On the Camino

Just a quick reminder for anyone in or around Canterbury this weekend: Canterbury Cathedral is hosting a conference on the Pilgrims' Way with a weekend of events linking the Pilgrims' Way Project and The Green Pilgrimage network (a global collaboration between 28 pilgrim cities and other sacred sites who want to be models of green action and care. It was launched in Assisi in 2011).On the 5th people will gather at meeting places a mile or a couple of miles outside the city to walk in with the Archbishop. The weekend will also see the official launch of the Pilgrims' Way website at www.pilgrimswaycanterbury.co.uk . On Saturday the 4th at the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge the following events are happening: 11:30-12:30 - Guided walk to Saint Martin's Church and Eastbridge hospital 1-2 - a Pilgrim clinic for those interested in walking the Pilgrims' Way to Canterbury or to Santiago or Rome 2-3 - Pilgrim history talk by John Butler about the mediaeval pract...

I said that I wouldn't make any of these when they came out but one niht at Guides one of the patrols was making them as part of their camping  Go For It! and one of the girls insisted I had a go and I really enjoyed it! There are lots of instructions on the Internet about how to make loom bands so I'm not going to give you any here but just give you a few ideas. Loom bands are easy to make and cheap to buy plus they are really light so they would make a good gift for someone going on Camino or for someone going on Camino to give to family members when they set off. I bought Camino blue and yellow bands (scented of blueberries and bananas so I guess you could use the loom bands for a couple of days to make your boots smell nice!). Each packet has 250 bands in each and cost £1 each. There have been a few headlines on kids having the bands stuck on their fingers so I used a fork to make my loom bands on. I experimented a bit and found that 3 lots of nine bands of e...

The Pilgrim Hospital of Saint Thomas the Martyr of Eastbridge was founded in the 12th century (possibly 1176) in order to provide overnight accommodation for poor pilgrims to the shrine of St Thomas a Becket. It is now one of the ten almshouses still providing accommodation for elderly citizens of Canterbury. In the 14th century it was reformed by Archbishop John de Stratford who came up with ordinances, as well as a code of regulations to be acted on concerning pilgrims - every pilgrim in health could rest in the hospital for one night at the cost of four pence, that weak and infirm applicants were to be preferred to those with better health, and that women "upwards of forty" should attend to the bedding and administer medicines to the sick. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Hospital survived although Pilgrims no longer went to Becket's shrine so inn 1569 Archbishop Parker issued new ordinances governi...

I have read recently of  a military exercise that happened in May 2014 - a march from Tui to Santiago (125km) with only two separate hours of rest. The 'walk' included running, swimming, shooting and climbing with kit including rifles. Not my idea of a fun way to complete the Camino but those who did it definitely have my respect!

This is from a tweet by Eleanor Parker who's a medevalist, blogger and academic. She labelled it as , 'St James as medieval Pilgrim with staff, scrip and cockle-shells (1320s England BL Stowe 12, f. 279v)'. Eleanor Parker's blog is at http://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

I read in a guidebook about the Hospital of Saint Cross before we went to Winchester. It lies on the Pilgrims' Trail but not on the Pilgrims' Way - it was about two miles round trip along the side of the River Itchen and was a nice walk. The Hospital is one of England's oldest continuing Almshouses and the oldest charitable institution in the United Kingdom. It houses private, individual apartments for 25 elderly men who are known as 'Brothers'. These men wear red or black gowns (black robed Brothers are members of the charitable institution of the Order of the Hospital of Saint Cross; they also wear a silver badge that is the Cross of Jerusalem whilst those in red are members of the Order of Noble Poverty and they were a silver Cardinal's badge) and a trencher hat for the daily Church services and formal occasions. The Church at its centre is Norman and it has a Tudor cloister and a mediaeval hall and kitchen. The Hospital was said to have o...

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNTWO) estimates that 300-330 million tourists visit the world's  key religious sites each year so last July they organised an International Congress on Pilgrimage and Tourism to be held in Santiago this month to raise awareness internationally about the growing importance of pilgrimage spiritual tourism in the light of tourism development. Amongst the topics to be discussed are ways to manage and preserve heritage sites along religious routes and how pilgrimages sustain growth and assist with world peace. The Congress' organisation was undertaken by UNWTO Secretary-General Taken Rifai, Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism Isabel Borrego Cortes and Galician President Alberto Nunez Feijoo in July 2013 in Madrid through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

Winchester Cathedral is one of the largest in England and is the longest Gothic Cathedral. It is dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul, the Holy Trinity and Saint Swithun who was a local man born around the year 800. After he was ordained he served in the royal household becoming an important advisor to the King. He became the 17th Bishop at Winchester Cathedral in 852 until he died in 862 after which he was associated with many miracles which saw him declared a Saint. This has led to his shrine in Winchester becoming a site for pilgrimage. While he was Bishop he rebuilt Winchester’s East Gate bridge over the River Itchen and whilst he was visiting workmen for this legend says he found a poor woman who had dropped a basket of eggs which had broken – he mended the eggs and for this miracle he became famous. Tradition also has it that he took a young Alfred on pilgrimage to Rome.

The Arabic letter 'n' is being painted on the doors of Christians in Iraq making them targets for Islamic Sate militants. N stands for 'Nazarene' or 'Christian' in Arabic. Many people across the World are using this image on social media to transform a symbol of abuse and oppression into a show of support.