Today was Day 57 of the End to End. Tomorrow, all being well I hope to have covered half the proposed distance. Today is a sort of between day as I moved from the Lancaster canal to the Howgill fells (tomorrow’s route). It was a quiet day and a good one for a bit of reflection.
It began with a couple of pre-walk visits. In the churchyard of the Church of the Holy Ghost, Middleton, I stopped to see a Roman Milestone. It is inscribed with the distance to Carlisle: 53 Roman miles. That’s good because I’m heading that way. The milestone bears witness to people walking in these parts for at least two thousand years. There would have been many before that. So the first thought about walking is it connects us to our forebears, those who have walked before us.
The second was a signpost near the public toilets in Kirkby Lonsdale. It said:
To church via radical steps.
It seems there are 86 ‘radical steps’ in a flight up to the church from the River Lune. The concept of ‘radical steps’ appealed to me.
There are many ways of thinking about radical steps. In some ways 57 days of walking over 500 miles in Britain is a series of radical steps as it’s not a common activity these days. Fewer people walk long distances than in previous generations as it’s no longer as necessary. We may discover it’s good for us but it’s still a minority activity.
Of course there are other ways to think about radical steps including stepping out for change in attitudes and activities, for example in response to climate change and ecological threats. You can probably think of others.
My walk began on a small steep road and continued upwards for over two and a half miles, where a helpful seat was provided. This was more strenuous than the recent days of flat canal walking. The wildflowers had also changed a bit. Surprisingly violets and bluebells were still to be seen on the verges. Overall there were fewer yellow flowering plants and more pink, purple and blue ones.
There were two sections of bridleway on the route. The first, through a farmyard, was short and muddy. The second, longer, across a wind farm was more open country. Bob came with me to check out the routes, as neither was well signed. On the second, we saw a hare and some wild pansies.
At Killington the small church of All Saints was open. The local embroidery in the sanctuary is lovely. We made it back to the end and the car at Killington New Bridge before the rain came down heavily.
From Psalm 100
Admit it: God is God of all!
We were made by and for the Maker, we belong to the Creator
We are God’s people: God’s own flock.
On a quiet day, When the hedgerows and verges are a riot of colour, the air resounds with countless avian singers, and everything around me shouts aloud the Glory of God,
I am enchanted to see the world revealed around me: clouds part and fell tops can be glimpsed, in each valley a whole world rushes along.
On a day of radical steps,
God grant me a quiet night and a peaceful end.
JAL 02.06.2019
Day 57 of the End to End, Longcroft to Killington new bridge.