A Cold Coming They Had Of It

The Rt Revd Dr Edward Condry, Bishop of Ramsbury, braved one of the windiest days of the year last week on the last of his 2016 Lent walks around the churches of Wiltshire, this time visiting the eight churches of the Upper Kennett Benefice, centred on Avebury.

“It has been a great walk”, said Bishop Ed, “seeing some marvellous churches in North Wiltshire, fascinating places that have been loved and cared for and worshipped in through the centuries. No weather is an off-putter for me. It has been cold and windy but it has been great.

“I love the sense of pilgrimage, walking from one church to another and saying prayers in each of them.”

Gerald Long, a resident of Winterbourne Bassett, was one of those who joined Bishop Ed on the walk. “Stimulating is the best word for the day”, he said, “I love the outdoors even in this weather.

Walking through the Neolithic stones at Avebury, he said, “I have been involved in some of the research into whether this was a pilgrimage route, where pilgrims would have gathered locally to walk to Bristol to board ships taking them towards Santiago de Compostela. And before Christianity, of course, this was part of The Avenue taking people to Stonehenge.”

Gerald was one of two hardy souls who joined Bishop Ed for the whole day, but over a dozen people walked some of the legs of the 11 mile trek, with the stretch leading up to a good pub lunch at the Red Lion in Avebury proving particularly popular!

The villages and churches Bishop Ed visited were St Peter ad Vincula, Broad Hinton; St Katharine and St Peter, Winterbourne Bassett; St Nicholas, Berwick Bassett; St Mary Magdalene, Winterbourne Monkton; St James, Avebury; Christ Church, East Kennett; St Michael and All Angels, West Overton; and St Nicholas, Fyfield.