Creative Pilgrim Marion Lynn walks through a wildlife meadow on Barham Downs - Credit: Creative Pilgrim Marion Lynn walks through a wildlife meadow on Barham Downs 

The Kent Pilgrimage Festival - ‘bring your own beliefs’ runs the tagline - takes place this month, with walks, talks and art exhibitions on offer. We hear from Liz Garnett, one of a group of artists who set off together on a series of walks in preparation for the festival... 

The idea of a pilgrimage has become synonymous with a long-distance endurance walk. However, in medieval times it could just as easily have been a short walk to a local shrine. For my fellow artists and me, it is a slower journey – a slow pilgrimage, in fact. That’s why we to follow a newly devised route, following St Martin’s Way across a series of 5 separate walks, which we began one morning in May and completed at the beginning of June.  The walks were a chance to stop and observe, supplementing the research we did before our journey began and that we continued to do after our journey. By travelling with fellow artists, it was a chance to see through their eyes, too. As a group of enthusiastic Kent creatives, including artists and writers, our objective was to explore the theme of pilgrimage as a way of pushing the boundaries of their creativity. 

Fortune was on our side even before we set off from Dover on a sunny May morning when we were blessed by the Area Dean of Dover, Reverend Andrew Bawtrey. At St Edmund’s chapel, we learnt of how pilgrims arriving safely at Dover would collect a flint stone with a hole from the beach and leave it at the chapel as an offering before heading on their journey to Canterbury. From there, we walked to the Maison Dieu to reflect on its importance as a place of rest for pilgrims and how the building has developed over the centuries. We picked up the River Dour that runs through Dover (one of 200 chalk streams in the world) where we spotted brown trout, and our pace slowed to enjoy the tranquillity of the natural space in an urban setting with ruins highlighting Dover’s industrial heritage.  

As our journey progressed, we got to know each other and enjoy the delightful mix of characters and personalities, each person’s experience bringing new insights. On our second walk, we passed through Temple Ewell with its links with the Knights Templar and up onto the Downs, through a nature reserve full of wildflowers before arriving at the small Norman church at Coldred for a picnic lunch in the sun. At Shepherdswell, a cup of tea at the East Kent Railway Trust afforded a chance to reflect on the mining industry that the railway was built to serve. Our journey then took us across farmland, flagging up the importance of agriculture to Kent’s economy, then on to Barfrestone church with its Romanesque-Norman architecture - artist Alex was inspired to spend some time sketching the remarkable carvings on the exterior of the building.

St Nicholas at Barfrestone - an architectural jewel dating from the Norman era - Credit: Liz Garnett

Later, we walked across wildflower meadows at Barham Downs – the site of Roman battles, tumuli and the discovery of the extraordinary Anglo-Saxon Kingston Brooch. We then headed into Kingston itself, once the home of sculptor Henry Moore, who was inspired by the flints he found on the Downs.  

Then it was a walk along the valley floor following the dry Nailbourne river to Bishopsbourne - once home to author Joseph Conrad - where we were shown the medieval paintings in the church. The route then took us back up onto the downs, across Bridge Hill, where Count Zborowski raced the cars that inspired Ian Fleming's children's classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and onto Patrixbourne. Here, the church boasts a wheel window, as well as Mass dials - designed as sundials to mark the times for worship -  carved into its doorway. This is where we first heard about the enormous trendyll candle of the Middle Ages, in fact a long taper wound around a drum and then pushed from Dover to Canterbury via Bridge. It was left at Thomas Beckett's shrine in the hope that his spirit would protect the City, then cut into tapers and used for pauper funerals. It's also where Alex spotted a bee's nest in the church chimney - a finding that inspired her to write and illustrate her book, The Bee's Tale.  

Alexandra le Rossignol sketching at St Martin's Canterbury - Credit: Liz Garnett

On our final walk, our route took us along the North Downs Way into Canterbury and St Martin’s church – the oldest church building in Britain still in use as a Church and, incidentally, the burial place of the author of the Rupert the Bear stores, Mary Tourtel. Here, we were given a guided tour before heading off to see the relic of Thomas Becket at St Thomas’ church. It wasn’t until we reached Canterbury Cathedral that we learnt of the link between Becket and Choughs and how it is believed that the birds dipped their feet and beaks in the blood of the saint as he lay dying, giving them their distinctive red colour. With these birds having recently been reintroduced into the county, we felt as if we'd come full circle.  

To know  For full details of the Kent Pilgrims Festival programme, see here.  Liz Garnett is a writer and photographer. Her book detailing walks she and her fellow artists took,  The Way of Saint Martin guidebook (ISBN 978-1-7399484-2-9), is available via lizgarnett.com.  Liz and her fellow artists’ exhibitions are running as part of the festival at St Mary's Church Dover and The Discovery Centre, 21-25 September. Alexandra le Rossignol will also be running a 3-day taster icon painting workshop, also at St Mary’s Church, Dover. 21 to 23 September.  

Another walking festival to try  New to the county, Maidstone’s Heart of Kent Walking Festival runs from 30th September until 2nd October offering everything from guided strolls to long-distance hikes. Not only will the area’s countryside be explored and celebrated, but its history and agriculture, too, with walks highlighting well-being and words adding to an energising mix. visitmaidstone.com/walking-festival