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About a week ago I passed a notice which advertised ‘Good Friday Fun Fair‘. With such a wide range of activities available on a Bank Holiday these days, what will you be doing today?

Let’s have fun crucifying Jesus:
I’ll bang the nails in, you throw the dice.
Let’s have fun crucifying Jesus,
On a day like this that would be nice.

Let’s have fun insulting Jesus:
You hold the sponge and I’ll get the wine.
Let’s have fun insulting Jesus;
On a day like this that would be fine.

Let’s have fun torturing Jesus:
I’ll stick the spear in, out comes the blood.
Let’s have fun torturing Jesus;
On a day like this that’s quiet a flood.

Let’s have fun burying Jesus:
Let’s get a stone so he won’t get out.
Let’s have fun burying Jesus:
They say he’s risen, hear that shout!

JAL Holy Week 2019 on the End to End

I make up lots of songs on the road and I know you don’t know the tune but try to skip into it and see what happens.

The 17th Day of the End to End walk is also Maundy Thursday. My friend Rosie met us at Mariansleigh for the start of the day’s walk. The village church there was restored after being gutted by fire in 1932. One of the additions was a stained glass window above the altar representing the Last Supper, set there in 1954.

Rosie and I walked together via Bishops Nympton. I’d last seen her 7 years ago when Hannah came through on her End to End and walked a while with Rosie’s daughter Freya. The hedgerows continued to bloom and so did our memories. We stopped for lunch at the Blackcock Inn which wasn’t open. However, the landlady was happy for us to have our picnic on one of the tables outside the pub.

Bob gave Rosie a lift back to Mariansleigh while I walked on. It was a lovely afternoon. More early purple orchids appeared in the hedges and more Butterflies danced from one side of the road to the other.

There was a farm called West Lee which was soon followed by Middle Lee. The option of a footpath to East Lee would give me a full house of all the Lee’s. Always one for a challenge I took to the footpath which was fine until a marshy and muddy boot sucky section by a gate had to be negotiated followed by some cattle, more mud and another gate. But you can’t really do such a walk without the occasional episode of adventure peril.
Bob appeared around the corner of the road and we made the final three quarters of a mile of Bulls Corner together.
We drove back to Rosie’s house to share a meal with her family. Here’s to our next encounter.

Reflection

Where shall we prepare the Passover meal?
It was an upper room, an ordinary place made extraordinary by that night.
Tonight we shared an ordinary meal, the sort any family might have together.
We give thanks for food shared, for bodies energised, for spirits raised.
We give thanks for the ordinary made extraordinary by friendship and love.
We give thanks for memories both old and new; previous meals and occasions shared, the commitment to future sharing.
We give thanks on this night of nights, for its pivotal part in the story of faith.
We give thanks and remember:
This is my body, this is my blood, do this to remember me.

JAL 18.04.2019
Day 17 of the End to End, Mariansleigh to Bulls Corner.

From Isaiah 55:

You shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace;
the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into joy,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Walking is something I have been able to do for about 59 years. It’s not a skill everyone is able to develop or maintain all their lives and those of us who can do it without difficulty may forget this. On Day 16 of the walk I’m mindful of walking. Indeed being aware of the physical act of walking has grown in me each day, and helpfully chased away quite a lot of the less useful negative stuff I’d been carrying around with me for too long. Today I passed 150 miles walked which makes this my single longest walking expedition so far (the Cleveland Way and Hadrian’s Wall were my other two long distance walks both shorter than this one).

The 150 mile mark

Once again the countryside is beautiful. The narrow lanes rise and fall, winding their way through small valleys and over rounded hills. There are more lambs in the fields, more leaves on the trees and diversity in flora and fauna to celebrate. These included early purple orchids and Brimstone Butterflies. No wonder nature is so joyful!

It followed a notice to an historic church and found myself in a farm yard which was once the centre of a small community. This was Satterleigh and the historic church was St Peter’s Church now no longer in use.

The Castle Inn at George Nympton was a welcome place for a cold drink as the day was getting hotter. We made three short stops today which worked better from the walker’s point of view. There was a stop at the Blackberry Farm Shop for ice cream on the way back to our campsite.

Reflection for Wednesday of Holy Week: Here’s a short reflection linked to the theme of wood.

How much wood do you need in Passover Week? It’s not as if folks want furniture or household repairs. Not this week.
This week it’s all about hospitality: food and particularly meals are top priority.
So what’s a carpenter to do to put Passover food on the table? I can make crosses for the Romans of course. Being holiday time there’s bound to be a few crucifixions. There’s still demand for crosses. I’ve some wood I can use for that.
See that fig tree over there. Yesterday it was thriving and healthy. Cursed by that Rabbi from Galilee as he went by, it’s dead now. Never seen anything like that. But the wood could still be useful.

JAL 17.04.2019
Day 16 of the End to End from Kingford to Mariansleigh

From Psalm 42

As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, God: I thirst for God, the living One. 

As well as the beautiful hedges, I love the strips of woodland on the walk. On Day 15 there are many of these strung out along the route. Each day the trees come out a little more, one at a time, not all at once. So too the flowering plants change a little with the Primroses now passing their peak and the bluebells yet to come into theirs.
As I took the road out of Great Torrington I heard a male cuckoo call. A few miles later, on one corner I surprised a doe. She bounded away, cracking branches as she departed. A few steps further on I noticed something small on a wood anemone flowers. A closer look confirmed it was the underside of an orange tip butterfly, which are a beautiful green and white pattern.
Each of these small beauties is wonderfully at home in the woodland.

There were other more sobering things to remember. I sat on a bench that recalled the loss of two airmen in a helicopter crash in 2008.

It was a long morning walk to Ebberley Hill for lunch. I was tired and had a snooze in the car for twenty minutes. It had been a tiring route with many ups and downs.
The last four miles continued the woodland theme. Along one such the first early purple orchids were coming into flower. 

Then a fallen beech tree in early leaf, maybe bought down by yesterday’s winds. A few miles to Kingford and across the main road for the end of the walk for the day.

We returned to Great Torrington for a meal with my lifelong friend Rosie and her family. One of the good things about this walk is the opportunity to connect with family and friends old and new.

God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 16.04.2019
Day 15 of the End to End, Great Torrington to Kingford

Day 14 of the walk means I have been going for two weeks. Unbelievable! I have now walked 138 miles. As we moved on from Doublebois to near Holsworthy in Devon, there was a very strong wind to weather.

On some of the more exposed lanes on higher ground it was a challenge to remain standing let alone progress along the road. It was tiring and at one point I ducked down into a deep ditch just to get out of the wind.
Inspite of all of this lambs continued to bleat from the fields and wildflowers bloomed continuously in the hedges.

I got lost briefly and then found myself again and eventually the welcome sight of Bob coming towards me with a bun urged me onto the Tarka Trail, a more sheltered route to Great Torrington.

There was a slightly hair raising final mile from the trail to Taddiport church. What I call the map, app, track dilemma. Which should be believed? The track was deeply rutted and there was a tight squeeze round a metal barrier at one point with the threat of the track ending before the road junction. It didn’t and I made it to the junction and met Bob for the end of the days walk.
Our new camping site is lovely with a huge safari tent as our accommodation. The high wind makes it a bit flapy. Here’s hoping the wind drops.

The day after prayer

When we think about the day after a moment of high excitement;
Deflated, tired, questioning.
Did it really happen?
The broken palm branches on the road,
Ground into the dusty track
Are evidence that he passed this way.
The day after we might wonder
Where to now?
The wind blows where it will.
May we be willing to go with him
On the next stage of the journey.

JAL 15.04.2019
Day 14 of the End to End from Gidcot Mill using the Tarka Trail to Great Torrington.

All in the April evening,
April airs were abroad,
I saw the sheep with the lambs
And thought on the Lamb of God
Katharine Tynan Hinkson (1861–1931)

No donkeys for me today, even though it’s Palm Sunday. But many more lambs in the fields. I hear them behind the hedges. Some even rush up to me at the gates, while others run away.
It’s a grey, windy day and even after a couple of miles I was quite cold. An early soup break at the White Hart in Holsworthy was ideal. Also because this was where Bob stayed on his End to End 16 years go, although he got here in 6 days. Today is day 13 of my walk.

The Devonshire lanes are no less beautiful than the Cornish ones. The wonderful displays of Spring flowers continue with Primroses in every hedge and bluebells showing more colour now.

I was walking faster, due to the cold wind I think, but a regular pace is relaxing. I passed several churches and chapels as usual. Some of the chapels have been converted into homes, but this is great recycling. Better to have a cosy well used home than an empty decaying chapel.

St Peter’s Church Thornbury has been there since the 12th century and still has a congregation in a shared benefice. Rural churches face many challenges. On the green at Woodacott, an invitation to Easter Pizza. I do wonder what that might be.
The last few miles past a wind turbine, larks singing, Swallows swooping. More lambs and bluebells: what more will this Holy Week bring?

From Psalm 84

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
A place to raise her young,
A safe home in this holy place.

Prayer

Creator, may your house be a sound and safe place to build a community:
A place that, like a launch pad, sets us on the journey, keeps us in your orbit.
Companion Christ, may we keep in step with you
When crowds shout out or on the silent path:
A way that is truly living.
Holy Spirit, in this week of weeks,
Animate our prayers and actions:
May we be wholly yours.

JAL 14.04.2019
Day 13 of the End to End from Yeomadon to Gidcot Mill via the White Hart at Holsworthy.

Early on during Day 12 of the walk I lost my stylish red head band (seen in this photo).  There has been a cold wind for several days and I like to keep my ears warm. When the sun came out and things warmed up then I took off

the head band. A few steps further on and round the corner the cold wind came back but then I couldn’t find the red headband. I’d lost it somewhere during the last mile. I texted Bob and he kindly went back to look for it. A few minutes later he drove up behind me and handed me the red head band. He’d found it!
I wrote him a little ditty (the tune is Swing Low).

Song for Bob

I looked down the lane and what did I see
Coming with my red ear ‘ole warmer?
A silver Picanto coming after me,
Coming with my red ear ‘ole warmer.

Swing low, sweet Picanto,
Coming with my red ear ‘ole warmer.
Swing low, sweet Picanto,
Coming for to bring me home.

He has a busy time doing shopping, washing and looking for lost items as well as coming back to walk with me when he can. Sometimes he gets cake as a thank you.

(these are the first mangelwurzels of the walk)

It was the shortest walking day so far. It included crossing the border between Cornwall and Devon.

Things to note from Cornwall:
A county lined with hedges deep with wild flowers;
Small strips of woodland with bluebells ready to come out very soon;
Stunning coast line and beautiful rivers;
Good stuff to eat: pasties, clotted cream;
Historic things to see as well as contemporary ones;
Friends to meet and greet.
In 12 days I have walked the length of Cornwall.

JAL 13.04.2019
Day 12 of the End to End, Wilkie Down Farm to Yeomadon, Cornwall to Devon.

It seems that enough people are not sure that you can readily look this question up on Google. The main thing to remember about walking to and from Launceston on Day 11 of this walk is it’s very hilly. Even though some of the hills are down a significant number are up and quite steep. The castle is even further up, and has been there for a long time. These days it is reached by a steep flight of steps. 

Other streets in town are also steep. One of the other places I visited in town was the free museum. It has a wide range of interesting local exhibits including a facsimile book of hours associated with a local Priory and a six volume Cornish Herbarium.

Charles Causley, the poet, was born in Launceston and apart from when he was serving in the Royal Navy, always lived in the town, where he was also a teacher. He’s a poet whose work I have enjoyed since I was a teenager.

Remembering Charles Causley:

The sun, dancing,
Lights up all the lanes,
From Land’s End to Launceston,
Where I step out and meet you;
An unexpected surprise,
So gently encouraging.

I crossed a number of medieval bridges on the way out of town, and another steep hill up to St Stephen’s Church. From there I made a short detour to find a Holy Well marked on the map. It took a bit of tracking down but I found it a short distance up a footpath.

I stopped for a picnic by another medieval bridge at Yeolmbridge before making the final push, mostly uphill, for the final two miles. Bob picked me up and we returned to the Codfather, a fish and chip van on the north side of Launceston, for a rather late fish supper, as we often do on Fridays.

Prayer at the Well

As the water wells up from the ground,
Our ancestors thought this place was Holy.
Water is life and life giving water a valuable gift.
Tonight we pray for all those who wait for water, who live in need of adequate water supplies;
And for those who have the engineering skill to bring water to where it is needed.

May the resources for life be shared fairly.

JAL 12.04.2019
Day 11 of the End to End, Trebullett to Wilkie Down Farm via Launceston

The cross marked way continued from Redgate Cross to King Doniert’s Stone. Actually this is two stones that are probably the bases and shafts of other ancient crosses. One includes an inscription that refer to King Doniert, said to have been the last king of Cornwall. Other records suggest he died in 875 AD. These were both the biggest and most decorated cross pieces I’ve seen since leaving Land’s End.

Shortly after these stones there was a cattle grid that marked the start of Bodmin Moor. It means that livestock can graze anywhere on the Moor. We saw some Belted Galloway cattle, a hardy breed, doing just that. They were near the Longstone Cross, another of the simple style of slab crosses similar to those seen earlier in the walk. At the time, such crosses would have been common at cross roads and as boundary markers or meeting points.

A little further on, The Hurlers are much older being three Neolithic stone circles near the village of Minions.
Obviously Minions has made the most of the well known loveable short sighted cartoon creatures. The Teashop is an excellent place.

From Minions the road was downhill all the way to Upton Cross and Rilla Mill. Once more the flowered narrow lanes returned. I heard the flap of a buzzard’s wing and saw its shadow on the road. Smaller birds were also common in the hedges: wren, Jay, blue tit were just a few I saw. The road dipped and climbed again, sometimes steeply, before arriving at Trebullett Methodist Church marking the end of Day 10.
We retraced our route by car for an ice cream at Minions. It was a glorious day and a great sense of achievement in reaching Bodmin Moor, 300 metres above sea level, the highest so far.

From Psalm 121
I look up to the hills:
From where does my help come?
My help comes from God the Creator.

Prayer

As the road rises and falls,
As the hills mount in waves to the horizon,
As the track winds downhill
Or climbs steeply to the summit,
So I am amazed to be walking this way.
The cross marks the way;
Both guide and meeting point,
Telling part of the human story in this landscape.
With a buzzard’s eye view of the earth,
Or a Primrose eye view from the hedge,
Keep us in your care, Creator.
May the road rise to meet us.

JAL 11.04.2019i
Day 10 of the End to End: Redgate Cross to Trebullett Methodist Church

The A390 is a busy road and not a great one to walk along but within 2 miles of the start of Day 9 that’s where I was. This main road and its associated villages, the three Taphouses, were the main feature of the morning walk. There was a back road at West Taphouse, a beautiful lane with its unique array of flowers. Middle Taphouse was the most challenging of the three with little or no grass verge and a sharp bend in the middle. That left East Taphouse; fairly straightforward as it did have a foot way at least partially.

So what us it with all these Taphouses? I assume it was a row of pubs. The Old Taphouse in East Taphouse still has a notice to identify it.

Off the A390 at last the most disappointing aspect of the morning was the news that the local pasty vendor does not sell hot pasties on Wednesdays. A nearby notice tried to cheer me up with the news I was only 777 miles from John O’Groats (we can’t verify the accuracy of this information). 

Today’s route went right past the holiday Park where we are staying at Doublebois. So I popped in for lunch and a snooze.
The second half of the day and a completely different road: much quieter and with more borders of flowering edges on both sides. I made quite quick progress,and soon arrived at Redgate Cross where the main challenge was finding the cross or at least what was left of it (shaft only).

Bob came to meet me and we made a short side visit to the nearby Golitha Falls. The woodland here will shortly be covered in bluebells. A quick ride over some of tomorrow’s route secured us an ice cream at a local shop. Morning traffic had made for a challenging morning but over all good weather and cheerful flowers had helped me along.

The traffic snarls, surrounding me like the Bulls of Bashan.
Sharp bends and the cresting hills obscure my view.
When there is no verge I rely on drains and ditches as places of refuge.
Even though this is a challenging way, I reach the end.
Wisdom ushers me along, making sure I seek clear sightlines and sensible places to cross.
I am delivered from traffic, noise and stress and the flower lined green lanes return to guide me home.

JAL 10.04.2019
Day 9 of the End to End, Fairy Cross Farm to Redgate Cross.
I love the reference to the Bulls of Bashan in Psalm 22.