Guided Pilgrimage

01/08/2025

Popped in to see progress that are making at St Lawrence Church in Gumfreston and they are doing wonders. Already this delightful church from the 12th to 14th centuries is looking more stable and loved. Thank you all those who are making this possible including 🙏

The wells here are fascinating - three of them which are said to arise from three different sources and have different healing properties. Friends of Friendless Churches quotes 'spring water for legs, chalybeate-rich water for hands and arms, and sulphurous water for eyes' - you could almost do a full medical in one visit 😀

Due to continuing repair work, you cannot yet go into the church itself but there is a notice on the door saying that a further £30,000 is required if anyone wants to give to a worthy cause!

📸 St Lawrence Church in Gumfreston and holy wells behind the church.

27/07/2025

As part of our project to complete the length of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, we spent a few days walking in southern Pembrokeshire earlier in the month. Blessed with wonderful weather, we were presented with pristine empty beaches and aquamarine waters that would match any Caribbean Island. High cliff walking with some serious drops meant you had to keep your head down and concentrate but then you have to stop to appreciate the far reaching views and the glory of it all.

I tend to walk the Coast Path around St Davids a lot on the pilgrimages we offer so this was a welcome change - similar but different. Feeling very blessed to live in west Wales with such wonder on our doorstep. Still got about half the path to complete so plenty more to appreciate!

Also a shout out for the delightful in Pembroke which served great food and is newly refurbished. Thanks for a really lovely stay and we will be back!

📸 images from the Pembrokeshire Coast Path between Tenby and Stackpole Quay

22/07/2025

This year we have been in search of puffins seeing them first on the Farne Islands in Northumberland in May and then early July on Skomer. What an amazing experience Skomer was - unbelievably wonderful and unbeatable 👏

We were blessed with a sunny day and flat calm waters for the 20 minute boat ride to the island. We had 5 hours on the island and you need every minute of your time there for the birds (not just puffins but guillemots, razor bills, gannets and more) and the stunning scenery. I had read Rosanne Alexander's wonderful book about Skomer, 'Waterfalls of Stars', so I was prepared for the wonder of the island but it still took my breath away. It is not an island for humans! It belongs to the birds; it belongs to nature.

Can't wait to return and next year we hope to get a precious place to stay overnight to be in the midst of 300,000 breeding pairs of Manx Shearwaters who only come out at night!

📸 images from Skomer - just an old phone, no fancy lens so you can imagine how close we were to the birds.

06/07/2025

We had the last of our Teifi Valley Trail 'taster' days last week with a good turnout. We have now covered the full length of this new 80+ mile route following the River Teifi from source to sea.

Things are progressing well with the website just about to be made generally available and we are also creating a guide book which will hopefully be published later this year or early 2026 depending on progress! I shall let you know when the website is fully available.

📸 images from group walk from Llanybydder to Maesycrugiau

04/07/2025

Some images from along the Way of St David which we thoroughly enjoyed with a great group of pilgrims in mid-June. Baking hot weather this time but with some cooling breezes made for good walking weather until the breeze became a gusty wind and then we had to abandon the coast path and head inland. ☀️💨💨

No matter how many times I walk this route, I never fail to be impressed by the beauty of the coastline and how wonderfully close I feel to the natural world from the wild flowers to the butterflies, caterpillars and seals.

Thanks to Alan at Penrhiw farm b&b , Paul at The Old School Hostel , staff at St Davids Cross Hotel and Janet at St Davids Cathedral for looking after us so caringly. Also thanks to David Pepper for extra guiding and fine tuned logistics! Doing it all again in August - can't wait 👏.

If you are interested in joining us on a Way of St David pilgrimage, our dates for 2026 will be out in the autumn. Sign up to our newsletter on our website to be advised when the dates are on the website - https://guidedpilgrimage.co.uk/.

📸 images from the group on the Way of St David, June 2025.

01/07/2025

We have had a busy June and posting this now when it is warm and sunny, it is difficult to recall how very wet we got on the first day of the Penrhys Pilgrimage at the beginning of June. It was torrential ☔️💦

We took a group of determined pilgrims from the grandeur of , sent on our way with a lovely blessing, up into the Rhondda Valley to arrive after 20 miles of challenging walking, at the hillside town, shrine and holywell at Penrhys to the warmth of the Llanfair Uniting Church who do an amazing job supporting the community there - and provide the best tea and cake ever!

I love this two day pilgrimage which we do once a year and starts with an evening of storytelling by setting the scene for our adventure. People tend to quickly adopt the pilgrimage spirit and become a supportive group and we all arrive at the Llanfair Uniting Church in Penrhys together. Dates for 2026 will be out soon so do join us then if it appeals.

📸 images along the Penrhys Pilgrimage route starting from the Cross at Llandaff Cathedral.

19/05/2025

The first time for years I have beaten the slugs to the wild strawberries! Dry weather has helped but rain is on the way! Hope the dry returns in time for pilgrimage in June.

20/03/2025

Blessings on this spring Equinox to all 🎉🪻💚

Occurring twice a year, in the spring and the autumn, when the light / dark hours of the planet are the same, the equinox has been recognised by our ancestors as an important astronomical event and this year more than ever, with eclipses and rare planetary alignments adding to the mix.

For more information and explanation, head to the excellent article by British Pilgrimage Trust which you can read here - https://www.britishpilgrimage.org/resources/the-spring-equinox-a-time-of-balance-renewal-and-pilgrimage.

Do join us on pilgrimage in the wild Celtic landscapes this year if you can. In turbulent times, giving some time to yourself becomes even more important. Check out our website here - https://guidedpilgrimage.co.uk/.

📸 - the humble hellebore is one of the first plants to open in the spring growing in even the poorest of soils. What resilience!

03/02/2025

We are part of the team getting the new Teifi Valley Trail up and running and we had one of the inaugural walks yesterday. Dodged the rain and had a good day!

Thank you 🙏 to all who joined us on the walk yesterday from Newcastle Emlyn to Cenarth and back. We were able to make it circular after all due to the work of the Footpath Rangers of both Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion who kindly cleared trees for us. Thank you!

Watch out for the poster for our next walk on Sun 23 Feb which will be out soon. You will need to pre-register! Hope to see you then. 🥾

29/01/2025

ST BRIGIDS DAY🪻- St Brigid is one of the most endearing of the early Christian saints but before she was adopted by the Christian Church, she was (and is still) recognised as a powerful Celtic goddess connected with healing and childbirth in particular and it is this very earthy energy which is so appealing. It is no accident that her christian feast day on 01 February is also the pagan festival of Imbolc, which heralds the first day of spring.

In the northern hemisphere, Mother Earth is pregnant with all the seeds and bulbs which will soon be springing forth as the ground warms. But at the moment, everything is still in the dark. Imbolc is a joyous time of year - it heralds new beginnings, new growth, new life - and is celebrated in Druidic circles around the Celtic lands and beyond. Such celebrations will comprise of ceremonies to welcome in the new from all directions and will take place in nature, particularly amongst trees if possible, or sometimes at ancient spiritual sites. A time of new beginnings and rebirth. Imbolc blessings to all.

📸: This is my St Brigids cross from 2023 and time for a new one. You can get instructions from Big Green Art (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq0ci42PnLc&ab_channel=BigGreenArt). Enjoy!

26/01/2025

ST AIDAN'S FEAST DAY 🎉 - St Aidan, also known as St Madoc, is celebrated annually on 31st January. He was a 6th century Christian saint and is thought to have studied with St David in Pembrokeshire, Wales before returning to Ireland and founding the monastic community at Ferns, Wexford. The new Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way commemorates this ancient spiritual connection between the two places and saints.

We will be joining with on a short pilgrimage to the very special St Non’s Well just south of the city, to acknowledge and celebrate his life and the special bond between the saints. We will finish the pilgrimage at the newly re-opened St Non’s Retreat Centre - so wonderful to see this open again. The event is open to all so do join us if you are in the area - https://guidedpilgrimage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/St-Madoc-of-Ferns-Pilgrimage-reduced.pdf.

📸: St Non’s Holy Well, said to be the site of the birth of St David where a wellspring appeared as he was born in challenging circumstances.

23/01/2025

🥾TEIFI VALLEY TRAIL - A cohort of friends and walkers have been working on developing a new long distance footpath in West Wales for the past 3 years and I am delighted to say that the Teifi Valley Trail is nearly ready for full exposure - and we hope to be able to show you the new website soon.

However for now, we are offering short day walks along the route as tasters of what the full trail offers. We have already done three days and have reached the midway point of Newcastle Emlyn and there are three more walks to come. The next one is on Sun 26th January and details can be found here - https://guidedpilgrimage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/WaW-26jan25-NCE.pdf.

📸: This image is taken from the delightful Coed y Foel woodland in the Teifi Valley and you will see the River Teifi shimmering just before the rural town of Llandysul.