The Last Lap to York.

Our last group photo in York Minster with The Precenter Jeremy , this was taken by Mary Roe who met us at the Minster for Choral Evensong. This service was a beautiful end to our Pilgrimage, especially as St. Edburg's was included in the intercessions.

Having fun on the top deck . Photo taken by Di.

About to board the 28th bus to York. Still smiling!!

Beautiful bluebells on the slope outside York city wall.

View of the Minster from the city wall

Colin, Ken, Gina & Joyce on the city wall.

Home at Last from York.

We all slept well at our various hosts homes. We met at the York train station at 9.30am and after leaving our luggage in the left luggage office we went off to explore York. Colin and Ken decided to visit the railway museum, Di went for a walk around the walls and by the river to take some photographs. Sue, Gina and Joyce went to the Jorvic centre and spent time around the Shambles.
Pat, Rennie and Maggie made for the shops. We all met at 1.30pm for lunch together and then after more walking around the walls and through the town, we finally met at the train station, collected our bags and waited at the bus stop for our 16.25 national express coach to arrive. We waited and we waited and eventually it arrived 1 hour later. Due to this we missed our X5 connection at Milton keynes, so instead of finishing in the manner we had become used to, by using our passes, we had to hire a mini bus and a car to bring us all back to Bicester. At least it took us all home to our own homes. We were all grateful to see Bicester again, but on the whole everyone said it was well worth doing and we all got on together so well, it made it all worthwhile.

Nottingham to York. The last leg.

Selby Abbey.

The gardens at Selby, where we stopped on way to York.

Great fun was had by all on the top of this bus. We had it to ourselves.

Another wait in a bus station.

Colin and Maggie, our 2 Coffee addicts.

After breakfast with our hosts we met at the bus station at 10.15 for departure at 10.30 bound for Worksop. This journey took over an hour so I asked everyone to jot down their thoughts and here they are

" what a joy to see the unfolding ever changing countryside and what a privilege to get a glimpse into so many people's homes and lives" Di Pettifer.

" A wonderful experience with special thanks to my travelling companions and hosts, also to Colin for superb organisation. Something I will cherish for the rest of my life" Ken Goatley

"We have had the chance to see some very pretty villages that the buses have taken us through. The whole trip has been much easier than I thought and very enjoyable"
Gina Hadfield

" We have travelled through so many different counties. Saw a glimpse of the sea at the beginning at Whistable. Canterbury Cathedral was wonderful as was York Minster. Many thanks to our hosts and the travelling pilgrims" Pat Moore

"After being somewhat concerned about completing the complicated journey to St. Albans, I found a real sense of pilgrimage as we visited St. Albans Abbey and then shared in worship with our hosts at St. Pauls in Bedford. The care and thoughfulness of our hosts along the way has been so important to our enjoyment of the week. And being able to share our stories with them and other people we have met along the way has enriched the whole experience. A memorable and valuable week" Colin Cockshaw.

"Travelling by bus takes on a new dimension when you get to day 4! It does work and on the whole the buses were on time. Our hosts and accomodation have been varied but always Godly and hospitable. People on the buses have been friendly and interested in what we are doing. All together an enjoyable 'holiday' so far!
Many thanks to Colin for all his hard work on the internet and thanks to all my fellow pilgrims for their friendship" Rennie Buxton

"This has been a wonderful experience with a group of lovely people. We have met wonderful people too along the way. God has blessed us with good weather, and we have seen the countryside at its best. We've been to parts of the country i've never been before"
Joyce Corley

" This week has been one of the most memorable, humbling and happy weeks of my life. Memorable because of all the buses we have been on, humbling in accepting the kindnesses of our hosts and people we have met along the way, and happy because of the fun we have shared with all fellow pilgrims. I am sure this will live in our memories for a long time, as I said at the beginning of our journey, God was certainly looking down on us" Sue Barden

"God is Great
We've made great friends, had great hosts, great bus connections, great weather, visited great and small cathedrals and churches, great fun and we are grateful pilgrims"
Maggie McHattie

We are now at the home of one our hosts in York sharing our last meal all together. We were met by the Precenter of the Minster and he took us up to the high altar for a group photo then we attended evensong in the minster. What a wonderful end to a great journey.

Bedford to Nottingham

Group outside St. Peter's church, Bedford

The wonderful evening meal in the house alongside the embankment in Bedford. We had a very simple meal but excellently cooked and presented and accompanied by plentiful wine.

Joyce inside the John Bunyan Church, Bedford

St. Peter's Church Bedford

This view was lit up outside the house we had our meal in Bedford

The evening in Bedford was very interesting. We all met at St. Paul's for the evening Eucharist and after we were taken to Peggy & Brian's home for our evening meal all together. This was done in the most spectacular fashion. Being as there was 16 of us I think we expected a buffet style meal, but what awaited us was most unexpected. A grand room held a very large table and it was laid up for us all and we all sat round it and had a 2 course hot meal. Their home is on the road by the embankment and the river which was lit by fairy lights and this we could see from the grand windows from the dining room. We all went home to our various places and all slept very well!

We were able to have a leisurely breakfast as we were not meeting until 9.30 at St. Pau's. We walked to the John Bunyan Church and then looked around the town and the market. Our 1st bus of the day left at 11.30 bound for Northampton. There we were able to go to the shopping centre to buy some lunch and then left an hour later for Leicester then Loughborough and then on to Nottingham. We missed our connection at Loughborough by minutes so we arrived at Nottingham later than expected. Here we were met by friends of Colin who immediatly rushed us off to catch yet another bus to their home for a quick wash and brush up as we had to get to the venue for the church Parish Supper being held back in the town. All was well and the evening went smoothly, although at that time we had no idea who we were staying with until the end of the meal when all was explained. The plan worked and we were all taken home to our various hosts for another good night sleep. Up to now we have travelled on 22 buses with 5 more tomorrow and 2 on Friday. It was a little too hot today as the sun came through the windows of the buses. We kept changing sides to try and keep in the shade.
Impressions of the trip is that the people are wonderful and very interested in what we are doing, some think we are mad, but most says what a wonderful thing we are doing. So it is all worth while. More photos later as it is now 10.40pm and it takes some time to upload them. Will try again tomorrow. Goodnight to you all.

St. Albans to Bedford

!st Picture is at the gardens outside the Cathedral.

2nd picture shows the bus sign that gave us hope!!

We left St. Albans at 14.45 after spending a lovely morning looking around the town and then having a very informative personal tour around the Cathedral. It is certainly a mishmash of all architecture styles through the ages and our guide brought it to life for us. The wall paintings are worth a visit in their own right. We all had lunch in the refectory restaurant before collecting our bags and making our way to the bus stop to begin the next journey to Bedford, via Luton. This we did on only 2 buses this time so we felt as though we hadn't travelled very far today. Joyce unfortunatly could not leave with us on Sunday due to illness, but we are pleased to say she recovered enough to join us today and we met her at St. Paul's church in Bedford. The church people are accommodating us tonight, so will inform you all of this with the next instalment.

Canterbury to St. Albans

Rev. Rachel and baby Isaac enjoying his breakfast

Boarding one of the 1st buses

What a day we had!!! Very enjoyable, tiring, interesting. With thanks to Colin we managed to get all 10 buses more or less on time and in the right places. This was quite an achievment to say the least. The evening spent in Whistable was good fun, and on mine and Rennie's part it was great to see Rachel and Barry with baby Isaac. Breakfast was fun with them all, especially seeing Isaac enjoying his banana and breadstick for breakfast.

We left Whitstable at 8.50 so had to pay for the 1st bus, got into Canterbury and had to wait for the next one for about 30 mins. This was the longest wait we had all day! As we progressed it all came together very well. Most of the buses were on time and not full up so we were able to chat to some of the passengers. One elderly gentleman even gave us £1 for the funds. One lady got the wrong end of the stick and thought we were asking her to come with us and she said that she couldn't as she had a doctors appoinment.
we had a 'lunch stop' at Bluewater. This was popping into M&S to buy a sandwich and drink to have on the next bus. As we left we all noticed that the bus notice display was saying that we were leaving 'PILGRIMS CORNER' we all thought this was very appropriate.
As we approached closer to the London suburbs the buses filled up more and especially at the end of school time they filled up with all the school kids in their smart uniforms complete with emblazoned badges.
Eventually we left all this suburban sprawl behind and as we approached nearer to St. Albans the countyside appeared again. We finally arrived in St. Albans at 18.45. All we can say it was an experience some of us may not be doing again, but at least the day is behind us now and all the coming days will be a doddle compared to this one. We had a meal in a french restaurant and the waitress was very interested in what we are doing that she made sure that we had 20% knocked off our bill. We have kept this and will put in into the funds. We all then went off to our various beds and slept.

The weather has played an enormous part in our efforts. If it had rained yesterday it would have been unbearable. We have been informed that this lovely weather is going to be our side all week. God must be looking down on us and helping us on our way, in fact we know he is.

Sunday 19th April The Start.

Theresa presenting us to the congregation at St. Edburg's before our send off.

Being as we had a very tight schedule to get to London to catch the 14.30 coach to Canterbury, we all decided to attend the 8 o clock eucharist at St. Edburg's. We all then met at the 10.30am service to enable Canon Theresa to send us out with the good wishes and prayers from the congregation. As we moved out of the church Don the organist played 'O Happy Band of Pilgrims' accompanied by applause from the congregation. We caught the 11.25 X5 to Oxford and then the 12 midday coach to London Victoria. We had 45 minutes wait where a desperate scramble for 20ps ensued to enable us to have a comfort stop!! We left on the 007 coach at 14.30 and the journey to Canterbury was very enjoyable. We arrived at 16.20 and rushed to the cathedral where we were met briefly by the Venerable Sheila Watson who handed us over to Canon Clare Edwards, who gave us a guided tour and showed us places where the public are not allowed to go. After the tour we trundled back to the coach station to catch the local bus to Whistable. Rev. Rachel had booked us into a local italian restaurant for 18.30 and we were there right on time. Hope this time keeping continues for the rest of the week. We walked to St. Alphege church, this is Rachels church , met our hosts and was taken home for the evening.

Before we left St. Edburg's Canon theresa gave us each a prayer to carry with us. this is it.

"Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord's approval" from Judges 18:6

Group with the Ven. Shiela Watson (5th from left) before our tour of Canterbury Cathedral.