On the Pilgrims' trail to Canterbury

There are four long-distance National Trails for walkers within an hour or so of London (one, the Thames Path, cuts right through the capital). But I chose the North Downs Way because it follows the historic Pilgrims' Way for much of its course to Canterbury. The route, trekked by thousands of medieval pilgrims, often on horse-back but also on foot, to the shrine of murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket, was inspiration for Chaucer. His entertaining poem, about a band of such travellers who embark on a story-telling contest to pass the time as they ride, was the first major book printed in English (1476).

One of the beauties of Britain’s national footpath network is that it is so easy to select to walk little bits of it, as if from an a la carte menu. Use the excellent train or bus network to get you to a chosen starting point, and return from a different town at the end of your walk. The North Downs Way, for example, is 153 miles (240 km) long--stretching from the Surrey Hills to the White Cliffs of Dover--and would take 10-12 days to walk in one go. But it is more often enjoyed by day trippers sampling the trail in bite-size chunks!

Morning found me at London’s Charing Cross station, heading in the opposite direction to thousands of commuters starting a frenetic day in the city. A pleasant thought: I would soon be in the rolling green hills of Kent, among apple orchards and picture-book villages! The train rattled past Southwark Cathedral, from where (at the city’s Tabard Inn which is sadly no more) Chaucer’s pilgrims started their journey early one morning in 1387.

Just 90 minutes later I was jumping off the train in the heart of Kent, the aptly named ‘garden of England’, to the accompaniment of birdsong, and following the signposts to the North Downs Way. (Once on the National Trail, signs bearing acorn symbols ensure you never go astray.) It did not disappoint. The spring-time apple orchards were full of blossom and woods carpeted with perfumed wild bluebells. Other distinctive Kentish features were the hop-fields (hops are used to give British beer its flavour) and straggly hop-poles reached skyward from several fields; and the conical-roofed ‘oast houses’. These were once used for drying the hops but have now almost exclusively been converted into comfortable homes.

The path climbed up chalky hills, offering sun-lit vistas across the countryside to distant villages, then down into the shade of another wood. Just when I was about to hesitate about the path’s direction, there another reassuring ‘acorn’ sign would appear, pointing the way.

The best way to see any English village is on foot. That way you notice all the little details, the differing architectural styles, the carefully tended flowers, and everyone has time for a cheerful ‘hello’. Chilham is one such gem, its focal point a square lined with half-timbered houses, a pub and a church (there is even a castle, its garden populated with noisy peacocks) and I suspect it has changed little since the days when weary pilgrims passed through on the last stage of their journey.

Overall I found the path relatively easy walking, and there are plenty of diversions. If I had walked the entire route, I could have visited 56 attractions, from castles and stately homes to vineyards, and called at 288 pubs! Among the highlights: Leeds Castle, fortress and palace to kings and queens; and Rochester, a compact but historic city linked with author Charles Dickens.

At Chartham Hatch the trail goes through a private cottage garden, where I talked with the gardener. Most walkers he meets are surprised, as I was, to be allowed to cross private property – thanks to the ancient right-of-way.

Pausing at a nearby pub, the Royal Oak, I find that the landlord is another chatty local (I am, after all, the only customer). His passion, it turns out, is a pub game called ‘bat and trap’. The game is unique to Kent and not only does his pub boast more pitches than any other, it sells beer from Britain’s oldest brewery.

Back on the path, the trail crosses even more spectacular bluebell woodland. Two ladies walking four energetic sausage dogs (or is it the other way round?) are hauled past me. Then the path descends to journey’s end: Canterbury. I imagine the emotion felt by generations of pilgrims as they gazed up at the towers of the cathedral. It is a strange sensation, after all that peaceful countryside, to be part of a busy city once again. A dramatic entrance is made through the castellated towers of West Gate. Medieval pilgrims who arrived here late in the day were locked out of the city all night, no matter how weary!

A candle burns night and day inside majestic Canterbury Cathedral at the place where the shrine of the martyred St. Thomas of Canterbury stood from 1220-1538 (when it was destroyed by order of King Henry VIII). There is much more from Chaucer’s time to see in the city, including the Poor Priests’ Hospital, now a museum; the pilgrims’ hospital; and St. Augustine’s Abbey.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – including the bawdy Miller’s Tale -- are brought entertainingly to life in a visitor centre where you travel with the medieval pilgrims from the Tabard Inn.

The city has several events to mark the 600th anniversary. They include an exhibition on the poet’s life, “Passing Tales” (Sept. 30 – Nov. 4, admission free). The annual Canterbury Festival (Oct. 14-28) this year premieres a new set of Canterbury Tales by contemporary writers. In London, a commemorative Chaucer service (Oct. 25) will be held in London’s Westminster Abbey, where he is buried. Caxton’s 1476 printing of Canterbury Tales is on show in an exhibition at the British Library (until Oct. 15).

On Apr. 16, 2001, the anniversary of the date Chaucer's travellers supposedly gathered at the Tabard, costumed pilgrims will assemble at Southwark Town Hall and journey to Canterbury, arriving as a cavalcade on Apr. 21. A new way to sample the Pilgrim’s Way in style is also staged next year. “Chaucer Live!” (July 24-28, 2001) features a three-and-a-half day walk along the Way from Rochester to Canterbury, with spectators (the ‘pilgrims’) entertained by minstrels, jugglers, conjurors, songsters and bards!

Having sampled this slice of British history on foot (with a little help from the train, by which I returned to London) I am tempted to walk parts of other National Trails. With country pubs and tea-shops for sustenance, and a choice of good-value accommodation such as bed and breakfasts, farmhouses and Youth Hostels, I have decided it is the perfect way to refresh mind, body and spirit. Geoffrey Chaucer would have approved.