Pilgrimage 2025

 

This year we are excited to have begun a series of day-long pilgrimage walks around the area of Chopwell. The focus of these will be to grow in the spiritual disciplines connected to pilgrimage while at the same time establishing stronger sacred connections to our geographical place. Our plan is to develop a few routes we can return to each year, some in the forest, some in the village of Chopwell itself.

 

Included in this will be a ministry of Children's Pilgrimage, intended to introduce the younger generation to the traditions and benefits of pilgrimage.

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Saturday, 26th July

 

The idea behind the pilgrimage is to provide minimal structure that leaves space open for participants to engage the time as they need to. Use it to search for God, breathe, reflect, exercise. The route is 3 miles long. We will have several pauses to regroup and encourage a slower, more reflective pace, but there is only one planned stop. This will take place midway through at a meadow with a beautiful view of the Derwent valley. Here we will rest and have a brief prayer. Feel free to snack along the way or picnic at the midway point. And bring plenty of water. My daughter and I did this route last Thursday and we needed quite a bit of fluid to keep us going.

 

Most of the route is either level or gently downhill. The last third is uphill, through the middle of Chopwell village and then along the edge of a beautiful Durham Wildlife Trust meadow. We will aim to start at 10.30am and finish close to 1.30. There is a pub at the end of it but we have yet to determine whether that pub will be open. I will update this page as soon as I find out!

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Meditations, prayers, and mindfulness exercises are provided here for you to access on your phones and use wherever you like. They may provide inspiration and structure to draw on but they are entirely optional. I will also provide small wooden holding crosses if you would like to carry one but this is also entirely optional.

 

There is no expectation that people will be walking close together, but if this is how some people want to engage with the time that is entirely your choice. If you prefer greater solitude you can simply hold back and let others pass. On this pilgrimage there will be no program or organised supervision for children. About 1 quarter of the pilgrimage will take place along streets of Chopwell. This has been an intentional choice in planning the pilgrimage, which will bring us through a range of Chopwell land- and people-scapes. This should be taken into consideration especially when deciding to bring smaller children along, but any parents wishing to avoid the busier main street can bring their children up an alternate path through the village.

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Something new we will be doing for this pilgrimage day is ‘bookending’ it with online Morning Prayer and Compline, available to view live on our Facebook page. This will help participants engage with the full day as a journey and also allow those who can’t make it to the walking part to join in as well.

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If you have any questions about this pilgrimage, please contact us.

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As you will see from the map below, parking for the pilgrimage is just past the Chopwell Officials Club, either along the south side of the road or in a parking area just past the last houses. As this parking area is quite small, it is quite possible that by 10.30am it will already be full. Once parked up, we will be meeting at the very end of Ramsay Road, where there is a large turning area and the head of a public footpath.