Two days of walking the Teesdale Riverside Pilgrimage
10-11th September 2022
Those who enjoy outdoor spaces often have no religious motivation – yet many also never anticipate making space for a physical journey can also inspire major changes in their life. In recent years the Camino de Santiago, one of the most well-known pilgrimage routes, has seen record numbers with many perhaps surprisingly not mentioning religion as the sole reason for taking part. Many pilgrims attend for a myriad of reasons though they tend to almost all report participating and letting themselves become immersed in nature gains them positivity, fulfilment and time for reflection. Pilgrimage is often seen as this ‘spring of well-being’ and for those pilgrims with religion an especially arduous pilgrimage may be a method of bearing witness to their faith. Devotionis causa.
As part of the Pilgrimage programme this year St Mary’s as part of Barnard Castle Deanery are running a two day walking pilgrimage on September 10th and 11th – starting at St Mary’s Church, Barnard Castle (by the cheese market) at 9:30am on Saturday 10th and following the River Tees towards Whorlton, aiming to arrive by the early afternoon to visit the church and inviting pilgrims to pause for reflection en-route by a guide who will bring historical and natural world observations to the group. Transport will be provided back to Barnard Castle for pilgrims taking part.
On the Sunday the group starts at St Mary’s, Whorlton and departs at 1pm and continues towards Winston, visiting the pilgrimage church of St Andrew’s which stands prominent on the hill overlooking the valley, before the group departs on the riverside path towards Gainford Spa and on to St Mary’s Well just as pilgrims in years past. Upon arrival at St Mary’s at Gainford a pilgrimage service will be held at 5:30pm to commemorate both the inaugural Teesdale Riverside Pilgrimage route as well as the Lindisfarne Pilgrimage – before pilgrims can be transported back to Whorlton if they wish to rejoin their transport.
Accompanying the walking event we’re showing a ‘Virtual Pilgrimage’ at both St Mary’s, Barnard Castle (9:40am on SATURDAY) and St Mary’s, Gainford from (4:00pm on Sunday 11th) prior to the walking party’s arrival, to recognise that pilgrimage is not just for the able bodied who can walk many miles a day – but a journey all can take part and connect with. Within our communities there are many unable to walk several rugged miles, such as families or those limited by long covid and we’ve put together a film-making team to let us showcase the route and highlight many of the places which will be visited by the walking party over the two days with a reflective, thoughtful piece to accentuate the occasion. We encourage you to join either the walking party or attend the Virtual Pilgrimage showing at the church.
In addition to the Teesdale Riverside Pilgrimage on September 10th & 11th the iconic Lindisfarne Gospels will be returning to their homeland with a display at The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle from 17 September until 3 December 2022. To celebrate this occasion, a challenging 130 mile journey will be undertaken between September 12-24, with pilgrims carrying a replica of St Cuthbert’s coffin containing facsimiles of the Lindisfarne Gospels and Cuthbert’s Gospel of John from the River Tees to Lindisfarne itself. If 12 days sounds daunting – don’t worry, you can join the route for just one of the days if you wish!
This initiative is supported by Durham Diocese and Newcastle Diocese and various other partners. They will be visiting 30 schools and 22 churches on their journey, and as part of the event St Mary’s, Gainford will be hosting the replica St Cuthbert’s coffin and a facsimile of the Lindisfarne Gospels which will be available for viewing before the Lindisfarne Pilgrimage on Sunday 11th September. The basic information about the pilgrimage can be found here: https://durhamdiocese.org/the-lindisfarne-gospels-pilgrimage/
If you’d like any further information on joining the pilgrimages or the services please email info@gainfordwinston.church
Image captions and copyrights:
Lindisfarne Pilgrimage Logo
The Journey of the coffin of St Cuthbert
The Journey – Fenwick Lawson
Egglestone Abbey
David Dixon – St Mary’s Church
