Who doesn’t like Salisbury? Mary and I see a range of history with the help of a walking tour. The skeleton of the Amesbury Archer is 4000 years old. The floor mosaics of a Roman villa. As we visit the cathedral's Chapter House, we can see one of the four surviving copies of the Magna …
Category: 2024 South West Coast Path England
631. Learning about Dorchester
Dorcester Thomas Hardy I know nothing about Dorchester. At first, I didn’t know which is the county and which is the city, Dorset or Dorchester. So, I’m pleasantly surprised when we spend several days in, the town. Staying here primarily as a convenient resting place to see ancestral villages, I grow to enjoy Dorchester for …
630. Honorary Members of Our Guy’s Bookclub
As some of you know, we’ve had a guy’s book club since pre-Covid days. I’m guessing five years. We are both a high-brow bunch; and a rather low- brow bunch. While we haven’t read War and Peace, we’ve read some hefty tomes, in length and topic. And, some that aren’t! While on my slow-walk, I …
Continue reading 630. Honorary Members of Our Guy’s Bookclub
629. Kingsbury Ancestors (2)
Winterborne Whitechurch St. Mary's Parish Church There is no other good way to visit the three villages associated with William Henry Kingsbury. So, I cough up 120 pounds for three hours. Although Vince, our driver, doesn’t know much about Winterbourne Whitechurch, Milton Abbas or Morden, he is a safe and pleasant driver. I’m not entirely …
628. Kingsbury Ancestors (1)
Dorcester Alison We easily arrive in Dorchester. Only two blocks from our BnB, we walk past the Dorset History Center. “Look, here is where we meet Fran tomorrow. This will be easy. No rushing!” In a few minutes, we meet Allison, our wonderful BnB owner. At 8:30 AM, Allison brings our breakfast. I casually say, …
627. With a Little Help from Our Friends
Tavistock Ian and Anne Wood I meet Ian and Anne during breakfast the morning after walking my last section of the South West Coastal Path. After chatting on many topics, I mention that Mary will be arriving soon and that we hope to visit two villages where Mary’s ancestors lived. They get excited because the …
626. Pilgrims Remembered at Plymouth
I love history. At DePauw University from 1969-1973, I majored in history and religion. Like most programs at that time, my studies were primarily European and American. However, Harvard-trained historian Professor Clifton Phillips taught Modern China, and Professor Cooper, one of my American historians, soon published a collection of primary readings on American women’s history. …
625. Walking in the World of Celtic Saints: Their Legacy
Mary has arrived. We speed into full tourist mode. This mode of travel has worn me out more than my slow-travel. In slow-travel, I’m exhausted physically with the hard walking; in tourist mode, I’m exhausted physically and mentally because of all the varied and conflicting sensory input. Traveling by trains, buses, and taxi. Coastal views, …
Continue reading 625. Walking in the World of Celtic Saints: Their Legacy
624. Pilgrimages: Nightly Destinations
A person moving to a destination. So goes my bare minimum way of understanding a common human activity, a pilgrimage. As I mentioned in previous posts from walking the Via Francigena, I’m struck by how much I longed for my nightly destination. No matter that my eventual destination was Rome, that destination was too distant …
623. Pilgrims’ Movement: Following a Backpack
German walker As I mentioned previously, I’m enjoying my efforts of making sense of this long-distance walking in general, and of this South West Coat Path in general. I’m afflicting you with more of my early thoughts here, especially as this walk relates to pilgrimages. For simplicity’s sake, a pilgrim is a person moving toward …
Continue reading 623. Pilgrims’ Movement: Following a Backpack
Journeys: Explorations in Body, Mind, and Spirit 