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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 had lived in Wantage for several years. We found that it was an oasis of calm and greenery, with no traffic noise and surrounded on three sides by a brook and a stream. Several lines from his poems were dotted around the various pathways, some easier to find than others!
The following day we did a short circular walk from the Convent, at an easy pace, part of which followed the disused Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal. Again, this was in glorious sunshine. We only got slightly lost at the beginning, but were kindly set on the right path by a friendly lady and her dog!
On the Sunday morning there was a Prayer Walk around the grounds, which we found very mindful and relaxing. After a wonderful Sunday lunch we went our separate ways home, feeling refreshed and blessed to have spent a few days "away from it all".