On day 24 of the End to End I was still on the edge of the Somerset levels but gradually climbing up towards Bristol. There were paths and quiet roads, large churches and strange happenings. Probably the strangest was being asked, at Weare, if we were looking for Frankie Howard’s grave whilst we ate our 11’s. We weren’t.
But then with a walk like LEJOG you never know what’s round the next corner. A notice saying Diversion Ends on the old railway path, the Strawberry Line, before it even appeared to have begun, probably referred to a small fallen tree in front of the tunnel entrance. I had no lights but I went through the tunnel anyway. It’s about plodding on.
Which is fine advice when your adventure is a slight incline on an old railway path. Not so fine when you’re in ICU on a long shift or lock down in a care home with vulnerable residents, or driving a bus without protection, or… [fill in your own stories].
Or until you remember that on the other side of the world it’s ANZAC Day, remembering the assault on a small beach on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey by the Australian and New Zealand Forces in 1915. We stood on that beach on a visit in 2015 to mark the centenary, and we looked up at the cliffs. It’s unbelievable that anyone could have made it ashore here under fire from up there. As on the Western Front, the CWGC cemeteries are beautifully kept, each one an oasis for remembrance.
(photo above is of ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli)
At the end of day 24 of LEJOG I visited the church at Rodney Stoke. It is a Thankful Village: one that gave thanks for the return of all the villagers that served in WW1. Maybe we will have Thankful Care Homes or other Thankful Places that remained untouched by COVID19. I pray that it may be possible.
From the remembered gospel
There was someone waiting for them on the beach, making breakfast.
Waiting One, your endless waiting amazes me.
I can hardly sit still for a few minutes but you wait in the most surprising places:
on a beach, under fire,
in a care home, under lock down,
at a bus stop, by a well.
May we who itch with waiting, gain something from your presence,
as we breathe in the day, remember and pray that all may be well.
JAL: 25.04.2020 in Longdendale.