In the Table of Contents listed on the sidebar you'll see that the first two web pages are devoted to the year's family news as usual, and the next to our local community connections. These are followed by reflections on our travels, as viewed through the eyes of a geographer. Finally, there are samples of ongoing research interests of mine in South London, North Kent, and South Wales.   

 As well as having been a keen geographer and teacher all my working life, I am a committed Anglican, and a family man who enjoys gardening, travelling, and walking.  In my retirement I continue to have a keen practical interest in landscape, history, and ecology; I still  research and write short articles on local topics; We both enjoy singing with our newly re-formed St Stephen's Church Choir, and all the above interests are reflected in these pages.

       

       There are three Shrines of Our Lady at Walsingham. We were staying at the Anglican Shrine in the heart of the village, near where Lady Richeldis, devout wife of a wealthy 11th century landowner, claimed to receive a visitation from the Virgin Mary, and was inspired to build the 'Holy House', a replica of Mary's home in Nazareth. Pilgrims then started to visit the site, and two centuries later the village had grown to serve them, and a large Priory was built (it was hoped that it would eventually become a full-scale Abbey).  It soon become the second most important Pilgrimage site in England, after the Thomas a'Becket Shrine at Canterbury. 

The Priory/Abbey was enlarged several times, but was closed and stripped of its wealth in 1536 during the Reformation and Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The site was then abandoned and parts sold off, although pilgrims continued to visit, especially those who still followed the 'Old Religion'.  But of course England was increasingly a Protestant country, and veneration of effigies of the old Saints, and of the Virgin Mary as the 'Mother of God', incurred suspicion, imprisonment, or even exile. It was mainly the 19th century Catholic Revival and the 'Oxford Movement' (led by John Henry Newman) that brought about an upturn in Walsingham's fortunes, and this is where the modern Anglican Pilgrimages and the  'Shrine of Our Lady' come in: the final Chapel of Rest one mile south of Walsingham on the old Pilgrim's Route had been abandoned for many years and used as a barn, but was reconsecrated as a Catholic Shrine in 1881, with a railway halt nearby. Recently, it has received Vatican dispensation to become the 'National Catholic Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham', while the old Priory site continues to house its Anglican counterpart.  More recently a Russian Orthodox Shrine has been established in the former railway station.

       There is no easy access from London and other main regions of the UK, sited as it is an hour's drive from railways, trunk roads and motorways, in one of the more sparsely populated parts of East Anglia. However, its relative remoteness has undoubtedly contributed to its unspoilt attractiveness, and its success as a place of pilgrimage, quiet reflection and re-creation. The village has interesting and attractive 17th and 18th century buildings, medieval and 19th century history and heritage (especially the Priory and Franciscan ruins), and is set in beautiful Norfolk countryside. The Anglican Shrine itself has a welcoming and devotional ambience, and there are pleasant walks along the River Stiffkey and the former Wells-to-Walsingham railway to the Catholic Shrine. I particularly enjoyed the icon display and the 'Quiet Garden' at the old railway station. We would like to have spent another day in Walsingham in order to revisit the village, its museum, and the Abbey Gardens, but we had to rejoin the St Stephens Group for the minibus journey home.                                           

         In view of its history it is perhaps not surprising that the worship and liturgy at Walsingham's Anglican Shrine is focused very much on the 'High', Anglo-Catholic end of the Church of England spectrum (rather unkindly referred to as ' smells and bells' by some sceptics). We were aware of this before we went, but even so, as a low-to-middle of the road Anglican (albeit with an ecumenical background), I did find that parts of the traditional offices, language and rituals we experienced made me feel a little uncomfortable. However, the devotion and involvement of the faithful around us was unmistakable, infectious, and at times very moving. 

            One week after Walsingham we had booked to visit the Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square to see the much lauded International Tutenkhamun Exhibition before it continued its planned three year journey round the world. We have fond memories of our two Nile Valley cruises ten years ago, and we were delighted to be able to visit the Exhibition, literally the day before the Coronavirus restrictions came into force and closed everything down!                                                                                      

      

     Only one foreign holiday had been booked for 2020: one week's full board with flights in April to Madeira. Inevitably, that trip had to be cancelled due to the growing Coronavirus threat. However, when we contacted our travel company they offered us the same deal in early November which we eagerly accepted, naively assuming the pandemic crisis would be resolved by then! However, in spite of the Covid uncertainties we were fortunate that Madeira still welcomed visitors (under strict regulation), and the FO kept the island on its 'safe' list, provided we tested negatively for the virus and isolated for just a few hours on our arrival.