I cannot thank the Trust enough for making it possible for me to undertake this pilgrimage, which has restored my body, mind and soul.

In 2021, the Templar Pilgrimage Trust gave a priest a grant towards the costs of walking The Pilgrims’ Way from Winchester to Canterbury. This content tells the story of that truly extraordinary journey.

Walking the Pilgrims Way had been a long-held desire of mine, and having been diagnosed with a spinal tumour at the beginning of the pandemic, which was rapidly impacting my mobility, I planned to walk it in the Autumn of 2021, with my brother A for support.

On October 25th we arrived at Winchester Cathedral and attended a communion service led for us by one of the Canons, who preached on the Gospel of the day from Luke 13:10-17, where Jesus healed a woman who had been crippled for 18 years, saying to her, ‘Woman you are set free.’  As I didn’t know if I would be able to complete the walk, I knew every step would be a step-in faith, and so I felt encouraged by the Gospel story.  

Canon R invited A and I to carry with us the question, ‘What would it look like for you to be set free?’

We set out that first day on a glorious Autumn morning and as we left Winchester we strolled by the river, through fields, past country churches and watercress beds to begin our adventure.  Over the coming days we encountered breath-taking scenery, giddy chickens, working sheep dogs and everything you could hope for in Jane Austen country. 

Having left home just a few days earlier feeling exhausted and with my resident critical voice nagging me none stop to ‘do more, be more, do better, be better’, by day four I suddenly stopped in the middle of a field and said to my brother, ‘I can’t believe it, my head is completely silent, I have just realised that the voice that’s always nagging me had gone quiet.’ 

The wonderful thing about pilgrimage is that all you have to do is get up each day and walk, just keep putting one foot in front of another, and you are set free to just enjoy the present moment, and so my internal critical voice had nothing to criticise, all I had to DO was walk and BE present, and as I did, I woke up again to the colour, sights, sounds and smells around me, even our well-travelled lunches tasted extra good. It was as if all my senses had been renewed.

Gradually the inner peace of my mind began to hear again the gentle and encouraging voice of God in my heart, and I rediscovered the joy of just being in the Father’s presence, full of gratitude for the beauty of creation, the time and space to walk together and talk together.  The beautiful little churches along the route became places of oasis, each one offering food for the soul, and the feet, when I stumbled with badly blistered feet across a stained-glass window of my namesake, St Joanna, (saint of anointing and desperate causes) whose intercession was unexpectedly helpful in easing my painful feet.

I soon realised that while the outer journey was truly magnificent, the inner journey was becoming even more so.

After a full week of autumn sunshine, we woke to what could only be described as rain on a Biblical scale. Trees and floods blocked our path several times, and we discovered the benefits of teamwork to help us clamber over fallen trees and negotiate slippery hillsides. As we walked up a very long hill through a field open to the full force of the elements, we decided we could at least give thanks for the wind being at our backs! 

The Jesuit's talk about finding God in all things, and as our journey continued, we not only encountered the most wonderful and unexpected hospitality, but also the most marvellous characters some of whom were curious as to why we would undertake such a pilgrimage, and others who wanted to share something of their own life journey with us.

For A, a Roman Catholic, and myself an Anglican Priest, we were delighted to find ourselves stepping into the Reformation for a day, as we discovered St Clere, Anne Boleyn’s family home and her local parish church, St Mary’s, at Kemsing, an absolute jewel where incense still hung heavy in the air and the rood screen and altar canopy made us feel that the Reformation had somehow completely passed it by.  There were also daily reminders of the business we had left behind with the humming of a Surrey motorway in the distance and an impressive view of London on the horizon at one point.

But nothing could disturb the deeper peace I was experiencing, and the easy conversations God and I exchanged along the way. During the second week my brother noted how my legs seemed to be stronger and I certainly felt more mobile than I had for many months. 

As our journey neared its end we were completely taken aback as we emerged from a wood to unexpectedly see Canterbury on the horizon. It was a deeply emotional moment and until that point the destination had seemed almost irrelevant as we were enjoying the journey so much.   As we reflected upon our emotional response, we realised how significant it would be for us to finally arrive at our destination, but with this came a sense of sadness that this journey would be over. That last day we savoured every step and when we arrived at Canterbury, we had the most marvellous welcome from the welcome team and Canon P, who took to the site of Thomas Beckett’s murder and then up through the Cathedral to single candle above where his shrine had once been.  She pointed out the windows which surrounded this space, full of stories of pilgrims who had been healed and prayed a blessing upon us. It was a very beautiful end to an extraordinary journey.

Two days later I was back in the MRI scanner for a check up and when I received the results, I was told the tumour had shrunk by 50%. When I returned for my next six-month check-up, I was told the tumour had completely gone and was discharged from the clinic.

Through this Pilgrimage, which the Trust so generously helped me make, God has set me free from that critical voice which had stolen my joy and confidence for too long and miraculously God set me free from a spinal tumour that was taking my mobility and causing significant anxiety about the future. I cannot thank the Trust enough for making it possible for me to undertake this pilgrimage, which has restored my body, mind and soul.

I have also got the Pilgrimage bug and plan to walk some of the via Francigena to Rome next year. 

I can’t finish any other way but with this Pilgrim’s Prayer.

God our Father, you call me to you through the journey of my life.

Bless me and keep me every step of my way.

May the light of your love be always over me

And may you lead me safely home, 

Where I shall see you face to face.

Amen.