Secular Pilgrimage

I’m particularly looking forward to this walk with Tyler. Since we first met, when he was studying for a Masters at Schumacher College, I’ve been impressed by Tyler’s intelligence, integrity, honesty and creativity… and he also has a great sense of humour! His own ‘sea to source’ pilgrimage along the Dart and his accompanying podcast, Learning to ‘fish’ on multispecies pilgrimage, have been a source of inspiration in the unfolding of our Wild Church River Dart Way. So I’m delighted he will be walking with us and sharing his own perspectives on and practices of secular pilgrimage. Here is a glimpse of this in Tyler’s on words:

My pilgrimage practice is one that attempts to be attentive to the more-than-human world, using playful and thoughtful ‘scores’ to bring us back into relationship with those that we journey with. To me the power of pilgrimage is in creating ritual space that can re-hallow the world, acknowledging that as Revd Sam says – perhaps the bush is always burning, we just need to listen. On this leg of the journey, we will incorporate one or two scores to help us be attentive to who we encounter, and what they might mean to us there.

Our day will begin around our last destination in Hembury Woods (details of start point given when booking confirmed) and over the day we will wend our Way from the heights of Hembury Hill Fort to the depths of the River Dart close to Newbridge near Holne. Our route takes us through the woods, along much of the length of Holy Brook (a Dart tributary), up steep and deep lanes to Holne village and church, and down through the meadows to the river.

As usual we will walk in silence, with invitations to deepen into presence, from the guide, along the way. This section of the route is around 4 miles long and includes uneven footpaths, stiles, steps, steep hills and walking on narrow lanes… and lots of encounters and proximity to water! We will walk at a relaxed and yet steady pace with pauses along the way, including a lunch stop at Holne, with time to meet the ancient yew (as shown above with Tyler) and other delights at Holne Church. Please bring a packed lunch, bring plenty of water and snacks, wear sturdy and waterproof footwear and come prepared for all weathers with warm, waterproof & windproof layers.