I wish I could remember who recommended Robert Twigger’s Walking the Great North Line to me. I’d like to thank whoever it was publicly, for two reasons: I hadn’t heard of it until that person told me about it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Twigger, the author of a dozen books, realized one day that many ancient sacred sites in England, including Stonehenge and Avebury Circle, are arranged on a line leading north from Christchurch on the south coast to the Isle of Lindisfarne, close to the Scottish border. He decided to make a walking pilgrimage along that line, mostly alone but sometimes accompanied by friends, as a way of learning more. The educational process this book reveals is embodied and experiential; by the time he reaches Lindisfarne, Twigger (and his readers) have learned about tribal religions (mostly ancient, mostly in England), the link between sacred places and water (all those holy springs!), the way that a series of religions has been drawn to those places (not, he argues, because they were poaching on their competitors but because those places have something special). He also learns about himself, particularly his timidity when confronted by landowners about his trespassing and its sources, both personal and social.
I learned other things from this book: the strict limits on access to private land in England (stay on the footpath!), how to ford a river, how to stealth camp, what to do when it rains constantly. I’ve always thought that the reuse of sacred sites (and festival dates) was just a form of clever marketing, but the connection between those places and springs of fresh (and sometimes mineralized) water is making me reconsider my sceptical materialism. I don’t agree with his advice about avoiding blisters (oversized boots, in my experience, cause rather than prevent them), but if that works for him, I’m glad.
I’m giving a paper at a pilgrimage conference this week, and Walking the Great North Line helped me get into the right frame of mind. Plus Twigger is an enjoyable narrator, not afraid of revealing his many errors and ridiculousnesses. He might be a fun walking companion, at least for a few days.
An added bonus: he briefly discusses something I’ve been struggling to write about, and that discussion, and his sources, will help me understand my thoughts as I keep trying.
So thanks, friend who recommended this book!
(Edit: it was Joy Hamilton! Eventually I remember things. Thanks, Joy!)