Carrying a Cross

Today's the day of the Northern Cross meeting. Me and Paca (who's currently asleep on the sofa) have to go to Amersham to discuss route plans, overnight stops, numbers of walkers, and all sorts of other things I'm sure I'll find out about when I get there.

Northern Cross happens every year over the week running up to easter. Groups of pilgrims set out from various locations in Northumberland and Scotland, each with their own cross to carry (most are eight feet high). We all walk towards Lindisfarne, arriving there on the morning of Good Friday. Then everybody spends Easter weekend there on Holy Island, before heading off home on Easter Sunday. If you're even remotely interested, have a look at the website and think about coming along - it's well worth it!

Part of the fun is the stories that are involved. The area we walk through, and particularly Lindisfarne itself, is closely linked up with those ancient Northumbrian saints coming over from Iona and ultimately Ireland, who were in part responsible for the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. I'd like to look up some of the stories before I go this year, so that tales of Columba, Cuthbert, Aidan, Hild and the like can be told on the way.