The Pommie Pilgrims are expected to arrive in Hereford this week – the sixth cathedral on their marathon fundraising walk to visit all 42 Anglican cathedrals in England to raise money for toilets, kitchen facilities and a warm space in their own Peak District church.
Pommie pilgrims clock up sixth cathedral on their mammoth fundraiser to walk every English Cathedral.
The Revd Richard Tucker left Birmingham Cathedral on Sunday, walking to Worcester Cathedral and then on towards Gloucester Cathedral taking the Three Choirs Way and arriving just in time for Evensong on Wednesday.
He was accompanied by his brother-in-law, Rob Barclay, a direct descendent of Robert Barclay Alladice, a notable Scottish walker, who was most famous for walking 1000 miles in 1000 hours for 1000 guineas.
The pilgrims – so named after the sound of their village band – started their walk on Palm Sunday from Derby Cathedral and aim to complete a total of ten million steps on their travels to help fundraise to make overhaul the facilities at Youlgrave’s 12th All Saints Church in Derbyshire, a Grade I listed building which features in Simon Jenkins’s book ‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’.
Their fundraising target is £42,000.
Kate Heath, who founded the Pommie Pilgrims reached Chester Cathedral via canals and byways in mid-April. They hope to have reached all 42 cathedrals by All Saints Day.
And for those villagers and visitors less able who want to contribute to the pilgrimage, a labyrinth has been mowed into a local meadow and was opened on World Labyrinth Day earlier this month.
The Revd Canon Jane Clay, chair of the Pommie Pilgrimage organising group said the Pommie Pilgrimage will create a unique network of footsteps linking Youlgrave with all forty-two Anglican Cathedrals in England.
“Our hope to connect Youlgrave with each cathedral in the country via pilgrimage is a huge challenge and feels like an impossible task, but one step at a time, together, we’ll get there. “
The next pilgrimage starts today too when Kate and fellow Youlgrave Women Institute member, Theresa Farnden will set out from Derby Cathedral to walk to Leicester Cathedral arriving on Sunday afternoon in time for Evensong on what will be International Nurses Day – Particularly poignant for Theresa who completed her nursing training in Leicester and went on to work there for 35 years both as a nurse and later health visitor.
Follow the Pommie Pilgrims on Facebook
Find out more and make a donation
