Planning the Walk

I like to plan things, and a 130 mile walk along paths I'd never walked before called for some planning. Getting the first map, working out how far to walk on the first stretch, looking at the change in heights involved, is all grist to a walker's mill.

I wanted to walk from Winchester to Canterbury along the Pilgrim's Way, following in the footsteps of pilgrims down the ages. And then the surprises started.

The Pilgrim's Way
The path had been in use for centuries before the pilgrims set foot on it; the ancient trackway along the lower slopes of the North Downs was an important east-west link between various prehistoric settlements. Pilgrimages setting out from Winchester used much of this old route to travel east, especially after the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and his becoming a saint, when Canterbury became one of the most important centres of pilgrimage in Christendom. Pilgrimage reached its height of popularity towards the end of the 14th century, when Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales.
The route was still in use until the 18th century when the introduction of turnpikes, with tolls to pay, drove many to use the old, free route.

With all this history, and the long use as a path of pilgrimage, it was a disappointment to find that today the Pilgrim's Way no longer exists as a complete path. 80 miles or so can be walked still, but there is no public right of way along some parts, and there are sections where all knowledge of the path has been lost. Even when pilgrims were using it regularly, they would deviate from the old route to visit local churches and shrines.

This was all very interesting but I had lost the plot...or path...and needed to get on with planning.

St Swithun's Way
A modern pilgrim can still walk from Winchester to Canterbury, along pleasant paths and roads. The first 34 miles, from Winchester to Farnham, Surrey, is along the St. Swithun's Way. Opened in 2002 by Hampshire County Council to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, this excellent path follows an approximate route only of the Pilgrim's Way.

This led to another information foray to find out about St Swithun, an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester from 852 to his death in 862. His feast day is 15th July, famously connected with the weather - if it rains on his day tradition says it will rain for 40 days. It's been shown the jet stream moves at around this time of year and gets fixed either north or south of Britain usually until the end of August...but I digress again. If you want to digress and find out a bit more about St Swithun then click here .

North Downs Way
The North Downs way begins at Farnham and goes to Kent, and passes through Canterbury on its way to the coast. And there are choices to be made: whether to follow the well way-marked, North Downs Way, or to walk on those stretches of the Pilgrims Way still open to public access.

The Walk
I had to work out just how was I going to do the walk. All 130 miles in one go? I quailed at the thought as it would take me from home for at least a month - the garden would run riot! And just how far could I walk every day, day after day? I didn't know. Trying to work this out held me up for a long time. Part of me said "Just go", the rest of me said "No" and stayed put.

By May, nothing had happened. Sponsor forms had been printed, people were signing their names. I needed to get walking.

I looked up bus times and car parks (hurrah for the Internet and Google Maps!) and decided to drive to Winchester, use the park and ride, walk 9 miles - or as much as I could manage - catch a bus back to Winchester, and drive home.

So that's what I did on Monday 19th May - details and photos in the next post.