Join Andrew Kelly, founder of the Augustine Camino, for a week-long pilgrimage from Rochester Cathedral to the Shrine of St Augustine in Ramsgate via Aylesford, Faversham and Canterbury from October 2-8.
The leisurely pace of ten miles per day will allow plenty of time for sightseeing and conversation. Andrew knows all the religious, historical and artistic significance of the places encountered en-route, is an accomplished storyteller and genial walking companion.
Pilgrims will hear about St Augustine and his mission to convert the English, stay in a medieval monastery, explore the two oldest cathedrals in England and see work by the greatest Victorian architects including Augustus Pugin and George Gilbert Scott.
The cost is £50 per person per day and this includes accommodation booking, itinerary planning and Andrew’s services as guide.
You should budget about £45 per person per night for shared accommodation or £80 approximately for single occupancy depending on availability.
The usual accommodation can be seen here Accommodation – Augustine Camino.
For booking or further information email [email protected]
Andrew says:
“Walking the Augustine Camino pilgrimage route to Ramsgate is a great reminder of how lucky we are to live in this beautiful county. Having recently led a group from Hawaii and California, here are four things I learnt about how other’s see where we live:
- Kent is exotic – who would have guessed that they don’t have stinging nettles in Hawaii? We live in a luscious, green landscape with cherries, apples, grapes and hops literally overhanging the path. The ingredients for Chapel Down wines, Shepherd Neame beers and Ribenna are all grown along the route. Bishop’s Finger ale is named after the finger posts that point pilgrims to Canterbury. Here is Canon Anthony literally holding the Bishop’s finger – a relic of Thomas Becket!
- We have amazing stories to tell – saints, scholars, kings and Vikings have all left their mark and nothing beats hearing about them in the place where they lived. For instance, when Thomas More was beheaded by Henry VIII his daughter had to bribe the master of London Bridge to give her his head – he dropped it into her lap as she passed underneath in a boat. The head is now in St Dunstan’s, Canterbury.
- Our art is world class – the Cathedrals, monasteries and churches of Kent are a largely free display of some of the world’s best art. The recently cleaned medieval stained-glass in the South Window at Canterbury Cathedral sparkles like new, the Art Nouveau East window at St Andrew’s in Wickhambreaux stands comparison with the best pre -Raphaelite art, and the modern ceramics of Adam Kossowski at Aylesford are vivid and raw – here is Elijah calling down lightening from heaven in all his Old Testament glory.
- This is the birthplace of English speaking Christianity – Thanet is where St Augustine came ashore in 597 to bring Christianity to the English, Canterbury is the mother church of the world-wide Anglican communion and also home to the oldest English monastery and the oldest church in the English speaking world. The Shrine to St Augustine in Ramsgate, designed by Augustus Pugin (designer of Big Ben) is the inspiration for hundreds of churches throughout the world. Here is a pilgrim at St Augustine’s receiving her Compostela for completing the pilgrimage
The next week long guided pilgrimage along the Augustine Camino departs from Rochester Cathedral on Monday 2nd October – email [email protected] for more information – www.augustinecamino.co.uk
