Blog (Latest News, Info and Updates)
The Hidden Dragon!
Sunday 30th October 2022
In perfect conditions, 'Dragon's Back' in the Peak District, is a stunning experience ... but today, swallowed in rain clouds with zero visibility and super slippery mud, it was a challenging/terrifying experience. Your Journeying leaders accepted the challenge and faithfully followed their intrepid leader, who couldn't record the video without falling over with laughter!! AND then there were the most scrumptious cakes and scones, in the best kept secret in the Peak District: Chapel Tearooms, Hollinsclough - Oh ... what a day! See our Facebook page for the most hilarious video!
Our lovely Day Walk at The Roaches
Saturday 29th October 2022
We shared a wonderful walk together in The Roaches ... the rain kept away and the sun came out to play and golden leaves shone like bright pennies all around us, creating a magical autumnal landscape for us to journey through. From pretty woodland following a fast flowing river, we squeezed through the impressive rock formation known as Lud's church and almost escaped a mud bath at the bottom (Steve didn't quite!). Then up to the ridge we went, for a picnic and the fabulous panorama waiting for us. We ended at Hanging Rock at the end of the ridge, under blue skies and fluffy clouds ... what a perfect end to a perfect day.
Tintern Abbey and Wye Valley Day Walk, 17th September
Saturday 24th September 2022
Sue Peachey
On a glorious September morning 7 people and 2 dogs gathered for a walk from Tintern Abbey through the Wye Valley. The route taken was not our usual one as a footbridge over the river was closed for repair work, but we were still able to make our way through the village of Brockweir, stopping at the Moravian church en route, then continuing up into the woodland. Along the Way we stopped for a reflective reading and a poem, the stillness only being broken by the singing of a bird in the trees above us. Our lunch was eaten in a sunlit field, watched from afar by some sheep. We then continued climbing up to the Devil’s Pulpit, but none of…
Our weekend on Dartmoor
Monday 19th September 2022
How blessed we were to have such fantastic weather and journey together through such an amazing landscape for the weekend, on our mini-pilgrimage. The first day we followed trails through the densely wooded cleaves, over giant boulders and along a fast flowing river, in a landscape that looked almost primeval. In the evening we joined together to share supper at Bovey Tracey and laughed lots as we shared stories from our day. The second day gave us the experience of the tors and the high moorland of Dartmoor. We stopped to picnic in the ruins of the most the incredible Iron Age settlement known as Grimspound. In the two days we had walking together sharing conversations and quietness in…
Journeying Poetry Competition 2022
Wednesday 14th September 2022
David Gleed
Welcome to the second Journeying Poetry Competition! This year’s theme: Poems of any length are invited and should follow a theme of On Pilgrimage. Getting your entry in: Entries should be emailed to info@journeying.co.uk and arrive no later than midnight (GMT) on Saturday 22nd October 2022. The winning entry will be announced on the 12th December 2022. 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 winner will receive a first-place competition certificate signed by the judges and a ten percent discount on any one of next year's holidays from Journeying. The winning poem will be published on the Journeying website, Social…
Walking into Quietness
Monday 12th September 2022
What a magical day! There are no words that can capture what we experienced together, which is why so many of us were companions in silence or spilled over into tears.
A day well lived
Saturday 27th August 2022
Our walk was lovely and our group was a happy one – despite the intense heat! As well as all the `getting to know each other'; we shared freshly picked apples and plums and picked blackberries along the way. It was a delightful little walk that had the feeling of a much longer route … perhaps because Pepper’s sense of time and distance is rather ‘elastic': 10 minutes to lunch was about 25!!’ There was so much countryside crammed into our day – woodland, river valleys, tow paths, historic villages, the site of an ancient Carthusian Friary and MORE woodland. Julianne, one of our walkers, said “this walk has everything except a bit of coastal path!” We enjoyed fellowship…
Singing Birds and Silence . . .
Sunday 17th July 2022
A collection of poems by Janet Wilkes
Janet first travelled with Journeying to West Wales some ten years ago. Singing Birds and Silence is her second book, her first, After The Blossom,` is autobiographical and a lovely read. Janet’s debut poetry collection is a treat. The poems speak with a grounded, real-life quality, that capture the moment perfectly – you can’t help but be caught up in the occasion… ‘There are many forms of writing poetry and anyone can do it’, Janet says. ‘All you need to do is take a pen and describe the place you’re in, ether where you are or in your thoughts’. Janet does this wonderfully. Here’s the title poem: SINGING BIRDS AND SILENCE Singing birds and silence remind me of Christmas long ago with…
Journeying on Holy Island - Lindisfarne
Wednesday 8th June 2022
David Heathcote
By Monday midday, the tide had receded sufficiently to allow our pilgrim group to cross the causeway in safety to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and we settled into Marygate House, our base for the week. There was time to unpack and introduce ourselves over a cup of tea before our leader Steve drove us to the mainland so we could walk back to the island across the Pilgrims Way, following the poles across what becomes the seabed when the tide comes back in. Four of us tackled the sands, while one walked along the road causeway. Two chose traditional bare feet, while two used appropriate(?) footwear. Setting off across the sands, we occasionally had to paddle in a few…
EASTER ON THE PLAIN DAY WALK - 16th APRIL 2022
Friday 22nd April 2022
Sue Peachey
On Easter Saturday morning a group of 12 pilgrims (and 3 dogs!) left the village of Heytesbury in Wiltshire in glorious sunshine for a 7 mile circular walk. We first made our way up to the edge of Salisbury Plain, the majority of which is owned by the Ministry of Defence, although there is plenty of access for members of the public. Along the Way we listened to an Easter bible reading and got to know each other. There was quite a wide age range of people which made it interesting and some had travelled quite a way to join us. After stopping to have our packed lunches we continued down off the Plain to the small village of Upton Lovell…