The pilgrim way

Your skin's rubbed raw by four days of marching in a woollen tunic, your entertainment is reciting Latin prayer and each night you sleep on a bed of straw.

It may sound unappealing but 18 people have already agreed to don cloth hoods and bring Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to Norfolk this September. A troupe of 14th century characters from the prim prioress to the flour-caked miller will embark on a 35-mile pilgrimage from Norwich Cathedral to Walsingham to raise money for the Sprowston-based Mediaeval Trust.

But the trip will be no Disney ride, pilgrims will wear lurid woollen or linen tunics and hoods, sleep in barns, eat a medieval diet of bread and ale and rely on storytellers and musicians playing the lute and the bagpipes to pass the time.

Trust member Ian Pycroft is appealing for people to fill the remaining six places on the pilgrimage and says it will be a unique opportunity to learn more about both mediaeval and modern times.

Mr Pycroft said: “This is not just a jaunt but is a piece of serious research into what it was like on a medieval pilgrimage, eating their diet and wearing their clothes. We want to make it rough and ready and take it right back to basics and see how people fare without their mobile phones, modern high-sugar diet and coffee. During the 14th century Walsingham was as important as Jerusalem or Santiago de Compostela and taking part in this kind of pilgrimage would have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many people. We are using characters from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and everybody will keep to their role as much as possible. We have people from all walks of life taking part, from computer programmers to employees of Norwich Union.”

Not everybody will be suffering to the same degree, true to the tales there will be more privileged characters such as the knight and prioress who will be on horseback while other less fortunates, such as the miller and the cook, will carry packs on foot.

Pilgrims will set off on the four-day trek on September 11 from St. Lukes Chapel in the cathedral, sail up the River Wensum in a medieval sail boat to New Mills and march along bridleways, footpaths and across open countryside until they reach the Slipper Chapel in Walsingham to celebrate the Feast Day of the Holy Cross.

The trust hopes to raise £5,000 to pay for its annual running costs, as well as funds for other local organisations.

* The trust is also looking for businesses to sponsor the pilgrimage. For more information or to take part ring 01692 535613, visit www.mediaevaltrust.freeuk.com or e-mail: medieavaltrust@gmail.com

(Fakenham & Wells Times - 14 March 2007)