Thursday 18 July 2019

Notes on pilgrimage July 2019

Gerard Hughes (In Search of the Way) on the uninhabited Scottish island. Most people would not have the resources to cope - not just physically, but mainly mentally.
p123 "The pilgrim must travel light, otherwise he cannot continue on his way."
p 124 "Unless you lose your life, you cannot find it."
Both of Hughes' sisters committed suicide: he seems tough. There is no talk of depression.
He said that his family didn't go on seaside holidays but visited the relics of saints.

p108 "Our whole life and character is contained in any incident, no matter how trivial it seems."


- George Borrow, like many other long distance walkers, was a depressive

Other books:
In Praise of Walking/Thomas Clark
The Path to Rome/Hilaire Belloc

Saturday 6 July 2019

A day trip to Durham and fish and chips by the sea



A 500-mile round trip from King's Cross but worth it...
A wedding at the church in Kelloe - then fish and chips on the beach at Seaham where there is a huge metal statue of a World War One soldier on the front. Traditionally people picked up coal on the beach at Seaham. Still the odd bit to be found....


Reading and watching

  • Foot by Foot to Santiago de Compostela/Judy Foot
  • The Testament of Mary with Fiona Shaw at the Barbican
  • The Testament of Mary/Colm Toibin
  • Schwanengesang/Schubert - Tony Spence
  • Journals/Robert Falcon Scott
  • Fugitive Pieces/Ann Michaels
  • Unless/Carol Shields
  • Faust/Royal Opera House
  • The Art of Travel/Alain de Botton
  • Mad Men Series 6
  • A Week at The Airport/Alain de Botton
  • The Railway Man/Eric Lomax
  • Bright Lights, Big City/Jay McInerney
  • Stones of Venice/John Ruskin
  • The Sea, the Sea/Iris Murdoch
  • Childe Harold/Lord Byron
  • All The Pretty Horses/Cormac McCarthy
  • Extreme Rambling/Mark Thomas
  • Story of my Life/Jay McInerney
  • Venice Observed/Mary McCarthy