I should be in England one week from today, on my way to Cornwall with my cousin, Karen, and her husband, Tony. They are meeting me at Heathrow Airport and we are heading directly southwest together. Karen and I are related on the Hoskin side of my family. Her 90 year old mother, Pat, is my 80 year old father's older sister. They grew up in Liskeard, Cornwall, along with their older sister, Pam (who died many years ago) where their father, John Collins Hoskin, was the editor and printer of the Cornish Times, the local newspaper for the region. I remember my grandfather as a strong, large man who had a full head of white hair. Although I didn't see him often, I always loved being around him. He felt solid and secure, even if a little intimidating! My grandmother, Edith, was even more intimidating! I remember as a little girl hugging her around her middle and she was hard, not squishy and warm. Even so, I loved visiting them and being in their house and kitchen. Perhaps I was intimidated by them because I didn't see them very often and didn't know them very well.
Together, Karen and I are walking the 27-mile The Saint's Way Path from Padstow to Fowey through the land of our grandparents and ancestors. I am so blessed and grateful that we are walking this path together. I feel that there is a powerful opportunity for us to walk together, get to know each other, pull the stories of our grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, together, and to walk this beautiful and ancient land together. We will walk for 2-3 days with Tony being our much appreciated camp tenderer and sag wagon! Karen is about 10 years older than me, and we really don't know each other very well. I got to spend time with her last fall when we all visited Kent to celebrate her mother's 90th birthday, and I know that I really liked her and appreciated who she is. One afternoon, we got to walk and talk together on the lanes and through the fields around her house and we walked well together - easily, effortlessly. Looking back, I believe that walk sowed the seeds for our walking together next week! I will get to know her in a way that is possible only when you walk with someone else, especially when you walk hours and days together. What we have missed out on from all these years past, we will get to develop and deepen in our relationship in three days - as cousins, women and pilgrims on the path.
I found out about this path several months ago when I was googling something, who knows what. I knew as soon as I saw the description and the map that I wanted to include this in my Cornwall pilgrimage and I also thought it would perfect for Karen and me to do together. This is what I first read about it:
Forth an Syns, is a long-distance footpath that cuts right across Cornwall from Padstow on the north coast to Fowey on the south. Roughly 27 miles long, the route only came to light in 1984 when local ramblers investigating public paths found a series of forgotten granite stiles. The footpath features historic remains, ancient footbridges, old tracks and fascinating churches and passes through a rich and varied landscape of valleys, woodlands, pastures, moors and ancient field systems.
These initial three days of walking will be my transition time. I will get my walking-on-Cornish-soil walking legs under me without having to carry my full load (Tony will have my full back pack in the car or at the campsite - thank you, Tony!), I will get to camp and eat with my cousins, and I will be walking with Karen for 2-3 days. I will not yet be alone. I feel so blessed that I am so supported to connect with my roots and the land of my people. With my cousin. On this ancient path that literally goes right through the land of my grandparents and beyond. The perfect length - 27 miles, or roughly 9 miles per day. How does it get any better than this?!
Together, Karen and I are walking the 27-mile The Saint's Way Path from Padstow to Fowey through the land of our grandparents and ancestors. I am so blessed and grateful that we are walking this path together. I feel that there is a powerful opportunity for us to walk together, get to know each other, pull the stories of our grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, together, and to walk this beautiful and ancient land together. We will walk for 2-3 days with Tony being our much appreciated camp tenderer and sag wagon! Karen is about 10 years older than me, and we really don't know each other very well. I got to spend time with her last fall when we all visited Kent to celebrate her mother's 90th birthday, and I know that I really liked her and appreciated who she is. One afternoon, we got to walk and talk together on the lanes and through the fields around her house and we walked well together - easily, effortlessly. Looking back, I believe that walk sowed the seeds for our walking together next week! I will get to know her in a way that is possible only when you walk with someone else, especially when you walk hours and days together. What we have missed out on from all these years past, we will get to develop and deepen in our relationship in three days - as cousins, women and pilgrims on the path.
I found out about this path several months ago when I was googling something, who knows what. I knew as soon as I saw the description and the map that I wanted to include this in my Cornwall pilgrimage and I also thought it would perfect for Karen and me to do together. This is what I first read about it:
Forth an Syns, is a long-distance footpath that cuts right across Cornwall from Padstow on the north coast to Fowey on the south. Roughly 27 miles long, the route only came to light in 1984 when local ramblers investigating public paths found a series of forgotten granite stiles. The footpath features historic remains, ancient footbridges, old tracks and fascinating churches and passes through a rich and varied landscape of valleys, woodlands, pastures, moors and ancient field systems.
These initial three days of walking will be my transition time. I will get my walking-on-Cornish-soil walking legs under me without having to carry my full load (Tony will have my full back pack in the car or at the campsite - thank you, Tony!), I will get to camp and eat with my cousins, and I will be walking with Karen for 2-3 days. I will not yet be alone. I feel so blessed that I am so supported to connect with my roots and the land of my people. With my cousin. On this ancient path that literally goes right through the land of my grandparents and beyond. The perfect length - 27 miles, or roughly 9 miles per day. How does it get any better than this?!
As Karen and I complete our pilgrimage together, I will head further southwest to Penzance to organize and prepare myself - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually - to get to Carn Les Boel and start my personal pilgrimage to walk the Mary Michael Line through Cornwall. My intention is to walk through Cornwall to Brentor and to reconnect with my taproot, my roots. I will share more of this tomorrow, because this is the essence, and the intention of my pilgrimage, and deserves its own post.
The Saints Way, and walking with Karen, is my sacred preparation for a very physical journey. Three days of walking with one other, north-south, through the land of my grandparents, is a gift and blessing. Knowing that I will cross this path as I head west-east on the Mary Michael Line will actually feel like a coming home, a return to what is familiar. I smile as I type this.
I am so grateful for this journey and for receiving the awareness of these sacred and ancient paths. I am curious about their relationship to the Camino and to the pilgrimage to Santiago in northwest Spain. Do you think it's possible that pilgrims from Ireland, Wales and Scotland would walk north to south through Cornwall, either on the Saint's Way, or St. Michael's Way further south to avoid the treacherous currents and waters around Lands End and then take a boat to northern Spain to continue their pilgrimage to Santiago?
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