St Margaret's Church
| The Pilgrimages were the brainchild of the then Vicar John Gawne-Cain. He led the first one in 1987, from Whitby to York Minster, and since then there has been one each year except 1991, when John was in the process of moving to another parish. David Smith and Michèle Crawford revived them in 1992, and have been leading them since with the help of benefice clergy and other parishioners. | |
| Pilgrimages are open to members of St Margaret’s and St Giles’ and their friends in the age range 13 to18 plus. There is no pre-conception as to the size of the group, but it has always ended up being around 15, with 9-11 teenagers and 4-5 adult leaders. The Pilgrimage typically occupies 8 days in late August. Travel is by minibus, and the group walks 8-10 miles per day towards a holy place of some kind, staying in youth hostels or church halls. In many ways the journey is more important than the destination, and one year, because of rough seas off the Kerry Peninsula, we actually didn’t reach the destination which was to be the island Skellig Michael. | |
| A number of Pilgrimage traditions have developed over the years, especially among those who return year after year. Michèle’s catering skills have produced a number of culinary favourites, and other youth hostellers are often taken aback by the smells of herbs, wine, and garlic emanating from “Pilgrimage Pasta”. The group has always included a high proportion of choir members, and singing is a constant feature and ranges from camp songs in the back of the minibus to Renaissance motets and daily sung Compline. Since 1993 each Pilgrimage has included an elaborate murder mystery to be solved by David the Detective ; Michèle, who refuses to take part in the investigation, has therefore been murdered 9 times. | |
| Each Pilgrimage has a theme, and a booklet produced by Michèle with readings, prayers, and hymns for each day, including information relevant to the locations. Themes have included “Signs of life” (St David’s), “Conquest and continuity” (Normandy and the Abbey of Bec), “Out at the edge” (the Kerry Way), “Making choices” (Whitby), and “Cristes loore” (Canterbury, based around Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). The most frequent Pilgrimage (4 times) has been to Lindisfarne in Northumberland, with the theme “journeys” based on various Biblical journeys and making reference also to the great Celtic saints. Exercise and fun are within the context of meditation on the Christian story and its relevance to pilgrims’ lives. The Pilgrimages are also an opportunity for our teenagers to deepen friendships and develop new ones. Many have chosen to keep on coming even after moving away to university, and two who started as teenage pilgrims have subsequently become adult leaders. |
Here is a list of destinations :