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THESE TWO WORDS
Saturday 28th February 2026
Before Journeying was Journeying it was known as Pilgrim Adventure. Violet Spencer, the first pilgrim wrote, “These two words in the May issue of the Diocesan Gazette caught my interest with the result that on Saturday 17th June, I set out equipped with tent, Lilo, sleeping bag, rucksack and walking boots to join a pilgrimage from North Wales to Glastonbury.”
The name fitted what we did well at the outset, but pilgrim travel is nothing if not dynamic and in time it became apparent that ‘these two words’ didn’t fully describe all that we were about. So, the possibility of a new name began to be considered – a big deal for any organisation! In 2009 the word Journeying emerged as a possible name and we decided to take the plunge. Pilgrim Adventure has been known as Journeying ever since!
There’s lots of continuity across the years…
Then like now, our programme offers a variety of journeys: mainland/island; walking lots/walking little; self-cater/fully catered. In recent years we have also introduced retreat-style holidays with fewer planned walks and more time to simply be in peaceful surroundings.
The origins of all our wanderings lie in pilgrimage and Celtic spirituality, and like the Celtic saints of old we often travel to the edge, to thin places where the distance between the spiritual and the material, heaven and earth, seems wonderfully small. Wherever we go and we don’t always travel to places where there is an overt Celtic connection, there’s an underlying Celtic spirituality threaded through all that we do; in the worship and rhythm of the day, the informal atmosphere and community that we create and in the joy of being close to nature.
We included part of this article in February’s edition of ‘Sharing the Journey’ and following publication, Dr Paul Heppleston wrote to the Journeying team with something of a sequel. Here it is in part:
I enjoyed reading the recent paragraphs about the name change (Pilgrim Adventure > Journeying).
That spurs me on to say how privileged I was to transfer my own domain name (www.journeying.co.uk) from my bank over to the PA team. I did so, because, after a lot of discussion re. a new name at Mount St Bernards, I decided to offer it to the team who agreed with me that it was the very best descriptor for what we were doing - and for what you are continuing to do so well now.
The name Journeying perfectly captures our raison d'être and the holidays (pilgrim journeys) we offer… I do wonder, however, what we might have been called if Paul had not offered that name transfer - we certainly had plenty to choose from on the ‘cutting room floor’ at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, back in 2009 when all of this was the focus of our annual team gathering!
Photo: Dr Paul Heppleston