20-04-2025
Pilgrims arrive at Holy Island carrying wooden crosses
A GROUP of weary pilgrims, which included members who set off from Carlisle on Saturday (April 12), arrived at their intended destination on Good Friday.
There were two legs of the annual Northern Cross pilgrimage, one from Carlisle and the other from Lanark in Scotland, and during the trek they carried wooden crosses to symbolise the meaning of Easter.
On the whole the weather was kind to the Carlisle group, apart from at one point during the midweek, but when they finally set foot on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, after crossing the causeway during low tide, it was a lot kinder.
One of the organisers John Wallace, who was helping with the Carlisle leg and is from Twickenham in London, said he was pleased to have reached the end of the journey.
When asked about how he felt about reaching the end of the journey he said he was delighted to have managed it all the way. He added: 'I was on foot every step of the way from Carlisle.'
He said that the highlight of the trip was the 'amazing for hospitality in many of the places we stopped'.
He added: 'I don't know how many we had altogether, I haven't counted but we must have been at about five or six places, where we stopped, where people prepared a meal for us and were very hospitable."
And, regarding the low points, he said, when they revised the route it worked very well for the first part and then they discovered that during the second part, which was a marked right of way, it was heather up to their thighs and it was 'extremely difficult'.
He said that, at one point, the weather was so bad that they ended up completely soaked.
Fellow member Mark Attwood, who lives just north of Carlisle, said he felt it was not quite the end of the journey and added: 'I'm not sure how it feels.'
He said the high point of the journey was about more about 'being with people that are joy to be with' and 'people that that feel like a stone in your shoe'. And he said that the low point was 'probably ending a great journey'.
Richard Morris, who is from Gloucestershire, felt it was 'absolutely great' to reach the end of the trek and added: 'We've been building up to it for a week and there were lots of hills and all sorts of experiences. So to arrive here on a Holy Island is really good.'
Regarding the high point he said: 'I think the destination is good. The journey is good. The company of Christians is good but it's great sharing the good news, you know, especially as we can ourselves as good news people in a bad news world.'
He agreed that that the low point was the bad weather and added: 'I think it was Wednesday when the weather was really bad.
'It was lashing with rain. It was cold and miserable. And then we went across a moor where there wasn't actually a path so we were clambering over heather.
'We saw all sorts of things. It was almost worldly when you saw the mosses that were growing. It was quite unbelievable, but we survived and we did well.'
According to the Northern Cross website participants 'bear witness to the passion, death and resurrection of Christ' and that carrying a cross is a very symbolic act at this time of year.
Hosts of the participants during the event include Anglican, Catholic, Church of Scotland, Methodist and Baptist members.
It states: 'On the other side Northern Cross gives us a chance to get away from the world – a retreat – in beautiful countryside, in the open air away from the daily grind, television and newspapers; a chance to think and reflect; a chance to share in a small Christian community for a week.'
