Our last day on The English Way, the UK route of the Camino Ingles, Camino de Santiago, dawned gray and cold. We walked out of town down the Itchen Way along the river which was high and fast and nearly at the level of the footpath. To the other side of the path ran the Itchen Navigation, a canal system long disused with a compliment of cuts and locks and roaring overflow gates. It was tricky going in some places with deep mud and inches-wide tracks for maneuvering around flooded pools. The going was slow and sometimes frustrating.
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| Molly and river mud |
Aircraft roared on take off from the Southampton Airport and were soon lost in the low clouds above us. Noise from the M27 filled our ears and soon we were hemmed in with an urban landscape of roads, neighborhoods, and a grassy sports park where the trail became a wide paved lane filled with walkers and runners in the light rain. Road walking began on Priory Road once we crossed the wide river, now an estuary, at Cobden Bridge. We stayed on pavement the rest of the way. No more mud and flood, for sure, but road walking is hard on the knees and feet.
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| Road walking the rest of the way. |
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| River Itchen Boardwalk into the city |
Now in the city of Southampton, we could feel the end of our weeklong hike was near its end. Past St Mary's Stadium, around the old medieval gatehouse at Bargate, and down city sidewalks along High Street to the ferry terminal where our friend Ken would disembark later, arriving from Isle of Wight for a celebratory dinner. We turned along Winkle Street for the last few hundred feet of our journey and were greeted at another old medieval gatehouse, God's House Tower.
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| The medieval Bargate entry |
We were congratulated by museum and gallery staff in the little cafe and given a stamp and certificate of completion. We did it! I wondered how many pilgrims must have walked through this gate on their way to a ship that would take them to France or onwards to the coast of Spain where the Camino Ingles continues in Ferrol on its way to the Cathedral of St James in Santiago de Compostela. I won't lie - part of me wanted to continue on!
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| God's House Tower and gate |
Molly and I found a nearby pub and plopped ourselves down to get a well-deserved drink and rest our feet. This was the same pub used for the scenes in the Titanic movie where Jack wins a ticket on the unsinkable ship. The barmaid learned we had just finished the walk and was pleased as punch to offer us our last stamp. She was so proud to fill that last little square of blank card with the Platform Tavern's unique stamp. I texted Ken to let him know we'd "landed" in town and he texted back to let us know he'd meet us at our hotel to take us for dinner. Suddenly it all seemed so finished. We walked along the old medieval city walls to our hotel for the night just a few blocks away. It was modern and bright, efficient, warm, dry. Somehow it already seemed we'd moved into another time and space.
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| Part of the medieval wall and gate at God's House Tower. |
After a hot shower and dry, clean clothes put on, I waited for Molly to finish up and had a good think about our trip. Part of the pilgrimage experience is the hospitality and kindness of people you meet along the way. Anytime I am distance walking I meet the most wonderful folks who share some trail time and tell their stories. There is something about being on foot through a landscape that puts you at eye level with others. Places to stay, places to eat, local history, and of course for me the nature and ecology of a place, all add up to a slow-paced deep dive into landscape and folk. As I sat on the edge of my bed, I began to miss already everyone we'd met and a flood of gratitude washed over me.
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| Receiving our certificates at God's House Tower |
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Molly's last stamp!
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| My completed pilgrim's passport |
Soon enough Ken texted from the hotel lobby and we join him to walk through the evening city streets to a restaurant he'd picked out for our celebratory dinner. Southampton at night was beautiful. We all chatted and ate and toasted and ate some more until it was time to make our way back to the hotel and Ken to the ferry terminal. A beautiful night. Thank you, Ken!
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| Celebration! |
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| Old city walls |
In gratitude for all the help, thanks to Peter and Jane of
Walking Holidays for the excellent guidance and support and to everyone we met along the way who offered hospitality and kindness. I'm sure the Camino Ingles, The English Way will continue to grow in popularity but I hope it can retain its authenticity as it attracts more people to walk its path. We both loved the adventure of it and the treasures we found along the way (both in people and places) that made this walk so rich. I found my love for old churches grew substantially on this walk - it made a real church crawler out of me. My ongoing love for the natural landscapes of England and all the work being done to re-nature and re-wild so encouraging. I hope it is not too long before I can come back and explore some more the landscapes of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and more of England.
The Pilgrim
Who would true Valour see
Let him come hither;
One here will Constant be,
Come Wind, come Weather.
There's no Discouragement,
Shall make him once Relent,
His first avow'd Intent,
To be a Pilgrim.
Who so beset him round,
With dismal Storys,
Do but themselves Confound;
His Strength the more is.
No Lyon can him fright,
He'l with a Gyant Fight,
But he will have a right,
To be a Pilgrim.
Hobgoblin, nor foul Fiend,
Can daunt his Spirit:
He knows, he at the end,
Shall Life Inherit.
Then Fancies fly away,
He'l fear not what men say,
He'l labour Night and Day,
To be a Pilgrim.
- John Bunyan
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