The religious bit

I'm very conscious that while, for many of my sponsors, the "religious" bit of the walk is the most important, for others it will be meaningless or worse. For the record, I am an Anglican, and the visits to the three Cathedrals will be very important to me. I don't expect anyone else to share my enthusiasm, but if they do, then they'll be welcome to share the prayers as well. These are coming from home Churches as well as the en-route

We will start at Southwark at 10am with prayers with Canon Jane Steen (when did I get so old that Canons can be younger and considerably prettier than me?). My mother, bless her, will be waiting outside to welcome those of you who don't want to go in.

On the Tuesday Canon Hesketh has ensured that we will be welcome to join in the Evensong service at Rochester Cathedral and prayers will be said for beat and all with eating disorders. However attendance is far from compulsory and Connie may well decide to head for the comfort of the Travel Lodge instead, and as long as she doesn't use up all the hot water that'll be fine.

On the Friday we will end the walk at Canterbury Cathedral which of course has been a centre of pilgrimage for centuries. Again, anyone who wishes to attend Evensong is assured of a warm welcome by Angela Prior the events coordinator. Please though, if you DO intend to do so, can you let us know as soon as possible so that we can let her know numbers. As long as we get there in reasonable time there are plenty of secular reminders of Chaucer's Pilgrims and I for one intend to visit The Chaucer Bookshop and the impressive city walls. Apparently there still plenty of pubs and restaurants in the city as well as I'm sure there were in Geoffrey's day too.