This is the 8th post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” version of our route between Lowestoft and East Harling on this day. By “cleaned-up” I mean, where I considered necessary, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding on this route. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintenance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of the entire route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
To visualise the Google Map of the Via Beata route and main Waypoints please click on the link below (opens in a new tab).
These are the pictures we took on this day of the journey. Where possible we provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
5. Links to useful online resources for this day of the journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online resources for this day.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
= Excellent)
This is the 7th post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” version of our route between Lowestoft and East Harling on this day. By “cleaned-up” I mean, where I considered necessary, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding on this route. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintenance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of the entire route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
To visualise the Google Map of the Via Beata route and main Waypoints please click on the link below (opens in a new tab).
These are the pictures we took on this day of the journey. Where possible we provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
5. Links to useful online resources for this day of the journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online resources for this day.
Hereford Cathedral is a historic Church of England cathedral. It dates back to the 8th century, with the current building begun in 1079. The cathedral features Norman and Gothic architecture and houses the largest library of chained books in the world. Its most famous treasure is the Mappa Mundi, a medieval map of the world created around 13 hundred. The cathedral is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin and St. Ethelbert the King.
Hereford is a cathedral city in Herefordshire. It's located on the River Wye and has a population of 53,112 as of the 2021 Census. The city has a rich history, with notable landmarks like the Cathedral and the Old House. Hereford was once the site of a castle which rivalled that of Windsor in size and scale. The castle was used as a base for repelling Welsh attacks and was a secure stronghold for King Henry IV when on campaign in the Welsh Marches. The castle was dismantled in the 18th century and landscaped into an area called Castle Green. The city also hosts various cultural events and has a strong educational presence with several colleges and schools.
Hotel, Campground and Event space in the beautiful Wye Valley. This is the Hotel we stayed at the end of this day's journey. We enjoyed our stay here and have no issues recommending it to you.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
= Excellent)
This is the 6th post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” version of our route between Lowestoft and East Harling on this day. By “cleaned-up” I mean, where I considered necessary, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding on this route. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintenance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of the entire route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
To visualise the Google Map of the Via Beata route and main Waypoints please click on the link below (opens in a new tab).
These are the pictures we took on this day of the journey. Where possible we provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
5. Links to useful online resources for this day of the journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online resources for this day.
Warwick is a historic market town in Warwickshire known for its rich history and its landmarks include the Castle and racecourse. The town has ancient origins, with evidence of human activity dating right back to the Neolithic period.
Warwick Castle was originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068 and was developed from a wooden fort into a stone structure in the 12th century. The castle played a significant role in English history, serving as a stronghold during the Hundred Years War, and was later converted into a country house by Sir Fulke Greville in the early 17th century. Today, it is a popular tourist attraction operated by Merlin Entertainments, featuring historical exhibits, live shows, and seasonal events.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
= Excellent)
This is the 5th post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” version of our route between Lowestoft and East Harling on this day. By “cleaned-up” I mean, where I considered necessary, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding on this route. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintenance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of the entire route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
To visualise the Google Map of the Via Beata route and main Waypoints please click on the link below (opens in a new tab).
These are the pictures we took on this day of the journey. Where possible we provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
5. Links to useful online resources for this day of the journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online resources for this day.
The Grand Union canal is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. It starts in London and one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter stretching for 137 miles (220 km) with 166 locks from London. We actually rode in parts of both arms on this day.
The River and Canal trust holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in England and Wales, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures.
Place right by the Grand Union Canal in the village of Weedon Bec where we had lunch. The chicken burger was superb and as we were not driving we could enjoy a worry free pint of beer with it.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
= Excellent)
This is the 4th post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” version of our route between Lowestoft and East Harling on this day. By “cleaned-up” I mean, where I considered necessary, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding on this route. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintenance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of the entire route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
To visualise the Google Map of the Via Beata route and main Waypoints please click on the link below (opens in a new tab).
These are the pictures we took on this day of the journey. Where possible we provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
5. Links to useful online resources for this day of the journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online resources for this day.
Little Gidding is a Way-Station but also the fourth and final poem of T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, a series of poems that discuss time, perspective, humanity, and salvation which is one of Katy's favourite poems.
Stanwick Lakes Country Park comprises of 750 acres (304 hectares) of former gravel pits.
Prior to the construction of a bypass road, a Roman villa was excavated between 1984–1992 and several mosaics were found. In 2013, one of the mosaics was returned after being studied and is now on display in the Park's Visitor Centre. There are still extensive archaeological remains in this area, including a mid-late Anglo-Saxon and medieval settlements abandoned before 1450.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
= Excellent)
This is the 3rd post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” version of our route between Lowestoft and East Harling on this day. By “cleaned-up” I mean, where I considered necessary, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding on this route. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintenance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of the entire route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
To visualise the Google Map of the Via Beata route and main Waypoints please click on the link below (opens in a new tab).
These are the pictures we took on this day of the journey. Where possible we provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
5. Links to useful online resources for this day of the journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online resources for this day.
Unfortunatelly we were unable to visit this way-station. It is located inside the Harvest Centre in Brandon, which gate was locked. The centre appeared to be closed. Possibly due to covid restrictions.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
= Excellent)
This is the 2nd post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” version of our route between Lowestoft and East Harling on this day. By “cleaned-up” I mean, where I considered necessary, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding on this route. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintenance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of the entire route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
To visualise the Google Map of the Via Beata route and main Waypoints please click on the link below (opens in a new tab).
These are the pictures we took on this day of the journey. Where possible we provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
5. Links to useful online resources for this day of the journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online resources for this day.
This way-station is entitled "The Glory of God gives it light". It's based on the scripture of Revelations Chapter 21 v. 23, about a vision of the "Heavenly city" that John had while he was a prisoner on the island of Patmos. It is currently located on the grounds of the Church of St Peter & St john in Kirklet.
We actually missed this way-station. We tried to find it, but were unsuccessful. It could well be we cycled way past it and didn't see it. See video for more details.
Located near the gate to the Emmaus Centre in Ditchingham – a charity that gives homeless people a place to live provides training for job opportunities.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
= Excellent)
This is the 1st post on a series about the Via Beata pilgrimage by bike concluded on the 3rd of August 2021.
This post has been written in English only. For other languages, please use the Google Translation drop-down option on the right menu (desktop version).
The map below shows a “cleaned-up” route from Lowestoft to St Davids. By “cleaned-up” I mean, I edited the “real-life” track to exclude some of the mistakes or issues we encountered along the way, such as navigation errors, closed gates or other impassable obstacles (with a bike), etc. The objective being to prevent you from making these same mistakes or benefiting from the experience we acquired while riding from Lowestoft to St. David’s in 2021. Keep in mind everything changes… life is dynamic, roads and paths are closed for maintanance or become impassable for a number of reasons, access to certain locations may become restricted, etc. Use it at your own risk.
In addition to the raw GPX route shown in the map above, which you may download through the link below the map, I have also created a Google Maps version of this route in the EyeCycled Google Account.
I know it looks identical to the map above, but this map can be shared with anyone you know who you think might benefit from it without the need to download it.
As the items it the map don’t appear to be clear, I’ve add a little picture below that might help.
The name ‘Via Beata’ in Italian means “blessed way” or in as preferred by its British founders ‘a way of blessing’.
The Via Beata was the idea of Steve Eggleton, who lives in Banham, located right on the route. In conversation with Steve, before we started our journey, he mentioned that he literally dreamt of it one night and the idea never left his mind. The dream was of a line connecting the west coast to the east coast at its widest point, from Lowestoft (the UK’s most easterly point) to St. David’s Cathedral in Wales. As Steve is master artisan of wood carvings, his dream included a network of Christian art-works along this route that had the intention to communicate God’s love for people. These art-works are referred to by him as “Way-Stations”, positioned in key points along the way. The number of way-stations is increasing gradually with new way-stations being added to the route every year, which gives this pilgrimage a dynamic nature.
The first way-station was set up in Banham in the Summer of 2009 and then the organizers have worked outwards to the East and to the West with the initial aim of establishing a way-station every ten miles or so and linking them with existing footpaths and rights-of-way. The Via Beata was therefore established as a walkers path.
The Via Beata really isn’t yet an established bike route: like Lands-End-to-John-O’Groats, so there is no one way to do it. But it has piqued Sustrans’ interest and we were lucky enough to have been sent a pdf and GPX files of a possible route that Sustrans had put together from various National Cycle Routes and other bike-friendly paths and roads. Katy, who has discovered this route and worked tirelessly on planning before our start in 2021 dedicated a disconcerting number of hours to tweaking the route, avoiding some of the more obvious possible pratfalls resulting in a planned journey to go in 10 stages: long days towards the start (where it is flat) with the shorter days saved for the Welsh mountains.
I confess, if it wasn’t for Katy’s reaserch and planning I’d have probably never heard of the Via Beata, so all credits must go to her. She wrote a blog explaining her motivations and how close this was to her heart. I encourage you to read her blog here.
As it is often the case, things never go completely as planned, especially when you are in a group of pioneers executing th plan for the 1st time. We had our fair share of issues and problems along the way… from inexisting paths, locked gates, weather related detours, blocked roads and other impassable obstacles with a loaded bike. Yet, we’ve managed to keep our route reasonably close to the planned one and achieved our goal in the planned 10 days of the journey.
The series of videos and blog post that follow are an account of our experiences in these 10 days. For the vast majority it was an extremelly positive experience. Both Katy and I loved this trip and when you really like something it is only natural that you want to share it with other like minded people.
So, the product we are giving you for free here, are our experiences and advice on how to avoid the major pitfalls we had along the way. We’ve spent counteless hours editing the videos so they look consistent and present a view of every meter of the route so that, if you want to follow in our footsteps (or bike tracks rather) you’ll know exactly what to expect. For the few people left in the world who are avid readers, Katy has written detailed accounts of every day of the trip in her blog and I’ll be linking my blog posts to hers as she does a much better job in textually describing our experiences than I ever could hope to. The more technical details, such as the GPX route, the stats (altimetry, distances, speed, heart rate and other telemetry stats) and the videos are more on me than on her, but we did work cooperatively in order to provide you with a reasonable guide.
If you read to this point, I’d like to invite you to donate us a coffee for this work. We don’t sell the information, nor get any money through monetizing or advertisment at the moment, so donations are this blog’s only source of income. If enough money is obtained through your generous donations that will enable us to pay for the renewal of EyeCycled.com, the hosting of the information and as a added motivation for us to keep doing this. We are very thankful for anything you can spare.
4. How will the Via Beata materials be presented and made available to you?
The Via Beata materials will be available in written format here, in the blog, and as a playlist of videos in the EyeCycled’s YouTube Channel.
The blog posts will follow a similar structure as presented here with 1 major difference: For the written account of each day’s journey, I’ll just provide a link to Katy’s Via Beata Blog posts. She worked hard in publishing these posts on the same days the journeys happened. I was always very impressed by her commitment and dedication. Even after having cycled long distances all day and being very tired, she always found the motivation to stay up in the evenings writing the posts. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Her blogs are fantastic written accounts of the journey and if it wasn’t for them a lot would have been lost in memory from 2021, when we actually did the journey, to 2025 when these posts and videos are being published in EyeCycled.com.
For those familiar with EyeCycled’s YouTube channel you will know that videos are mostly the “time-lapse” recordings of the journey, with commentary and a musical background. The difference between these videos and previous ones are, in my humble opinion, the unprecedented level of clarity and stabilization of the footage provided by mechanical and electronic means and the clear 4K resolution footage recorded. Katy and I also worked hard in providing relevant commentary to the footage where we considered it to be useful.
From the time this introduction blog post and video are published, there will be 1 new blog post and video every week until the entire journey is covered. As the journey took 10 days and the playlist is planned to contain 12 videos, incl. today’s one, we expect the entire program will complete in 11 weeks after this publication.
The series of Blog posts and videos were the result of hundreds of hours of hard work. We didn’t do this with the objective of making any money out of it, but if they are useful to you and you’d like to recognise the value of this work, please consider sponsoring EyeCycled.com or providing a one-off donation to keep the blog going.
You’ll find below several picture galleries, one for each day of the journey plus an extra one for the days we spent in St Davids after the pilgrimage was complete. These will be repeated on the posts for each specific day. There are 463 pictures between “Day Zero” and “Day 10” of the journey and then another 261 pictures for the remaining 3 days we spent in St Davids. I considered not posting them all at once, but perhaps they might serve as an incentive for you to follow the series of videos and blog posts as they are published. Where possible I provided some context in every picture taken. These pictures are not to be sold or used without prior consent.
Click on the thumbnail to expand picture and read about that moment. The navigation numbers below each gallery refer to the number of viewable pages in the gallery.
Use the links below to jump directly to the desired gallery.
6. Useful online resources for planning your own journey.
We are giving you our experiences here for free, but it is up to you if you want to replicate them or not. Each journey is different and you may want to plan a custom one for you. Hopefully some of your journey may match ours, but for any portions that don’t these are useful online places you can go to aid in your planning.
If you are walking (or cycling) the Via Beata, this is the main place to go. Keep in mind, however, the Via Beata route is mainly designed for walking and there are a few stiles and kissing gates on the route that are challenging for cyclists.
Currently composed of 12 videos, incl. 1 introduction video, 10 videos of the journey (1 for each day) and a final conclusion video in St Davids after out arrival there.
This group is mantained by us (EyeCycled). It is unofficial, but it may be useful as a forum for the exchange of information between those who have already done the pilgrimage and those who are planning to do it. We've created a similar group for the Pilgrims' Way pilgrimage and that has proven to be a valuable resource for pilgims.
Found by "accident". Published on the 18th April. Contains a picture of Steve Eggleton and pictures of some of the Way-Station while in production. Worth reading.
The easiest way is to use the form below and send us a message, but you can also leave comments both here as well as in YouTube or our social media accounts. Keep in mind we do this as a hobby, not as a job, so our responses might be delayed. We aim to provide a response within a week, but it can happen that we are travelling or otherwise unavailable for longer than that. If you didn’t receive a response within 2 weeks, but send us a follow-up message.
Do you like these posts? Why, then, don’t you pay me a coffee to help with the blog hosting cost and as a caffeine incentive to keep me going through the long hours of the night?(Suggested amount: £2.00 or USD $3.00 or 2.50€ or whatever you want to give).
You may donate through my Patreon Page or through PayPal directly.
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5
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“Faith“… when you hear (or read) this word, what is the 1st thing that comes to mind for you? Religion?
I can’t blame you. I would argue there is no religion without faith. Thankfully, though, the scope of the word is broader. If you write “faith meaning” in Google Search, the religious meaning actually comes 2nd. We are born is this world with nothing but faith.
Unlike many other animals who are up on their feet a few hours after being born, it takes humans many years to become self-sufficient. Even without knowing, we are born with the faith that either our parents or society will care for us. There are perhaps more meanings to this word that I could possibly write about here, but I want to focus on this one particular meaning: Faith in mankind.
I confess that in the last 2 years, especially this last month (Feb/Mar 2022), I have lost some of my faith. Wars and an increasing number of corruptible and power angry human beings lead to this innevitably, I think.
Although I am not a member of any church, I consider myself a religious person. Unlike other people, for my religion to survive I feel I cannot rely on faith alone… it must involve some level of science and evidence for me. I am not the kind of person who can base my beliefs in wild profecies, Biblical or otherwise, although I do believe that “…there are more things on heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”. I do believe there are forces in motion in the Universe that our science may take dozens of centuries, perhaps tens of thousands of years to explain, if we don’t annihilate ourselves first. Our science is just starting to produce a huge network of things in this planet and beyond, so perhaps our universe being, … well, a lot older than us, is in essence a huge network of beings, covering a wide range of planets, realities and dimensions in which living (and “non-living“) humans are just a small part. Where our individual place is in this network is impossible to say, but perhaps many of the things we call “random” or “coincidences” are in fact the works of this network. If we knew ALL the laws that govern the Universe and had a computer powerful enough, we could perhaps even predict it.
Caro (Carolina) on the left and Meli (Melissa) on the right.
Last weekend I received the visit of two Warmshowers guests (if you don’t know what Warmshowers is, visit this page). They were Meli (Melissa) and Caro (Carolina) from Costa Rica. Meli and Caro are on a 2 years journey that started when they flew from Costa Rica to Madrid 3 months ago and presently found themselves at my house last Friday. Among the many obstacles they already had to overcome was the loss of their passports in Spain (according to them a 5 seconds distraction… thieves were likely after money only, but took the passports instead) and a number of other smaller problems, all to fulfill the dream of learning a bit more of this world and explore it with as little impact to nature as possible, by the power of their legs.
Their bikes were really heavy and Caro, had a serious problem in her bike: Only the front disc brake was operational. So I took them to Trek Bicycles here in Bracknell, a new shop I didn’t even know existed as they opened their doors less than a month ago. I must say that, having a general knowledge of prices and values here in the UK, I thought it would cost Caro an harm and a leg to have the problem resolved, especially from a brand such as Trek. Indeed, Trek wanted to charge her as much as £120 for the repair, but upon learning about their story they waived ALL labour fees out, sold the parts at cost and not only fixed the rear brake by replacing the entire braking system with a brand new Shimano one (except disc), but also replaced the pads on the front brake and topped up the braking fluid. They also did an overal inspection on the bike to make sure it was as safe as it could be in the couple of hours the bike was with them.
In my opinion, when you see this kind of attitude, you must bring it to public knowledge because there is too much business and not enough kindness going on in the world these days. To me, personally, it restored a bit of my faith in mankind, that was so damaged lately. My kudos to all in Trek Bicycles Bracknell for understanding that business without kindness is very likely not the most meaningful part of this network I mentioned above. We cannot eat money nor take it to the grave with us, but who knows… perhaps the relationships we add to our individual network in our life-times is something we can indeed take to the grave and beyond (I guess, for Christians is akin to going to heaven).
After all the most urgent issues had been resolved we had a wonderful evening in which my children cooked a delicious dinner for us and the next day (Sunday) I rode together with Meli and Caro to their next Warmshowers host, in Aldermaston by the river Kennet, some 33 km away (67 km in total for me). It was my 1st long distance ride in the year (yes, I should feel ashamed) and the day was beautiful as you can see in the pictures below. Meli and Caro don’t have a fixed plan. They are now riding to meet a friend in Bristol and then they don’t know yet if they are going to Devon or Wales (most likely north). I wish them a safe and pleasant journey in the UK and then back to the continent for their 2 years adventure.
Camino Ingles to Santiago, as part of the NCR 4.
Before I close this post, one interesting thing I learned on this ride was about the signs for the Camino Ingles (English Way) to Santiago on National Cycle Route 4 (NCN 4), which in Spain typically starts in Ferrol (or A Coruna). I rode from Bracknell to Bath a few years ago and these signs weren’t there. It makes sense though… I think pilgrims (on a bike or on foot) would go from London to Bristol on NCN 4, then south to Plymouth on routes like NCN 3, 33, 2 and so on. There is a ferry from Plymouth to Santander, which is part of the “Camino del Norte” (Northern Way to Santiago). Maybe centuries ago it was possible to sail from somewhere in the south of England to Ferrol or A Coruna. The website on the link above suggests English templars used to do this route to Santiago from England to ask Saint James for protection on their way to Jerusalem. Anyway, it was very nice to see these stickers as they reminded me of my own “Camino” journeys in 2015 and 2019.
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OK, if this is the first Pilgrim’s Way post of mine that you are reading, I’d recommend you go back a little and read my Introduction to the Pilgrims’ Way blog. There are a few things I explain there that I don’t here and this post might look confusing if you don’t know these things beforehand (e.g. why 15 stages?).
This post is all about the forth day of the pilgrimage – but do take into consideration I was cycling, so if you are walking it is likely you’ll cover much less ground than me! In this one day I covered stages 13, 14 and 15. I describe them separately here. The section below provides the statistics for the full day, but in each video, there are some statistics for each one of the stages such as distance and time.
YouTube Playback speed settings.
I reckon that the videos show the route and the difficulties quite well, despite being so speeded-up. You can pause them for more detail or reduce the playback speed in the YouTube interface, if you don’t mind watching it for a longer time (if you do this, don’t forget to mute the video to avoid hearing a slowed-down version of the music!).
Also, bear in mind that this pilgrimage was undertaken during the pandemic and that, although some restrictions had been lifted in the UK in August/September, many places, such as small community churches, were still closed.
The tracking was done by 2 Garmin devices: A Garmin Edge 810 bicycle computer and a Garmin Forerunner 235 watch. There appears to be significant differences between these devices.
Stage 13: From From the Harrow Inn Hotel near Lenham to the All Saints’ Church in Boughton Aluph
If you haven’t done so already, please watch the video first and then read this blog for more detail! I didn’t want to include all this information in the video voiceover because it would have added too much to the length of the video (which is 6’42″).
The picture below was used in the video and I hope will help you make more sense of the text below.
Map of the 13th stage between the Harrow Inn Hotel near Lenham and the All Saints’ Church in Boughton Aluph. In yellow the downloaded walker’s path. In red the path I took
Before I left the hotel in the morning I had the task of replacing the inner tube of the rear tyre. Thankfully the spare inner tube I was carrying with me worked well, but pumping a fully deflated tyre, with the little bike pump I had, took considerable time and effort.
Leaving the Harrow Inn Hotel, I turned right into the Waterditch Rd and then immediatelly right again into Rayners Hill which I had to ride for a few hundred metres to join the dirt track of the Pilgrims’ Way again on the left (which I almost missed). You’ll walk / ride a good few kilometres on these dirt tracks passing farmyard buildings with fields and often a tree line on both sides. The paths are wide, firm and easy to ride despite a bit of gravel on the ground.
It was in one of these paths I met 2 cyclists (a couple) whose intention was to tour from the southeast of the country all the way to Wales in the west, a good few hundred miles away. We’ve spent only a few minutes talking, I gave them a card, but they never got in touch and I don’t recall their names anymore.
You will eventually get to the A252, but will only have to ride / walk on it for 10-15 m in order to cross over to the Pilgrims Way (the road) on the right. The Pilgrims Way is a paved single track with farm fields on both sides at this point. Eventually the asphalt ends and it becomes a dirt track again with a denser tree line between the farm fields. Quite enjoyable to walk / ride on. The asphalted single track returns about 1 or 2 km later (still on cycle route 17).
At the T-Junction between Dunn St and Westwell Ln you’ll need to take a path that has a, sort of, “U” shaped gate (I had to lift my bike vertically to get through it) leading to a path on a farm field that appears to be part of cycle route 17 hence the curiously looking bike sign (as in bikes allowed) post. One would think cycle routes would be unobstructed paths that facilitate the life of cyclists, but that concept does not appear to be valid in the UK. You’ll ride / walk on unpaved single tracks until you get to the edge of a field where the path becomes less pronounced and when I was there the field had just been prepared for planting, so the crossing of the field wasn’t an easy / pleasureable ride. Surprisingly it all still appears to be part of cycle route 17. There is another of such obstacles on the other side of the field, but this one I was able to (barely) transpose without having to lift the bike. Curiously, this entire stretch is in Google Street View and whenever Google took these pictures it looked very different than when I was there.
As you re-join the asphalt straight ahead you’ll eventually get to a kissing gate that the original walker’s route instructed to take, but I decided to stick to the road and turn right few metres later. This road doesn’t appear to have a name, but will lead to the A251 and the village of Boughton Lees. The All Saints Church is perhaps 1 or 2 km away from Boughton Lees in a place called Boughton Aluph, which strangely does not appear to be a village at all as the only thing around it is the church and some farm buildings. To get to the church you can stay on the road or, like me, take the narrow shortcut path with barbwire fences on both sides (be careful). After riding a few hundred metres on some farm fields you’ll get to a metal Kissing Gate that leads to the church yard and where the German TV crew was already waiting for me as they wanted to shoot some scenes of me arriving at the church. The All Saints Church has a long pilgrim tradition as medieval pilgrims coming from both Winchester and Southwark would gather there to cross the (then) dangerous King’s Wood forest (which was known to be infested with robbers) together to Chilham. The origins of the church can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon times (1066), but the church itself, more or less as it stands today is from 1329. At the time I was there the church was closed due to Covid restrictions but in normal times it hosts once a year the Stour Music Festival. Its well worth a visit.
The picture gallery below shows the pictures taken by me along this stage. Click on any picture to enlarge.
Stage 14: From the All Saints’ Church in Boughton Aluph to the Village Hall in Chilham
If you haven’t done so already, please watch the video first and then read this blog for more detail! I didn’t want to include all this information in the video voiceover because it would have added too much to the length of the video (which is 4’19”).
The picture below was used in the video and I hope will help you make more sense of the text below.
Map of the 14th stage between the All Saints’ Church in Boughton Aluph and the Chilham Community Hall in Chilham. In yellow the downloaded walker’s path. In red the path I took
As mentioned in the previous stage, the German TV crew filming the Pilgrims’ Way documentary wanted to add a little acting in the King’s Wood due to the relevance it had in medieval times. As this isn’t really part of the route and the pilgrimage, I have not included it in the video.
As I left the All Saints Church in Boughton Aluph, I crossed a farm field that led me to White Hill Road. The walkers’ route I had obtained on the internet was instructing me to cross the road and follow straight on the farm’s dirt track, but as I had to meet the German TV crew I turned left and climbed White Hill Road to meet them at the King’s Wood Car Park 2 km away. After all the filming I rode back less than a kilometer to enter the King’s Wood at the point I highlight in the video. Hard for me to make a recommendation about a path not taken, but if you are doing it on a bike I would avoid the farm’s dirt track and enter the King’s Wood where I did.
The ride through the wood is very nice and easy with only a few slopes along the way, being the one at the end the more challenging (but easily done). Eventually the path I took joins the path of the walkers’ route. You’ll exit King’s Wood at the A252, not far from Chilham. You’ll ride / walk along the A252 all the way to the Village of Chilham. The walkers’ path will lead you to the St Mary’s Church in Chilham, but by mistake I continued on the A252 and missed the church, hence the reason I end the video of this stage in the Village Hall. After the Village Hall, the next street to the right will take you to the church.
The picture gallery below shows the pictures taken by me along this stage. Click on any picture to enlarge.
Stage 15: From Village Hall in Chilham to the Canterbury Cathedral.
If you haven’t done so already, please watch the video first and then read this blog for more detail! I didn’t want to include all this information in the video voiceover because it would have added too much to the length of the video (which is 13’09”).
The picture below was used in the video and I hope will help you make more sense of the text below.
Map of the 15th and last stage between the Chilham Community Hall in Chilham and the cathedral in Canterbury. In yellow the downloaded walker’s path. In red the path I took
If you get to start this stage from the St Mary’s Church in Chilham you will likely be on Church Hill Road. You’ll cross the A252 to take Long Hill and continue all the way to Old Wives Lees, where you’ll turn right on Lower Less Road (the road that was undergoing roadworks in the video). You’ll walk to the “triangle” intersection of Lower Ensden Rd and you should see in front (a little to the right) the path that will take you through some farm fields all the way to the Apple Orchards of Nickle Farm in Chartham. I usually eat an Apple a day (to keep the doctor away) and to me seeing all the Apple trees and their pleasant smeel was a real delight.
Nickle Farm belongs to FW Mansfield & Son and it is a big business, with many workers, mostly coming from Eastern Europe for the harvest. As I rode through the farm I got a little lost and asked for directions, but communication was a bit difficult. I eventually found the path, but when I saw the pebbles on the track up hill I got demotivated. That forced me to look for an alternative and after talking to another person in the farm he recommeded the path to Canterbury over Chartham village, alongside the Great Stour river, which isn’t really part of the original Pilgrims’ Way route (see where the yellow line and the red line disconnect on the map above).
The original route, on the walkers’ path and the guide will take you to the villeage of Chartham Hatch (yellow line), but I decided to override that. This was MY pilgrimage afterall and, personally, I take a river path over a single track lane any time. Again, it is probably not right for me do make recommendations over a path not taken, but I am glad I did ride to Canterbury alongside the river. The path is beautiful, very flat and very enjoyable, but you’ll have to divide it with a number of other cyclists and walkers (incl. dogs, children, etc). You’ll see magnificent river houses, trees and fields all the way to Canterbury. I think the video is much better at showing you this than I could ever put in words, but if you take the same path as I did you’ll be giving up the historical path of the pilgrimage.
The video includes some drone footage I filmed the NEXT day with Katy and some details about Canterbury with Katy’s voice. I hope you enjoy the bird’s eye view of Canterbury at the distance (at that point the Cathedral is about 3.5 km away).
Upon arriving in Canterbury, as it became the norm over these 4 days, the German TV crew was already waiting for me at the Westgate Towers for a quite intense session of filming. Honestly, I felt a bit like a movie star walking into Canterbury city centre being followed by TV cameras and a filming crew. A sensation that I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with due to all the attention it drew onto me… all for a good cause anyway.
I should consider myself lucky they were there though. I did this pilgrimage during the times of the pandemic and if it wasn’t for the TV crew I am sure a few doors wouldn’t have been open to me. Upon arriving at the cathedral I was warmly greeted by canon Emma Pennington who received us and led us first into the cript of Saint Thomas Becket and then into the high altar where I received my final pilgrim’s blessing and where Katy sang at the end of the video.
In all fairness, I must warn you, the pictures you see in the video are from the next day though as the arrival at the cathedral and all the filming for the TV crew was quite intense. I didn’t really had a lot of time to film for myself, but the experience is the same. If you ever get to watch the documentary, the final footage of me (if included at all) might likely be an aerial / drone footage at the campus of the University of Kent riding into the sunset (quite moving really) onto another challenge.
This stage concludes the pilgrimage. I hope you enjoyed this short series of videos and posts about my Pilgrims’ Way pilgrimage by bike. To me these are memories I’ll take to the grave 🙂
The picture gallery below shows the pictures taken by me along this stage. Click on any picture to enlarge.
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