Right, so as stated in the general musings at the end of the Greensand Way series of blogs, I’ve set my sights on the ‘Old Way’ as the next long distance challenge. The Old Way is based on an old pilgrimage route derived from a map c.1360 of Great Britain as it was known at the time. The excellent British Pilgrim’s Trust has taken the key waypoints and created a new long-distance route based on the ancient old way.
The map upon which this is based is known as the Gough Map, the earliest known map of Great Britain in a recognisable shape. If you’re interested in the detail, there’s an excellent site that gives chapter and verse on the mapping of ancient place names to modern conurbations. The Gough Map has naturally been the subject of much study, and clearly shows the places of importance and critical infrastructure of medieval Britain.
I’m a self confessed map nerd, so the concept of following a route derived from a map as old as this, and picking up on so many places of personal relevance was hugely exciting. So I’m going to try and get it done in 2021, in honour of my 40th year, but also just, well, because (also it tracks the coast and I’m tempted by a few sea swims).
This won’t be a GW-a-like, its more than twice the distance for a start, but also, has been designed to take in places of interest and spiritual relevance. So rather than divvying it up into a-section-a-month, I’m going to try to do it in 3-day stints, one per quarter, with a triumphal last couple of days into Canterbury in time to catch Christmas Eve 2021 evensong. Much will depend on what Covid restrictions look like in 2021, and I reserve the right to push into 2022 if required.
The modern map looks like this (I’ll be eschewing that loop round Eastbourne, having walked Seven Sisters many times!). Towards the final stages it clips the end of the GW around Hamstreet, so it’s not like I’ll feel I’m on unfamiliar turf!:
So watch this space (if you’re interested)- fewer posts probably but much more to see......
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