St James Reading – My Long Walk 2019

Not long now!

As I write this the big countdown number on the blog says 36 days till #MyLongWalk2019 – it only seems like yesterday I booked my flight to Biarritz – booked on January 9th! In fact, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I decided that the end of July 2019 was the time to set off – I think I finally committed after my last cycle trip abroad last July!

June has been a chance to get some walking in – and finally decide on which of the three pairs of shoes I have been ‘wearing in’ I will actually walk the Camino in. More of that later!

Back at the end of May I went for 2 days walking in Belgium with the aim of finding the grave of Sydney Henry George (see previous post Practice and a very personal pilgrimage). The Commonwealth War Graves of Ypres (Ieper) and the surrounding Flanders countryside are some of the most beautiful, yet thought-provoking, places I have ever been. They are also places for contemplation and gratitude for the greatest of sacrifice that allows people like me to go on Camino. I found Private George’s name on the Tyne Cot Memorial and laid a small stone from our garden at the base of the panel his name appears on. I was also privileged and humbled to attend – on two occasions – The Last Post ceremony at the Menen Gate in Ieper.

Tyne Cot gate

Tyne Cot

Sydney Henry George RIP

The Last Post, Menen Gate, Ieper

After allowing my feet a couple of weeks to recover (the 5° wedges given to me to insert into my shoes by the podiatrist gave me incredibly sore heels – we have dropped down to 3° now and all seems fine!) I headed out on a hike on another of the great ancient routes that are local to Reading, The Ridgeway. A beautiful walk from Goring to Didcot via the chalk downland trail, then down to Blewbury before train home.

This past weekend I managed a double header – walking both Saturday and Sunday – although both were a little shy of 20km! Firstly it was the latest leg of the St James Way trail with the ‘Reading peregrinos’ from Kings Worthy to Eastleigh via Winchester Cathedral, The Hospital of St Cross and the Itchen Way. A fine day out with surprise appearances from The Flying Scotsman, a Model T Ford and a Spitfire! Sunday was also spent walking a riverside trail – the Blackwater Valley Path from Shinfield to Crowthorne.

Finally, the shoe dilemma appears to have been resolved. It appears that the shoes that are most comfortable and create no hotspots, blisters or sore toes are my Hoka One One Challengers. These are actually running shoes but, as I have discovered on many forums, they are sworn by for many Camino veterans.

Hoka One One Challenger – my Camino shoe of choice, eventually!

St James Way UK

Over the last couple of months I have been, along with the good folk of St James Church here in Reading, walking sections of the St James Way here in the south of England. History tells us that pilgrims from England travelled to Southampton and Portsmouth to take ships to north west Spain and complete their journey to Santiago on the Camino Ingles from Ferrol. Their exact route is not known but it is well documented that a great many medieval pilgrims convened at Reading Abbey – where there was something of a “cult of St James” in evidence – and walked south via Silchester, Itchen Abbas and Winchester to Southampton or Portsmouth.

The wonderful people at the Confraternity of St James (now rebranded as Camino Pilgrim) took it on themselves to create and map a route from the ruins of the great abbey at Reading to Southampton. Sticking closely to the presumed route and trying to visit churches dedicated to St James en route, the St James Way was born. A growing network of pilgrim passport stamp locations is being developed so that pilgrims can document this before their continental hike. These are initially churches on the route.

We have split the route into 6 days walking – three of which are already completed.

Reading – Mortimer (stamps at St James, Reading & St Marys Sulhampstead Abbots)
Mortimer – Worting (stamps at St Mary the Virgin, Silchester & St James, Bramley)
Worting – Upper Wield (stamps at All Saints, Dummer & St James, Upper Wield)
Upper Wield – Kings Worthy
Kings Worthy – Eastleigh
Eastleigh – Southampton

Hopefully there will be more stamps to add as we progress.

The St James Way, for the most part, follows footpaths and bridleways, with short sections on quiet country lanes. It is not, at present signposted, but a guidebook is available from the Camino Pilgrim shop.

St James, Reading

Kennetside, Reading

Sulhampstead Abbots

Pilgrim ‘passport’ stamps

Calleva, Silchester

Silchester

Pamber End

St James, Bramley

Upper Wield

St James, Upper Wield

Reading Peregrinos

Peregrino is the spanish word for Pilgrim and in particular a traveller on the Camino de Santiago.

Tonight I went along to a Camino meeting at St James’ Church in central Reading. I went for the sole reason of finding out if anyone there would be able to stamp my Credencial – Pilgrim Passport – before I set of for Gatwick, and flight onto Biarritz in July. The priest, Father John, was charming and said of course he would do so.

20190122_222442

I felt a bit odd as I am quite the non-believer! What I do like is looking around the amazing architecture that is found in religious buildings. I have walked past this small church many, many times over the years but had until tonight never been inside. It is delightful and well-worth a visit if you are in the town! There is even a shrine to Saint James himself! The church is located right between the now-closed HMP Reading (made famous by Oscar Wilde, who was imprisoned there) and the ruins of Reading Abbey. Apparently in medieval times the great abbey and church were the ‘home’ of the cult of St James, as the hand of the saint was to be found in the church. It is no longer there. The scallop shell can be seen in many places around the town, including the coat of arms of both the town and it’s university.

Anyway – the meeting was in fact a planning meeting for the church folk to sign up for their camino at the end of the summer – they will be walking a 148km section of the Camino del Norte from Aviles to Vilalba – with the plan of completing it into Santiago in 2020. This will be the 7th annual Camino that has been organised by the church community! Kudos to them! They are also planning to walk the St James Way from Reading Abbey to Southampton via Calleva Roman Town and Winchester Cathedral over a series of Saturdays this spring.

It is amazing that so much camino-based activity is going on locally to me, and until now I was blissfully unaware of it. Just like the scallop, which I now see everywhere!

Buen Camino.