It was July and it promised to be a sunny weekend. Jim had booked a bunkhouse on the Norfolk coast at Burnham Deepdale and we arrived just as the Olympic opening ceremony was taking place in a rather damp Paris. Our warm-up for the weekend was sitting in front of the telly with a cup of tea whilst dancers, acrobats and athletes graced the screen.
I confess to being a bit wary about the prospect of a long cycle ride - I’ve not been in the saddle much this year – however Jim had a brilliant route sketched out with ample stops for refreshment and restoring circulation to one’s nether regions.
From Burnham we drove to Holkham Hall then set off on our bikes along quiet country roads and byways in beautiful sunshine with the coastal breeze blowing through our hair. Past thatched cottages and flint-faced houses, we arrived in Walsingham at an hour well-placed for morning coffee. And possibly a little cake. The tea room was attached to the Anglican shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham and the chap serving the cakes was in a dog collar. He recommended a visit to the shrine, and it seemed a bit churlish not to go in, so we did. There was a service going on in the Holy House, so our visit was largely restricted to the side chapels, but, having not long finished my own pilgrimage to Lindisfarne, I was delighted to see a dedication to English Saints, featuring Saint Cuthbert having his feet dried by otters. We did not partake of the waters (which came with a health warning that children shouldn’t drink it) which might have been an error as without their healing powers my bum was throbbing by lunchtime.
Lunch was at Creake Abbey – and I was creaking by this point. The Abbey is a ruin, but there was a lovely green, grassy bank to rest on while we had our sandwiches. As the healing powers of Our Lady had failed us, we were forced to partake of tea room no.2 shortly after lunch whilst still at Creake. Fortified, but still with the other half of the ride to go, we set off again.
When you are on a bike you suddenly notice how hilly this notoriously flat county is. There is a distinct ridge that runs along just inside of the coast. We had to bike up it on our way out, so obviously we had to do the same on the way back. After a hot day there was a slight frisson of anxiety that we might not make it back to Holkham before the café closed. Not cake this time, but a well-earned ice-cream.
Ali
A History of Rivalry!
In 1061 Lady Richeldis of Walsingham had a vision of the Virgin Mary and came up with the idea of building a Holy House, a copy of Mary’s home, as a shrine for people to visit. This got upgraded to a priory and business was booming right up to the Reformation in 1538, when the buildings were looted and largely destroyed.
After a break of 400 years, there was something of a pilgrimage revival. About a mile outside Walsingham was the old Slipper Chapel, where pilgrims used to remove their shoes to walk the last bit barefoot. Since 1934 this has been the Catholic shrine.
The Anglican shrine slightly pre-dates the Catholic one. The local Vicar set up a statue for Our Lady of Walsingham in the parish church in 1921.This proved popular and as the number of pilgrims increased, it was moved to a dedicated chapel in 1931. The Eastern Orthodox church has a little chapel upstairs.
As well as our own little pilgrimage (admittedly via the tea shop), people continue to come. One or the most notable is the Pilgrim Cross which involves several legs of cross-bearing pilgrims from different bits of Britain converging on the Slipper Chapel in Easter week and then walking to the Anglican shrine. Originally just Catholic men, women were allowed from 1967 and other faiths from 1981.
It doesn’t stop there. There are another couple of shrines in the States as well. An Anglican one in Wisconsin and a Catholic one in Virginia, both dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham. All this from a vision nearly 1000 years ago. That’s what I call an enduring business model.
Ali