August 2020 – a time when COVID restrictions had not yet fully eased. Weekends away had to be in the UK. Having grown used to solitude we thought a pilgrimage could be an interesting thing to do. So we delved into a book titled ‘Pilgrim Pathways’ by Andy Bell. This book features short pilgrimages that can be done in a weekend.

Living in the South West, meant that a road trip to Somerset was achievable. So we decided to take the pilgrimage ‘Path to Avalon’. In the book the route runs from Cheddar to Glastonbury: 22 miles. But we wanted to just walk a day pilgrimage so we decided to enter the route at Wells. This meant we would walk 11.4 miles.

So we set off from Wells Cathedral. The Cathedral itself dominates this small city. The stone figures that adorn the outside of the cathedral show a Christian narrative in stone. I am sure there is a ‘who’s who’ of the 300 of the 400 remaining figures. I wonder how many of these apostles, angels, saints and mythical or allegorical beings have walked this route?

The walk took us past the cathedral through Penniless Porch. We continued out past the Bishops Palace, the residence of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The palace has been the residence of the bishops since the early thirteenth century.

The walk out of Wells, joins the Monarch’s Way, which is a 625 mile long distance footpath. It allegedly follows the route taken by King Charles II during his escape. Cromwell defeated him in the final battle of the Civil Wars at Worcester in 1651. The long distance path starts in Worcester. It winds its way through Shropshire and Staffordshire. Then it heads south towards Bristol before reaching the south coast at Charmouth. It then travels east, passing Salisbury and intersecting with the South Downs Way, finally reaching Shoreham-by-Sea. Maybe this is a bucket list footpath for another time.

With the Mendip ridge is in the background. We head up through woodland. We make our way towards Worminster Down. On our way, we look out for the hidden camps that we know exist in the woods. These camps support the alternative lifestyles that Somerset is known for.

There, we navigate through large fields of Corn, with their large stalks towering over us.

The tall corn fields lead on to Apple Orchards field upon field of Apple orchards. Obviously we are deep in Somerset Cider country! We are soon rewarded with views of the Somerset countryside and lush English hedgerows of blackthorn, hawthorn and rambling flowers. After being enclosed by fields of maize and apples the views are now breathtaking. Views out to the Mendip ridge can be seen from here.

We head to the church of St Peter in the hamlet of North Wooton. It is there we find a bench to eat our pasty lunch. Sadly the church is closed.

The walk skirts the Somerset levels. Then it heads up to the famous Worthy Farm. The popular Glastonbury festival is held there. It looks very different now with its empty fields. It’s hard to imagine thousands of people come here to see Music Legends.

We then start to head to the village of West Pennard. From this part of the walk you start to see the finish Point of the Isle of Avalon. You can also see glimpses of famous Glastonbury Tor.

As we walk we come across a very Old Oak tree known as the Oaks of Avalon. There are obviously some local traditions happening here

Sadly time was not on our side and we were losing light. So, we decided to do the last leg of our journey by bus. As the bus route skirted around the famous mound, we got great views of the Tor.

How this pilgrimage inspired my creative practice.

On my return the creative in my wanted to consider the walk through the medium of print.

I did not have access to a studio as we were still in lock-down. So I adopted simple monoprinting techniques. in this first print I used the image of the path up to the Tor. The path offers a less direct but easier journey to the top of the Tor. I used the words HOPE in large letters as this was a very used word during the COVID pandemic.

I then decided to use screen printing and test out my new print screen. I linked this with the great oaks of Avalon that we came across on the journey. I also tried etching on a tetra pack, another simple method to use whilst in lock down. This created a more atmospheric delicate Glastonbury Tor.

I also used digital print creating a zine of images which illustrate a pictorial journey of the walk.

If you would like to print this out on an A4 page, you can make your own zine. You can download it here.