Pilgrims are you ready? Get roaming with North Devon Ramblers

Maybe you've done it, or maybe it’s on your ever deepening bucket list?

Walking the Camino de Santiago Compostela in Spain, that is. There are lots of reasons to prevaricate - how to get there; which route; weather; trail length and of course the much reported epidemic of bed bugs en-route.

Never fear, an alternative is at hand: The Porlock Pilgrims' Trail with not a hint of a bed bug, but maybe a sly tick lurking in the undergrowth ready to pounce on unsuspecting walkers.

This route is a relatively new inclusion to the plethora of walking opportunities that our beloved Moor has to offer and has been devised by the Porlock Benefice.

It is a linear route that extends for almost 30 miles and takes in nine churches and chapels. Do I hear a sharp intake of breath? “30 miles, they're having a laugh! You can count me out!” Our thoughts precisely.

Above: Selworthy Church

So, in the summer of 2022, three ramblers/wannabe pilgrims sat down, pored over maps, discussed, planned and eventually came up with three circular walks.

Backpacks at the ready, phones charged, plenty of food and drink and off we set armed with our trusty guide book; walking paths that have been ridden and walked by clergy and parishioners for hundreds of years.

The plan was for inclusion in the summer programme of 2023, but in the adapted words of Robert Burns ‘The best laid plans of mice and women often go awry’. They really did go awry and were postponed to 2024. These three walks have been scheduled for April, May and June, the first one being on Saturday, April 6.

There will be ascents and descents; groans and moans; laughter and pleasure hopefully. But this is what we do to appreciate the high moorlands, ancient oak woodlands, grassy slopes and Exmoor’s tiny hamlets. No pain, no gain could be a very appropriate motto for Ramblers.

Please do join us, explore the gorgeous Exmoor on our doorstep and learn a little bit of the history of these ancient places of worship.

Above: Stoke Pero Church

Take a look at the following, little bite sized bits of information to tempt you further.

• Culbone with its lepers’ squint and a place of pilgrimage for more than a 1,000 years.
• West Porlock’s flat packed ‘tin tabernacle’.
• Porlock with its truncated spire - legend has it that a giant carried it off and placed it neatly atop Culbone church.
• Stoke Pero with its candle-lit services and Hope Bourne’s picture of Zulu, the donkey.
• Luccombe’s ancient churchyard cross, decapitated by Cromwell’s soldiers.
• Tivington - truly the jewel in the crown, with its thatched roof.

Tivington Church, with its thatched roof, is the 'jewel in the crown'.

There is yet more to tell, hopefully your appetite has been whetted and remember, the definition of a pilgrim might be applied to ourselves – ‘Any wanderer who is able to gain strength, hope and a sense of well-being from their walking’.

To join us on the first walk of approximately 10 miles, meet at Robbers Bridge Car Park at 10.30am on Saturday, April 6.

More details on the North Devon Ramblers website at www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/ramblers-groups/north-devon-group.