Month: May 2022

Day 16 of the #GrandWalkOut and I am still walking through this remarkable space. It’s green in so many ways but it’s also grey and blue and yellow and although it’s continuous it’s also always changing. Just the kind of environment for an aspiring Dr Who.

I started walking at bridge 107 and walked on to bridge 110 where I also visit St Mary’s Church. That it was closed was to be something of a theme for the day as far as inside spaces were concerned. Bob had by now started at bridge 110 and was walking to bridge 126 so I had plenty of time to fit in a few other visits.

Pitstone Windmill is the earliest dated in England (1627) and was closed, but looked wonderful in a big green space. A sparrow hawk and a red kite enjoyed the grey space above my head.

The old church at Pitstone was also closed, but there the green space was dotted with yellow. Churchyards have been noted as some of the most biodiverse places in England, each a potential ancient undisturbed oasis.

By now, Bob was nearing bridge 126. We met there in a less glamorous space beloved of fly tippers. No, the countryside does not benefit from your old fridge.

We drove back through Ivinghoe to Whipsnade as I wanted to visit another space I’d heard about: the Tree Cathedral.

It was gorgeous. Whilst some of the trees now show maturity and age others are younger. Some peel, others blossom or prickle. It’s delicious. Bob took us back via the Icknield Trail, an old track towards Bison Hill and a view over the plain.

It had been a totally delightful spacious day. Glory to God.

From my remembered bible: The trees of the field shall applaud with joy.

Thank you.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Ivinghoe, 10.05.2022.

It’s Day 15 of the #GrandWalkOut and we said goodbye to Canons Ashby after breakfast. We drove back to Simpson village on the edge of Milton Keynes and I started walking again at bridge 92.

There were a lot of young birds about today with their parents. The news over the weekend is that Spring is now up to three weeks earlier in Britain. We certainly saw plenty of signs along the Grand Union Canal.

Whilst the season may be progressing faster, I’m sure I’m getting slower. I seemed to be walking slower than ever today. After a stop to lunch at the lock at Stoke Hammond and a drink at the Three Locks pub we made it to the end of today’s route at bridge 107. A new glamp for the week called Heron’s Retreat was thankfully not far away.

Speed isn’t everything. Somethings take a long time to take effect. Reducing the effects if climate change, even if we really do the tings recommended like reducing the use of fossil fuels, will take some time. It can be quicker to mess things up then sort out the mess.

Building community isn’t usually a quick fix either. The Rule of St Benedict doesn’t expect things to go smoothly or in a flash. Reading the Rule together is an ongoing prompt on how to live that comes round several times a year like a new season.

From my remembered bible : There’s a time for every season.

Come with me

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Bragenham Farm, 09.05.2022.

Day 14 of the #GrandWalkOut saw us return to Milton Keynes and Bob started walking at bridge 71 on the Grand Union Canal.

The Canal came before the new town, which is a mear 55 years old this year. I drove to one of the other ‘villages’ which were incorporated into the larger town in 1967. This one was Simpson, by bridge 92 of the Grand Union Canal.

On the way I was aware of two things: it was very green in Springtime and there are a lot of roundabouts.

I then walked back along the canal towards Bob and we met at pub called the Warbler on the Wharf for a drink and snack.

The return trip to Bridge 92 was a little faster. It was a good day for spotting wildlife, waterfowl including cygnets, goslings and ducklings, butterflies and a heron.

Fringed by a wide green corridor with many paths and cycle routes it seemed very green from my position. I hope that impression holds up in the rest of the town.

Milton Keynes has a long history before the development. A number of religious communitites had settled in the area and each of the original villages has a parish church. It shows what can grow from small communities being bought together. It was quiet and relaxing along the canal tow path and we completed our route by mid afternoon.

We have a rest day tomorrow.

From my remembered bible : And the leaves are for the healing of the Nations.

Pray for the nations of the world and for peace.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Day 14, Milton Keynes.

Day 13 of the #GrandWalkOut started on the Grand Union Canal at Bridge 47. The weather was getting warmer, which means the tow path is dry but hotter walking is harder walking in my experience. Thankfully the signpost at Gayton Junction puts Brentford only 77 miles away.
It was 2 miles to Blisworth Tunnel, which is longer than yesterday’s Braunston Tunnel, but the path is much better sign posted.

It was another 2 miles to the south portal of the tunnel.
There’s a blacksmith working a forge there. I’m not sure who was hotter.

But it’s a good reminder that many industries grew up around the canals. The village of Stoke Beurene was cut in half by the canal, but also became an important hub on the canal, especially before the tunnel opened as boats had to unload to do the trek overground for several years whilst it was completed.
It’s now home to an interesting museum of the waterways. I was amused to discover that a particular type of boat used on the Aire and Calder was called a pudding boat: Yorkshire of course.
I drove onto Wolverton to meet Bob at bridge 71. It was an opportunity to do the washing at Bubbles the laundrette where the staff have the equivalent hot job: the place was very warm today.

From my remembered bible: it seems like they were touched by tongues of fire.

As the evening sun goes down, God grant a quiet night.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Wolverton, 06.05.2022.

Day 12 started at bridge 2 of the Grand Union Canal, just a few feet from our glamp. This is a broad canal, unlike the others we have walked along which were narrow canals. These broad canals were the motorways of their age. It meant that when I got to Braunston Tunnel, a mile further on, two boats, one in each direction could go through the tunnel at the same time.

But not people. Walkers have to take a route over the tunnel. I met another walker and we chatted on the path to Daventry. It was clear my path had been diverted by some housing developments but I eventually found my way back to the tunnel exit and onto Long Buckby Wharf.

Bob had by now walked further on and I caught him up at Gayton, bridge 47, where there is a small car park. There was an unexpected sighting of a terrapin in the canal.

We stopped at the Old Dairy Farm for cake on the way back, and I later walked to the boat shop at bridge 2 for some shopping.

We met our host and chatted over the gate. It’s been a lovely place to stay. I don’t usually make recommendations but this one is super.

The broad way is not recommended to followers of The Way, but in this instance it is the broad canal that leads to our eventual destination.

The Rule says ‘be encouraged’ and I am.

From my remembered bible: it’s the narrow way that leads to life.

Lead me.

From Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Braunston to Gayton, 05.05.2022.

On to day 11 of the #GrandWalkOut and I took Bob to Newbold on Avon so he could walk through Rugby to Braunston on the Oxford Canal.

It was a showery day so I opted for a shorter local walk around Braunston village and the junction. I walked up the High Street to the Parish Church, All Saints, also known at the Cathedral of the Canals. It has an excellent toilet.
I walked across a field by the church and joined the canal at bridge 89. From there I walked down to Braunston Junction. The Oxford Canal meets the Grand Union Canal here, although the later has quite a few other branches. An impressive double iron bridge spans the junction. Round the corner bridge number 1 is officially the first bridge on the Grand Union Canal. It’s mostly downhill to London from here, and I think we’re about half way along the distance.
At bridge 2, the nearest to our glamp, I spent some time browsing in the art and craft shop enjoying looking at the things made by local artists, including two huge dragon’s heads made from recycled materials.
From there it was only a short walk through the well numbered sheep to the glamp. I could play sheep bingo on the way.
Living by the, Rule of St Benedict in a community has, until recently, been a local thing. In the last couple of years the ability to link with each other via the Internet has meant our dispersed community has felt more local. Even so, in our community promise, we aim to live by the Rule according to local opportunities for Holy Space, Holy Service and Holy Communion as our situations allow. A way of life in which dispersed people also embrace the local.

From my remembered bible: Your kindom come…

God grant a quiet night…

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, at Braunston, Star Wars Day, 2022.

Day 10 of the #GrandWalkOut was, like most of our walking days, about connections.
Bob dropped me off at Hawkesbury Junction where we finished yesterday. Most days start like that with a connection to the day before. We call this a tiggy. It also offered an opportunity to upload the blog from the day before, as there’s no connection at our current glamp. This may therefore happen for a few days.

Canals are all about connections. I walked onto Ansty while Bob started there at bridge 16. On the way to Ansty along the Oxford Canal I was reminded of two connections. The first was the M6 that I was walking near (there was a fence). The sign I could see said Junction 2 so this was the other end to my M6 experience in Cumbria in 2019. I was on the End to End then and used the back roads round the M6 corridor from Sedbergh to the border. It’s a very loud road.

The second connection was that Bob and I met in Oxford in 1989. We have not often been back.
At Ansty I picked up the car and drove onto Newbold on Avon, a small place with both a Co-op and a fish and chip shop. Bob found me in the Co-op. The small portion of lunch chips turned out to be quite big.
Bob remembered some routes in the Coventry area from when he’d lived there. We have now made many tracks criss-crossing the country.
The Rule of St Benedict is about connections, firstly because building community is about people becoming connected. Secondly there’s a huge world-wide Benedictine family living by the Rule of which our Lay Community is a part. And thirdly because of the internal connections in the Rule itself: connections to the bible are particularly common.

As I walk along it is the connection with my remembered bible that keeps me company. I recall a phrase and sometimes it turns into a song of sorts. I make a connection between my remembered bible and the landscape. I am thankful for these and many more connections.

From my remembered bible: Jesus, remember me.

I remember

From a friend of Scholastica and a member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Newbold on Avon, 3rd May 2022.

On Day 9 of the #GrandWalkOut we managed to complete the Coventry Canal.
We left our glamp and went to the Co-op for supplies in Atherstone. Bob started walking from there towards Nuneaton.
I went to Nuneaton and started waking at bridge 15 and walked to Bridge 11 at Marston junction. This is where the Ashby canal branches off. But Bob carried on from there down to Hawkesbury Junction, which is where the Coventry Canal meets the Oxford Canal, which we will take tomorrow.

It was an overcast and humid day and it reminded me of many days on the End to End in 2019 when the walk seemed quite ordinary but was extraordinary for all that. The canal is alive with waterfowl, edged by flowering plants and populated by all sorts of people. Each small track of woodland is currently alive with bluebells, a quintessential British Spring wild flower.
To be doing this walk we had planned to do in 2020 yet had to postpone due to the Covid19 Pandemic also makes it extraordinary. As we touch each town or village, I wonder how people have managed. We see shops that have closed, pubs too. Graffiti still adorns the bridges that I count off as I pass under them.
We finished at Hawkesbury Junction and then drove onto our new glamp which is south of Rugby at Braunston, over looking the Grand Union Canal. We will fill in the gap as we walk to here over the next few days.
But today I think only of this day. As with the End to End, on any long distance walk you can’t think too far ahead. You don’t want to miss anything.
In the Rule of St Benedict everyday is marked in the same way. The same hours are celebrated in the Office each day. The the psalms are repeated in a particular cycle. This is all part of the stability of the community every day. As I walk along the footpath is my work, the trees and hedgerows are the walls of my oratory and my remembered bible keeps me company in my daily celebration.

As I rest at days end, God grant a quiet night and a just one.

From my remembered bible : Every creature praises God.

Just for today.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, from Atherstone to Hawkesbury on the Coventry Canal. 2nd May 2022