INTRODUCTION

Stand at the crossroads, and look,

and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way lies; and walk in it,

and find rest for your souls.


Jeremiah 6:16

The Pilgrim Ways

The outcome of the Hearts in Search of God project is for there to be a walking pilgrimage route in each of the 22 Catholic dioceses of England & Wales starting at the cathedral of the diocese and ending at a shrine within the same diocese. The Ways have all been planned and there are downloadable GPX files for them all.


The Project Lead will walk the Ways during 2023 and 2024 and once they have been walked there will be walking guidance and spiritual resources to enhance the journey. In the Documents page of this website there are downloadable pilgrim ‘passports’ and ‘testimoniums’ for pilgrims who complete the Way. The Project Lead would grateful for feedback from pilgrims who have walked the route.


All the Ways can be seen on the map in the Home page of this website.   

Churches and Shrines

Many churches are closed during daylight hours. If you would like to visit the churches and shrines it is best to check the parish website first. You can also email or phone the parish office to see is someone would be willing to open the church. Please be aware that many priests cover more than one church and so may live many miles away. 

Navigation: Maps and Apps

Getting lost is frustrating and can be dangerous. Waymarks get missed or vandalised and paths and features change. OS Maps are the traditional solution and remain much loved. You can buy maps for the areas the Ways pass through or print maps for the Ways from our downloads page

 

Using a digital walking navigation app

The advantage of this is that you can see exactly where you are on your phone or GPX device. The disadvantage is that you might run out of battery, so carry maps as a backup and/or a battery charger and keep them both dry! There are several apps offering offline digital map navigation for smartphones. The Pilgrim Ways were created using Outdooractive, which will require an annual subscription which allows you to browse the latest 1:25 and 1:50 maps (and larger scales too) for all of Britain, and import the GPX routes files from www.pilgrimways.org.uk into the app. It also has a SatNav-style voice guidance system for each route. You can turn this off in your phone settings if it annoys you!

 

How to load a GPX route from www.pilgrimways.org.uk

1.    Go to the webpage of the Way you want to walk and click on “Learn More”. This takes you to the Outdooractive page for the Way.

2.    You will see route map and topography for the Way in detail.

3.    You can print the Way map is various formats and also download the GPX file from this page.

4.    Walking guidance and background notes and downloadable maps can be found on the Way page on www.pilgrimways.org.uk in the box below the route map.

5.    If you would like to download the inner and outer way notes and walking instructions, click the “Way Guidance Information” button.

6.    This will take you to a brief questionnaire and then to the Way downloads page. Select the button for the Way you want to walk. 


By Phil McCarthy 15 Apr, 2024
The Holywell Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Wrexham from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows in Wrexham to the National Shrine of St Winefride at Holywell. St Winefride’s Well is believed to be the only British shrine that has a history of uninterrupted pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Way is north from the Cathedral to join the Wat's Dyke Way which then passes through a valley beside the River Alyn to the villages of Caergwrle and Hope. After 10 miles the Pilgrim Way diverges from the Wat's Dyke Way to visit the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buckley, re-joining the Wat’s Dyke Way just over a mile after this. On leaving the village of Sychdyn the Wat's Dyke Way diverts from the line of the Dyke to take in a Celtic hill fort at Rhosesmor. The Pilgrim Way takes a more direct route, but the two paths coincide again shortly before crossing the A55 North Wales Expressway. After this the path follows an impressive section of the Dyke. The Way ends at the Shrine of St Winefride in Holywell, but pilgrims may wish to walk on to Basingwerk Abbey, the ruins of a C12 Cistercian monastery (1.0 miles). This is the start of the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way.
By Phil McCarthy 11 Mar, 2024
St Theodore's Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Salford.
By Phil McCarthy 04 Mar, 2024
The Way of Blessed Cyprian Tansi is from the Cathedral of St Barnabas in Nottingham to Mount St Bernard Abbey near Coalville.
By Phil McCarthy 05 Feb, 2024
The Way of Our Lady of Fernyhalgh and St Alphonsa is a Pilgrim Way from the Cathedral of St Peter in Lancaster to the Shrine of Our Lady at Fernyhalgh and on to the Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa in Preston.
By Phil McCarthy 12 Jan, 2024
The Way of the Annunciation is a Pilgrim Way from the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Norwich to the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Church of the Annunciation in Little Walsingham.
By Phil McCarthy 20 Nov, 2023
The Cornish Celtic Catholic Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Plymouth from the Cathedral of SS Mary & Boniface in Plymouth to St Michael's Mount, Marazion, Cornwall
By Phil McCarthy 28 Oct, 2023
The Way of Blessed Dominic Barberi and St Edmund Arrowsmith from the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool to the shrines at St Helens and Ashton-in-Makerfield.
By Phil McCarthy 18 Oct, 2023
The Way of Our Lady of Light, from the Cathedral of St Mary & St Helen in Brentwood to the Shrine of Our Lady of Light in Clacton-on-Sea.
By Phil McCarthy 24 Sep, 2023
The Way of Our Lady of the Valleys from St David's Metropolitan Cathedral in Cardiff to the Shrines to Our Lady at Penrhys and Abercynon.
By Phil McCarthy 22 Aug, 2023
The St Chad's Way from St Chad's Cathedral in central Birmingham to the new Shrine of St Chad in Lichfield.
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