Pilgrimage 2003

Our third Pilgrimage to Holy Sites in England and Wales sponsored by the DeKoven Center of Racine, WI, began when we left Chicago's O'Hare around 8 pm on Friday, May 23, and arrived at London's Heathrow around 10 am the next morning, Saturday, May 24. Our group of 25 pilgrims met and boarded an Armchair Coach driven by our old friend and previous pilgrimage driver, Norman, who became the 26th pilgrim in our group. In addition to Norman, there were: Fr. Travis DuPriest, director of the DeKoven Center and his wife, Mabel, a college professor of English; Sybil Harp,our tour guide; Kitty Clark and Nola Wegman from Valparaiso; Dr. Tim and Ted Ts'O, a father-son team; Kay Ford and her sister Helen Meyers; Ann Steele from Texas; Juds Connell, an artist from Racine; Toni Erlich, a retired lady from Virginia; Nancy Kincheloe, another Virginian; Mortimer Cushman and John Hart from Racine; two Episcopal Nuns, Sr. Mary Paula, originally from Texas and Sr. Andrew John from Milwaukee; a Roman Catholic sister, Kay Sheskaitis; an Episcopal deacon, Marlyne Seymour; a lawyer, Miriam Stauff; Eileen Harakel, another artist from Chicago; Susan Fiore and Cheryl Reese (or Rhys, in Welsh,) and Fred and Gail Buechner from South Bend.

After we boarded the coach we left England for South Wales and the National Museum in Cardiff where Travis had arranged a special guided tour for us by a friend of his who is on the museum staff. As it was a holiday, there had been 80,000 visitors on that particular day, so we felt privileged to have had such a personal tour after hours. The museum contains many beautiful treasures and set the tone for our appreciation of Wales. One room alone contained artifacts valued at over $500 million dollars!

Our three nights in Wales were spent in a lovely Cardiff Hotgel, the Wentloog. They had a nice swimming pool with a red dragon done in tiles on the bottom of the pool, so I can truthfully say that I swam over a dragon while in Wales!

Sunday morning, May 25th, we had the opportunity to worship at Llandoff Cathedral, which is a beautiful prayerful place, but--every church and cathedral that we saw was absolutely awesome! At Llandoff Cathedral we were greeted by a powerful statue of Jesus that had been done by a Jewish artist whose work we had "met" at the museum the day before and were struck by its beauty.

Sunday afternoon we went to Hay-on-Wye and Norman joked about making Hay while the sun shone! Hay is famous for its second hand bookstores, and yes--we did do some shopping! It's also known for its rain, but the sun shone on us and we had a lovely visit.

We also saw ancient ruins of an old Roman city, ruins of a former Roman Barracks, and the ruins of an old amphitheatre and were filled with a sense of timelessness to realize that 2000 years ago people lived and walked in these same places! We also saw Chepstow Castle, where Jeremy Taylor was imprisoned in the 17th century for his faith.

In Caerleon, we heard bells calling us to evening prayer and stepped inside the church. Helen and I got permission to climb the rickety ladder-like stairs to where the six bell ringers were pulling the ropes to ring the bells! It was very exciting to watch them work! One very small woman was literally lifted off her feet, but was always in control. I was reminded of a Dorothy Sayers mystery novel with Lord Peter Wimsey solving a mystry involving church bells.

It was a "football" weekend in Wales and crowds of fans were everywhere. Their football is similar to our soccer, but stirs fans to a fever pitch of excitement, much like our football does here. It was fun to be a part of their holiday enthusiasm! Except for the extra traffic that we encountered on the motorway, that is!

On Monday, May 26th, we headed for the southernmost tip of Wales, and one of their holiest places: St. David's. St. David is the patron saint of Wales. His mother, St. Non, is also highly revered and there is a Holy Well that supposedly sprang up at the place where she gave birth to her son. Getting there involved a 30 minute hike over rough ground, after leaving our coach, but we were rewarded with the beautiful coast line view and lovely spring of fresh water that greeted us.

Norman also told us about the "kissing gate", a box like contraption with a swinging center piece that allows humans access, but denies animals a passage out of the field. The custom was for sweethearts to steal a kiss as the gate swung back and forth. So, naturally, Fred and I demonstrated how it worked when we found one!

On our drive today, we also went through Swansea, Dylan Thomas country, and stopped at his "boathouse" where he did a lot of his writing. However, a tea shop, "The Owl and the Pussycat" beckoned to us with its ad in the window for Clotted Cream Tea with Strawberry Jam. We figured that Thomas probably ate there too, and thoroughly enjoyed our detour! (Yummy!) Clotted cream is thick cream and very rich and tasty!

Norman also pointed out to us the legendary birthplace of Merlin, of Arthurian legends, which prepared us for our coming visit to Tintagel.

Tuesday, May 27th, we left the Wentloog and headed for Cornwall, back in England, where we would spend the next four nights in Penzance. We went through Bodmin Moor and stopped at the Jamaica Inn, made famous by a novel with that title by Daphne DeMaurier. It was reportedly a haven for smugglers and all-round bad guys at one time, but now is a tourist mecca and place to buy DeMaurier books!

We also stopped at a place called Land's End, with beautiful vistas of the coast; saw the ruins of the Roman village of Chysauter, and imagined how it much have been for them.

Cornwall is lovely! And Penzance is rightly known as England's Riveria, with its beautiful beaches and palm trees. As it was also their school holiday and many hotels were booked in advance, our group had to split into four different small groups, each staying in a different location. Each group thought theirs was the best, but our group KNEW that we were the luckiest! We had Halcyon, a haven of peace and rest overlooking the bay with Mont St. Michael's in the background and a three masted schooner was anchored just off shore the first day that we were there. Fred and I even had a bay window with a pair of field glasses provided for our use. The six of us who stayed at the Halcyon felt pampered and special and formed our own group within the group. Our host and hostess quickly made us feel like their old friends.

Wednesday, May 28th we headed for the ruins of Tintagel, the forbiding fortress where King Arthur (of the Knights of the Round Table) was supposedly conceived and born, passing by what might have been the site of Camelot! Yesterday we went to Land's End, but today was surely the Top of the World! It was a long hard walk, up long steep steps, but supremely worth the effort. I met an older couple from Kent and a young single girl from New Zealand, and we shared kinship in the beauty of the place. Whether or not Tintagel was Arthur's birthplace, it is a spectacular spot and well worth seeing. Having read Marion Zimmer Bradley's THE MISTS OF AVALON before the trip also added to my enjoyment of the Arthurian experience of being there.

On the way back to Penzance we stopped at a large ring of stones in a field called "The Merry Maidens", where some dancing maidens were "turned into stone". Our pilgrims got off the coach and acted like a bunch of druids by "dancing" around the stones to honor the stone maidens! Norman said that now he'd seen everything!

We began Thursday, May 29th, with some of us gathering at Travis' central B & B at 7 am for a House Mass, then back to our Halcyon for our breakfast before Norman took us to the foot of Mont St. Michaels. During low tide there is a foot path where people can walk across, which we did. Later is is only accessible by boat. Some of our pilgrims chose to go by boat anyway and circled around the lovely island. It is a beautiful spot from every angle and is topped with a castle of a building, with wonderful aromatic flowers and gardens all around. Some of our pilgrims chose to spend the day here, others went back to explore Penzance, and others went on the coach to St. Ives, another beautiful coastal city named forrr an early Celtic saint, Ia.

There is an old nursery rhyme about St. Ives: "As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks. Each sack had seven cats. Each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were there going to St. Ives?" Remember the answer?!

Friday, May 30. Today we visited the resort cities of Newlyn, Mousehole and The Lizard. I never did discover The Lizard's origin, but did learn not to say "Mousehole"! It is called "Muzzle" by the locals! They all were lovely, fun places to visit on our way to Truro Cathedral, where Marlyne had arranged a special guided tour for us. The Cathedral is indescribably beautiful and having a docent lead us through was a big help. Being in a place of worship such as this is awe inspiring. You'll just have to see it to believe it!

And, speaking of awesome, Norman's skill as a coach driver is something else! He can maneuver his large coach on a tiny narrow country lane as easily as on the large motorway! Once we met an even larger double decker bus on a narrow twisty lane and he calmly pulled his rear view mirror inside and negotiated with the other driver until we were able to squeak by--with maybe 1/4 inch to spare! No kidding! And, it's all in a day's work for him.

This was our last night in Penzance and our Halcyon group decided to eat at a posh place recommended by our host and hostess, The Meadery. We drank Cornish Mead and mine was Blackberry flavor, and topped off the meal with Cornish Coffee with Double Cream. It was an evening of good food and fellowship and bonding and a perfect ending for our Cornwall experience. The Halcyon had a beautiful poem about Cornwall in the entrance hall which expressed our feelings for this area.

Saturday, May 31. Today's destination is Glastonbury Abbey and the final three days of our group pilgrimage. On the motorway we had long "queues" of traffic, saw "Wind Farms" (large white funny looking windmills), signs to "Goonhilly Earth Station" (hummm?), and a "Screech Owl Sanctuary". Several "Snack Vans" are parked at "pull offs" offering quick snacks, and I was interested to see one flying a Texas flag and bearing a sign, "Lone Star Stop". Even in England, a Texan will proudly fly the flag!

We reached the Abbey House in time to explore before dark. Our room had a tryp-tych style window with a lovely framed view of the abbey ruins. We walked to the Chalice Well and enjoyed the beautiful peaceful setting with flowers everywhere. Some of the pilgrims took off shoes and walked barefooted in the healing waters of the pool and others sat and meditated while others tramped around, looking and inhaling the fragrant scents.

Next we explored the Abbey ruins. Legends abound here! Joseph of Arimathia supposedly was the uncle of Jesus and brought Him here when He was a young child. Joseph stuck his staff in the ground and it sprouted into the Glastonberry Thorn, which still blooms twice yearly there. That's one. Another has to do with King Arthur, as he and Guinevere may be buried there. Also, the Holy Grail may have been brought to Glastonbury Abbey. Sorting truth from legend is also painful, as the last Abbot was drawn and quartered and beheaded for standing up for his faith. Religion has strange effects on some power hungry people. We will sleep for the next three nights in the shadow of these impressive ruins.

Sunday, June 1. Our schedule this morning: 7:45 - Morning Prayer. 8:15 - Breakfast. 9:00 - Board coach for Wells Cathedral and a Sung Eucharist. Wells was where Elizabeth Goudge lived when her father was dean of the theological school there. Her book, THE DEAN'S WATCH, may have been based on Wells and the close where they lived. She is one of my favorite authors and I loved being there! We left too soon after the service for Avesbury Henge, another set of large stones, which covered a lot more territory than the Maidens did. They were awe inspiring in the manner of Stonehenge. Then we went to Bath, where the skill of the early Romans continues to amaze us. We happened to be at Bath Abbey for Evensong with a men and boys choir, looking magnificent in their green robes and sounding equally grand. What a treat!

We got back to "our" Abbey House for dinner and a spectacular evening with Col. John Winn and his wife, Margaret MacDonald Winn, who gave us a fascinating guided tour of the Abbey ruins and we could "see" it as it was before Henry VIII destroyed it. Their talk was charming and informative and interesting and fun! They are a delightful couple. He is a retired deputy governor of the Tower of London. While Margaret was telling us about the monks of old, David, our warden from the Abbey House, began leading a procession of men in pale blue robes across the misty way to the only still standing building, the monk's kitchen. It was like a vision from the past! Then, I remembered that we were to end our evening with sung Compline in the Old Monk's Kitchen, and this was our choir arriving! Compline was a perfect ending for this perfect day.

Monday, June 2. Today we went to Stonehenge, a mysterious circle of large stones that may be England's Number One tourist attraction. We also passed by, but did not stop, at Amesbury Abbey, where according to Norman, Guinevere was sent after her "shenanigans with Launcelot". Norman also told us that there are some trees planted nearby Stonehenge that represented Admiral Nelson's ships in sailing formation.

We stopped in Bremerton and visited George Herbert's church and Nola read to us some of his poetry. Then it was on to Salisbury and the beautiful Cathedral there. I had recentlly read THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, by Ken Follett and SARUM, by Edward Rutherfurd, both giving background and "color" and a feel for the grandeur of the building itsellf, which is magnificent, with its extremely tall spire. We were fortunate to meet a docent ready to give a guided tour. He had been a young guardsman 50 years ago on June 2nd and stood in parade in the rain, waiting for his beautiful young queen to walk past. When she did, she smiled at him, and he was charmed forever by her! He was also very knowledgeable about his church and told us about how to recognize the effigies, facts about an old clock, the spire, a plumb rope and pointed us to the room that housed the Magna Carta. We could have spent much more time there, but had to get back to our Abbey House for dinner and a guest speaker, William Bloom, on New Age. He was very "together" and seemed to radiate good will and we were impressed with him.

Later Kay shared a bottle of Cream Sherry as a parting gift and we all enjoyed our last evening together as pilgrims. Then we went to our rooms to pack, as our idyllic DeKoven Pilgrimage had come to an end and our personal journey was about to begin.