OK, I’ve decided what I’m going to do: Having before me the accumulated gleanings of Walsingham from my pilgriamge, I’m going to give you Walsingham in three parts, divided into Journey, Walsingham, and Leave Taking. This is because each part had its own definite character, and to go along with my Gospel Share, is too much for one sitting. Dividing it into three gives me more room and leeway to express what Walsingham meant to me, because it is going to take me awhile to sift through the assorted gleanings of Walsingham I have before me. So let me begin with a story...
Walsingham lies, as I said in my previous post, outside of Norwich (around 26 miles) amid some of the most beautiul and isolated landscape in all of England, situated as it is in Norfolk County. Walsingham Parva -or Little Walsingham as it is officially named- itselfs a beautiful village in its own right (and not just because of its Shrine and importance to pre-Reformation English ecclesiastical history) - the traditional conception of an picturesque English village complete with its Parish Church, surrounding fields cultivated flowers, woods and Priory Ruins (known as ‘the Abbey’) there is also a Franciscan Priory ruins nearby. And yet, it houses something unique to English villages, the ancient Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.
My journey to Walsingam comprised three stages: by train, by coach, and by foot. I frist went by train from London, Liverpool Street to Norwich via train, (although the fist part of the journey -to Ingastone- was by replacement coach due to track maintenance) I struck up a conversation with a delightful woman named Rosy and we rambled on about differing subjects concerning Walsingham and religion til her stop. At Norwich I discovered that due to the Bank Holidays there was no coach service to Walsingham, or even to Fakenham a village 6 miles from Walsingham. At this point I had a sinking feeling and began to panic, not knowing how I was to get to Walsingham and realizing how grave my predicament was. I was going to have to walk the rest of the way, not a enjoyable thought. After obtaining a map of East Anglia, and making two desperate calls to the Accomodations Office at Walsingham explaining my problem, I went back to the bus station to see how close I could get. I happened to meet a grandmother from Dereham doing some shopping that day, who while confirming that there was no bus service that due to it being a Bank Holdiay there being only a skeleton service and all, suggested that I might make it to Dereham or Swaffam and walk from there, either one being closer than Norwich. After consulting with the bus driver I decided on Swaffam as my alighting point because as he said, the road to Fakenham was more direct at Swaffam,and I stood a bette chance of thumbing a lift (needless to say this didn’t happen).
The bus left at 6.10 and after enduring a nerve-wracking 45 minute ride to Swaffam, I stated for Walsingham at 7.00ish, stopping first at a conveince store which thankfully was open to grab a sandwich and drink.. Needless again to say that I had to break my fast to accomplish this, but which under the circumstances I believe was acceptable. Also, at the store I discovered that a group of students called Student Cross -which turned out to be a pilgrimage of crosses to Our Lady of Walsingham from as far away as Oxford some 140 miles- had preceeded me along the road, as the clerk said it was a shame I hadn’t met up with them earlier.
I now entered the loneliest part of my journey, the 16 mile stretch from Swaffam to Fakenham, which took me from 7.00 to 1.ish It was a long, ardouus and in the end, agonizing journey during whch I developed extremely sore leg and toe muscles on my left foot and cramps on my left side. My only companion aside from my thoughts and traffic -which I cursed when it overtook me and begged for it when absent- was Hale-Bopp the comet. I had a beautiful, full, clear, and probably enviable view of Comet Hale-Bopp in the North-west. Carrying my backpack and a duffe-bag became a strenuous task. I really didn’t despair of reaching my destination though, until right before the end, around 12.00 when I was still 8 miles from Fakenham, when it felt like I wasn’t making any headway. At the beginning I was walking into the dying sunset. Then it got dark, and though the stars were out, I felt closed in by the darkness of things around me. I even at one point went through a spot of woods which was probably the eeriest part of the whole trip, because there were trees blowing in the wind that sounded like doors creaking open. Also, at points along the way, I heard shots being fired as from a shotgun or riffle in the distance, which also worried me. At times it felt like I was phsycially entering that Dark Night of the Soul, spoke of so eloquently by St. John of the Cross. When I finally made it to Fakenham I was hurting in my legs somthing fierce, and also thirsty and hungry from my walk. Passing the City Centre without going in, as I had passed a number of pubs eariler, I became worried about finding something to eat, when suddenly I came upon a round-a-bout and with it a Shell gas station, where I was able to grab sandwich, chips (not french fries), a thing of water and a thing of Lit (carbonated pineapple-grapefruit juice -delicious!). I then went over to one of the nearby lamposts to sit down and eat, and it was there that I realized that I just could not make the last 5 miles to Walsingham. Wearily, I trudged back to Shell where I asked if the clerk had a number for a taxi. He did, and managed to reach one for me. And so in a matter of minutes, compared to the hours previously spent on reaching this point, I was in Walsingham, at the door of the Pilgrims’ Hospice. (Please do not ask why I didn’t call one earlier, I do not know. I know I was scared even to take the taxi to Walsingham, for fear of the cost). I was met at the gate by the night staff, and led to my room 9G where I wearily and thankfully sank into my bed in preparation for sleep.
Description --
Part II --
Part III --
Day One --
Day Two --
Day Three 
Site Features -- 
-- Walsingham 
-- Shrine Prayers
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