Philip Carr-Gomm

In The Shrine Way, Jim Hindle has created a thoroughly recommended book about a very modern pilgrimage along the Pilgrim’s Way between Winchester and Canterbury. Hindle had something of a Christian background but at the point of undertaking his pilgrimage “felt more immediately at home with a belief system that first and foremost honoured the earth.” However, he “became convinced that [the pilgrimage] would go a long way to sorting out my life, even to somehow make the world a better place.”

Hindle doesn’t take the journey alone. He is accompanied by literature – comparing his journey to the observations in Hilaire Belloc’s The Old Road and, to a lesser extent, William Cobbett’s Rural Rides – and history. Not only are there brief historical vignettes about the places he is passing but the story of Henry II and Thomas Becket is compellingly woven through his own journey. However, far from presenting these figures as simply people in history, Hindle brings them to life. Standing in front of the Anthony Gormley statue of Becket in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, Hindle reflects that it is “stark and ethereal, the nails jutting out almost like barbs, but also forming a human figure that is graceful and speaks strangely of peace.”

However, there are more pressing issues which stalk Hindle on his journey; his own mental health issues are explored, as is the seemingly hopeless and deteriorating international situation. Hindle reflects that “In a world that suddenly seemed crazier than ever, walking felt like one of the few givens left.  From his ongoing concerns about where to replenish is water bottle to walking with infected toes, from an underpass “like something from Battlestar Galactica” to the “outright enchantment” of Coldrum Long Barrow, Hindle weaves a thoroughly compelling narrative which carries you with him every step of the way. But don’t expect any sudden revelations or happy endings. This book is far more human than that.  What you will find, however, is hope, dotted through the landscape in the most unexpected places. On the station at Redhill, Hindle finds a poem on a wall: “It was called ‘Dragons’ and by an eleven-year-old girl. There was something about a Bat King. The train pulled away as I was halfway through it. It said we would just about make it.” Hopefully, we will.