Blog (Latest News, Info and Updates)
In Search of Island Chapels… Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire.
Wednesday 5th February 2025
David Gleed
Out there, on the horizon, Islands beckon, they always do, even on seemingly uninviting, wet, murky days. There's something mysterious and enchanting about an island, something to be discovered... And getting there is always such an adventure! There's a spiritual pull too. These are places on the edge, distant from the mainland, where creation is raw and the gap between heaven and earth can seem wonderfully thin. Around the coast and in the inland waters of Britain and Ireland, islands gently, sometimes abruptly as though thrusting towards a glorious new day, rise above the waterline in numbers. Mostly off the west and northern coasts, but with a good number to the east and south as well, and right across the…
New Year in the Valley, Tintern and the Wye Valley, January 25th 2025
Sunday 26th January 2025
David Gleed
Climbing the steep and on this day, wet and slippery track towards the ridge of the valley, the views often obscured by dense foliage at other times of the year, opened out before us. Below - a long way below - the ruins of magnificent Tintern Abbey beside the river Wye provided the centre piece, though even this glory dwarfed by the high wooded hills all around. The weather was good; crisp, bright and sunny with just a hint of frost remaining by midday in the more shaded parts. Along the Way we stopped every so often to hear a short reflection, each time drawing us back to our pilgrim purpose. God is always with us and wants us to be…
The Island of Iona
Thursday 23rd January 2025
The winner of Journeying's 2022 poetry competition, Wendy Stickley, sent us the wonderful poem below. If you feel you would like to experience what she did, we will be visiting Mull and Iona in 2025. To discover more please visit the 'Journeys 2025' page. Iona I stepped where St Columba might have trod and worn a path towards a sandy bay; where he, too, might have paused and looked in wonder before continuing along his way. I saw the spouting cave he might have known, leant into winds he also would have battled, I smelled the seaweed, thick upon the strand, and heard faint lowing from the highland cattle. I crossed the shell-fragmented, ancient machair, past lakes and thickets to a pebble beach, imagining the great man's humble presence, the privilege of…
To Ynys Enlli, the Island of 20,000 Saints
Sunday 12th January 2025
Richard Skinner
To Ynys Enlli, the Island of 20,000 Saints - by way of Tenby The Taith Pererin Gogledd Cymru or Welsh Camino - or more prosaically the North Wales Pilgrim's Way - began for me late last summer prayerfully submerged in the cold, clear waters of St Winifred's Well along with a boisterous family of Travellers all Hail Marys and rosaries followed by a priestly blessing. Over winter I discovered the Journeying website and signed up with friend Terry for a week of walking near Tenby guided - and nurtured - by David and Sue, part spiritual directors and part inclusive hosts gently pulling together a diverse group of pilgrims seeking out strands of Celtic Christianity. How God blessed us in our journey, singing…
Journeying Poetry Competition 2024 - Winner
Sunday 15th December 2024
We are delighted to announce that Jason Clark from Oklahoma City, USA is the winner of the fourth annual Journeying Poetry Competition with his poem "Longing", on the theme of Longing - to go on pilgrimage: Longing The city recedes into the rear-view mirror, a hushed echo of life left behind. My soul stretches toward the cathedral of nature, where trees rise like sacred columns, and the sky arches - a hallowed roof over my path. This is a pilgrimage in which the trail is the teacher, each step a rosary bead, whispering mysteries of stone and wind. My longing to see where waters weep and willows standing watch in silence - is more than I can bear. With faltering steps, as if on a pilgrimage for mercy, I bow my head…
Inspiring Pilgrim-Journeys through Britain and Ireland, 2025
Saturday 2nd November 2024
David Gleed
From Munro-bagging in Scotland to a peaceful stay on a Welsh Island, our 2025 programme has something for everyone, wherever you are on your journey. Community along the Way... Journeying groups are small (no more than twelve including leaders who stay with the group throughout) and offer a family feel and a sense of community. Fun and laughter are never far away, and everyone's accepted, just as they are. The days are not crowded with activity, allowing space and time for reflection, either on your own or with others. Each day begins and ends with a time of prayer and simple fellowship. We anticipate welcoming old friends each year as well as new ones. We do hope you will be among them. From our pilgrim…
Journeying Poetry Competition 2024
Saturday 19th October 2024
Welcome to the fourth annual Journeying Poetry Competition. This year's theme Poems of any length are invited and should follow a theme of 'Longing - to go on pilgrimage'. Getting your entry in Entries should be emailed to info@journeying.co.uk and arrive no later than midnight (GMT) on Saturday 26th October 2024. The winning entry will be announced on the 15th December 2024. Just one entry per person. There is no charge. Keep it original Entries must be original and not previously published elsewhere. All entries will be judged anonymously. Copyright remains with the author. The prize The winning poet will receive the Winner's Commemorative Certificate, together with £100.00 or ten percent discount on any one of next year's pilgrim-holidays from Journeying. The winning poem will be published on the…
The Island of Mull… One Summer
Wednesday 9th October 2024
In July next year, Journeying pilgrims led by team members, Phil and Graham, together with Wendy from 'Mull Another Way', will walk and explore the rugged and very beautiful landscape of the Island of Mull. By way of an appetizer here's an account of our first journey to the island... A blanket of 'dripping wet' shrouded the hills as we drove in convoy along the narrow-rutted stone track that led to camp number three. Pot holes were brim full of water, hedgerows dripped on either-side and beyond that, tall grass, hung heavy by rain that had only just stopped falling, sloped away into the mist below. We swung the vehicles into the lonely corral at the end of the track. All around…
LATE SUMMER IN OXFORDSHIRE – 13TH-15TH SEPTEMBER 2024
Wednesday 18th September 2024
Sue Peachey
On a lovely sunny day nine pilgrims gathered at St Mary's Convent in Wantage, to spend the weekend together enjoying our surroundings and each other's company. The Convent is quite a large building and easy to get lost in, but we soon found our way around and were able to take advantage of the many things it had to offer. These included an art room, various sitting rooms, a library and the lovely St Mary's Chapel. The beautifully tended grounds were amazing, with several gardens and an apple orchard in which to sit and relax, or simply to walk around at our own pace and in our own time. On our first afternoon we visited the John Betjeman Millennium Park, as he…
The Way of Water - that lived up to its name!
Monday 9th September 2024
Cheryl Tettmar and Jo Reed
This new Pilgrimage route from Bath to Glastonbury is so called because it starts and ends with Holy Springs and follows the natural water courses that link Bath Abbey, Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Abbey. Following canals, streams and rivers, through some of Somerset's most beautiful countryside, our group of 6 pilgrims, from as far afield as Belgium, had the most delightful week of walking together with God. Following many parts of the East Mendip Way, our journey of 60 miles was one of surprises: being caught in a huge thunder and lightning storm in the middle of a meadow, getting to sing 'Jerusalem' with The Precentor, the Reverend Canon Tim Stevens, in the glorious Chapter House of Wells Cathedral AND then…