Pilgrims

A pilgrimage to Walsingham is the perfect summer holiday

From our UK edition

Every tribe has its rituals; mine - Oxford undergraduates in the last gasp of the vacation - is no exception. As Michaelmas term looms, my Instagram feed becomes the site of a curious annual competition, over the whiteness of beaches, the depth of tans and the performativity of poses. This year I chose a different path. I spent a week trudging alone across Norfolk on the Walsingham Way. The Walsingham Way was once among England’s great medieval pilgrimage routes I am not especially religious, but I had wanted to go on a pilgrimage for some time. My Gold DofE, despite my school’s best efforts, had not put me off the prospect of oversized waterproofs and blister-inducing boots.

Modern-day Plymouth looks nothing like the Land of the Pilgrims

The Pilgrims’ journey from Plymouth, England to Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts did not happen as it was meant to. The Mayflower had twice tried to leave for the New World before she managed it. Twice she set out with her companion ship, the Speedwell, and twice the Speedwell began taking on water, forcing the two ships back to England. The second return brought them to Plymouth, where the Speedwell then remained. The Mayflower would have to brave the Atlantic crossing alone. After 66 stormy days, the Mayflower reached Cape Cod, more than 600 miles north of her original destination of Jamestown. She tried to sail south to Virginia, where she was expected, but relentless storms blew her back up the coast.