We began today as usual with our morning prayers: Morning Offering, Memorare, Angelus, and Lauds.
Frans had a slight glitch with his wireless phone plan that prevented him from uploading photos for this blog, but Juliana and Karen back on the home front were able to help him solve the problem. (Hey, Verizon: slowing down the data transmission speed after 0.5 GB of usage just isn’t cool!)
With morning coffee and tea in hand, we learned from Leslieann, our leg leader for the day, that there was rain in the forecast, so Harry demonstrated the correct technique for putting on our ponchos. Luckily, our clothes were dry from the night before!
Above: Morning briefing for our walk from Alresford
to Alton
Left: Demonstration of putting on the poncho.
Admire the excellent technique... arms first, then up
and over head (and backpack).
After breakfast at the Swan Hotel, we came upon St. John the Baptist church in Alresford. We were not aware of this church and were delighted to visit. The main stained glass window behind the altar depicts the Glorified Christ with the inscription “I am the resurrection and the life.”
We picked up sandwiches and stowed them for lunch in our packs, attended Mass at St. Gregory the Great Church, and then set out on the trail. Our first stop was the quaint village of Bishop's Sutton (population: 1,381). The word “Sutton” as used here means “Southern Homestead” or “the south town”.
(1) Left: Road through Bishop's Sutton, (2) Right: Leslie on the path. All smiles at the start of the day!
We stopped in St. Nicholas Church in Bishop's Sutton and received a pilgrim passport stamp. This Norman church was built in the 12th century on the previous site of a Saxon church. You'll notice in the photo below that there are no murals or paintings in this church. The iconoclasm of the 17th century Reformation movement in England mandated the removal of potentially idolatrous images and artifacts in churches, and the whitewashed walls and bare altar of St. Nicholas reflect this theology. Although the loss of artistic and religious heritage is a sorrow, the church's plain charm is still quite beautiful and evocative of a simple countryside religiosity. You can read more about the complex history of Reformed theologies and religious art here.
(1) Top: The path to St. Nicholas Church, Bishop's Sutton, (2) Bottom left: Exterior, (3) Bottom right: Interior
After Bishop's Sutton, we made our way to the village of Ropley, visiting St. Peter's Church there. Although this church was built in Norman times, little remains of the early structure due to a devastating fire in 2014.
(1) Left: Upon arrival at St. Peter's Church, Ropley, (2) Right: Outside view of the church. Notice the interesting roofline!
Back on the trail, here are some pictures of our environs. Lots of:
SHEEP COWS FIELDS NARROW VERY NARROW WIDE OPEN
PATHS PATHS PATHS
Another feature of the Pilgrims' Way are these crazy gates that we've had to climb over to get from one pasture to another. The gates are designed to let people cross, but keep the livestock in. I guess we all passed the test... no animals here! (Though the packs make us feel like packhorses.)
Traversing the gates
(1) Left: We don't look lost, do we? (2) Right: Afflicted by typical British weather.
Here we are hiking.
The term pilgrim comes from the Latin per (through) + ager (field, countryside). A pilgrim in the most general sense is literally one who walks through fields!
We arrived at the village of Chawton later than we had planned, so unfortunately we didn't get to visit the Jane Austen House Museum there. Next time! Austen lived in Chawton for the last 8 years of her life, and in this house she revised Pride and Prejudice and penned Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion.
Plaque memorializing Austen's Chawton residence: Such art as hers can never grow old.
Left: Cat on a hot thatched roof in Chawton. Little oddities like this are fun to spot along the way!
We pressed on to the lovely town of Alton, our final destination for the day. We didn’t go into All Saints Church today (our original plan) because we were too tired to fight the traffic to cross the road. Yes, we just wanted to get to the hotel! Walking this many miles with 20 pounds (and 60+ years, to boot) is exhausting, and we are still in the 'toughening' period of the pilgrimage, getting used to the daily physical strains of walking.
Exterior view of All Saints' Church in Alton.
We arrived at Alton's Swan Hotel where we will spend the night, tired but proud of our 12.88 mile accomplishment. Leslieann led us for the day in a fine and determined fashion!
(1) Left: Approaching the Swan Hotel in Alton, (2) Dinner at the hotel
We look forward to a restful sleep and another day hiking through the glory of God’s creation.
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