleep and feed, an initial amenities map .
Mary’s Month of May
The Launch
The Summer : COP 26 Norfolk Relay
Enabled by the WW team, Norfolk climate crisis pilgrimage followed our already established routes from Great Yarmouth to Norwich and on to Dereham; then used Norfolk Trail’s Cross Norfolk Route to Lynn.
Along the way church communities stepped up to welcome pilgrims as they crossed the heart of Norfolk and prayed for COP 26 Conference.
The Autumn
In spite of the the can we/ can’t we COVID dance, some little progress has been made towards:
- Developing a St. Withburga pilgrimage route from Holkham to Dereham and maybe onto Ely via Walsingham.
- Making a connection to the Norfolk Trails Network (including the Coastal Path) via Wells.
- Prospecting a safe walking route between Kings Lynn and Walsingham
Autumn also found us playing catchup once again as people asked, “Is there something about the WW in print?” A first attempt at an answer is available to downloadable from the website. Something more worthy of a print run is being prepared
Great News
Connecting to the Norfolk Trails Network
Norfolk Trails are a brilliant network and dovetail well with the Walsingham Way. The Great Yarmouth to Norwich leg follows the Wherryman’s Way. The Norwich to Walsingham leaves Norwich on the Marriott’s Way before turning off to cross the River Wensum at Ringland. Walsingham Pilgrims can arrive and leave Walsingham via the Coast Path and this route between Walsingham and Wells.
Detour Between Gunton Park and Drayton
Buen Camino 8 & 9
Norfolk COP26 Relay
Day 8 leaves All Saints Church, Narborough on Saturday 28th August, gathering at 9.30 a.m. for a 9.45 a.m. briefing and a 10 a.m. prompt start. You could join them there or send prayers and letters to your MP and the Prime Minister with them.
How to sign up to walk for one or more days Clues for letter writing
This is the shortest leg of the whole 9 day relay, just 7.5 miles. Pilgrims track back upstream along the River Nar, before turning north at West Acre and climbing over the hill (we’re talking a serious 230 feet here!) to overnight at Gayton.
The pilgrims will be up early on Sunday, Day 9 of the Norfolk Tributary. They are expected for Sunday lunch at St. John the Evangelist Church, Kings Lynn! Then they are off to see the exhibition and tea at the Friends Meeting House; before the final multi-faith gathering on Purfleet Quay at 3 p.m..
Then we hand over to the crew from Diocese of Ely and again,
Buen Camino
Buen Camino 7
Norfolk COP26 Relay
Day 7 leaves All the Saints at Litcham on Friday 27th August, gathering at 9.30 a.m. for a 9.45 a.m. briefing and a 10 a.m. prompt start. You could join them there or send prayers and letters to your MP and the Prime Minister with them.
How to sign up to walk for one or more days Clues for letter writing
From Litcham to Narborough the route tracks the course of the River Nar all the way to Narborough. It is a “green and pleasant land”! The arid regions of the Sahel already turning into desert because of climate change; the low-laying land of coral islands that will be lost as sea levels rise and the productive paddy growing rice fields of river deltas in Bangladesh and the Far East.
Half way on this, 11.5 mile long, day 7 of our relay is Castle Acre. In days past it was an important cross-road where the Roman Fen Causeway, running through Litcham and Lexham to Venta Icanorum (by Norwich), in one direction; and Peterborough, in the other; intersects with the Peddar’s Way, an ancient route to the south that the Roman’s re-engineered. Walsingham bound pilgrims came this way. The dedication Castle Acre church is to the patron saint of pilgrimage – St. James
The patron saint of pilgrimage is St. James. So its appropriate that our pilgrims will be stopping off at St. James Church, Castle Acre for refreshments before continuing on to Narborough for the night.
The Walsingham Way 