Synod Pilgrimage

Saturday August 4 – 10,00 pm

It was a quick getaway from Rothbury as soon as we had eaten – three or four carfuls of us made for the car park high above the town on the edge of Simonside.

From there, and despite the generous portions served at the Newcastle Hotel, we somehow managed to struggle up the hill for a mile and a half, reaching the turning to the Little Church Rock just as the setting sun shone directly through the pine trees. I heard one of our number give an audible “Wow” as they turned the corner and the Rock came into view – towering above the clearing.

We scrambled up the slope and assembled alongside the top of the rock – a wonderfully atmospheric spot, though unfortunately one that the midges had found before us.  But Dave struggled bravely on leading our act of worship: as we sang appropriately, “but the steep and rugged pathway may we tread  rejoicingly”. The service in the presence of midges was demanding  - but, as in every case today, moving too.

And so far as the site was concerned, it was only as we made our way cautiously back down the slope that some of us discovered the real romantic element of it all – the natural pulpit set in the side of the rock which one of our group tried out with a splendid rendition of a Shakespeare sonnet,  literally reverberating across the valley. However, whether there is any true link here with secret worship and illegal post 1662 conventicles is doubtful – though there is the possibility that a covenanter on the run from Scottish forces of law and order later found refuge somewhere in these hills.

But then, as our resident historian told us, probably the more common and profitable illegal activity taking place over the centuries existed in the many stills that managed to remain well hidden from the customs men.

For all the excitements that Rothbury may offer its weekend visitors, we were happy to get back to the Bunkhouse just before dark, and spend a quiet evening  catching up with Olympics news and enjoying coffee and cake to make up for the puddings  we missed earlier on.

Synod Pilgrimage

Saturday August 4

Here we are back in Rothbury, just gone 4.00 pm – but, the day’s not ended!

At Ladys Well

So far, it’s been another magnificent day’s walking, from the moment the bus put us down back at the end of yesterday’s walk at Holystone. Our first reflective moment was at St Mungo’s Well, just beyond the church, but then we retraced our steps and walked down to Lady’s Well where Rowena led us in a thoughtful act of worship as we gathered round this very atmospheric pool. Have we ever heard Hagar’s story told in church? Here this powerful narrative really resonated.

The walking through the forest that followed was surprisingly hard going, and I think took longer than planned. Then Linda, nearly as welcome as the angel at the well, met us as we came to the road, and carried weary walkers’ burdens in the back of her car for the next leg of the journey, on to Harbottle.

More reflective moments in the car park below the ruined castle, and a time to eat lunch, before we were off again to Alwinton. There Dave took us on a detour to the old lime kilns, before we met up with the vicar in her magnificent church – wishing us well on the next and most challenging section of the walk so far.

Following the dead end road that leads into the hills we then took a footpath leading us still higher. The magnificent open views were accompanied throughout this section by the rumble of thunder over to the west, where dark clouds hovered while back down the valley behind us the afternoon sun continued to shine. Then we moved over a ridge and had a splendid view back down into the valley, where below us were all the signs of a deserted village – abandoned so Dave told us from at least the 16^th century.

The deserted village

From there it was downhill all the way. We saw the bus speeding up the tarred road below us, and 15 or 20 minutes later we were back in the valley, on board, and soon speeding back to Rothbury. An early meal has been booked at the Newcastle Hotel for 5.30. Yes, we’ll be ready for it – but the worry is, will we be ready for the next stage of the pilgrimage planned later this evening?

Synod Pilgrimage

Friday August 3^rd

It’s synod pilgrimage time again, and true to past form Henry is up the front, leading the way. Little has changed: he’s organised a first day walk that ends up with a long slog through an unkempt meadow, whose distant boundary seems no nearer. We want to be shouting out from the back, “Are we nearly there yet?” And then suddenly there’s footbridge across the river, and in midstream is a flock of sheep being drive a cross by a quad-biking shepherd complete with dog and two pups, and we know that we are connecting with civilization again even before we see the pick-up coach nudging down the line.

At the first bridge

This is Coquetdale – and it’s been a magnificent start to this year’s Synod Pilgrimage, which is marking the beginnings of Non-conformity as we seek out places associated with underground dissent in those dark years that followed the Great Ejectment of 1662. We began the day at Rothbury, where we were warmly welcomed by church members, some of who are walking with us – how blessed they are to have countryside like this around them every day! We’ve made our way slowly up the valley over the course of the afternoon, stopping several time for our traditional “Mary Lowe” moments, given this year by Dave Herbert, who shows a rare gift in drawing a spiritual insight equally from ancient peel tower or modern gravel pit. The man should be on Thought for the Day!

A surprise dimension

As ever we’re a pretty mixed bunch: most have URC connections, but this first day has been spent in a variety of conversations as the twenty or so walkers have changed places and mostly got to know one another over the course of the afternoon. Back at Rothbury we began by sitting in a circle and telling one another something about a favourite tree or river (Rowena explained that both are going to feature prominently over these three days) – and since then we’ve been putting some of that into context as we’ve walked along, and in some cases have been renewing friendships made on earlier pilgrimages.

Today Meg and Rosa have been with us. Probably Mozambicans walk far more than most of us do, but the concept of walking for fun is clearly strange to Rosa – though no stranger than much else that she has been discovering over these past ten days. However, for the first time since she landed in the UK she has found someone who is willing to try out their tourist Portuguese on her – and that is sufficient to encourage her over the challenging uphill stretches.

We finish the day – well, we finish the afternoon – at the Church of St Mary the Virgin at Holystone. The world church dimension is there again as Dave leads us in singing Dr Kao’s hymn “O Lord, you are the life of the world”; and the Spirit is invoked as we pass the bowl of (? holy) water around and make the sign of the dove on one another’s foreheads. Yes, there’s a sense that God has been with us through the start of our pilgrimage – and there are hopes of good things to come later today, as we make transport arrangements to get us this evening to Thropton, and the evening meal that’s already been ordered at the Three Wheat Heads.