The whole 177.8 mile pilgrimage could be accomplished by a fit walker in a fortnight or less. But maybe you want to walk for fewer miles each day, or just at weekends, or on odd days when you have the time and energy. This guide caters for multiple approaches. That is largely due to the fact there is no waymarked route, as there are with many other significant pilgrim paths, and no comprehensive guidebook. One reason for re-establishing the London to Walsingham Camino is to seek to raise awareness of the significance of Walsingham. The London to Walsingham Caminoguidebook is part of an attempt to change that: to re-establish a walking route which, while being as true to the original way as possible, takes account of the modern realities on the ground. A pilgrim path that offers a wonderful long-distance route, on footpaths and quiet lanes, across the glorious east of England. A truly pleasurable and uplifting walking experience. You will note that I have at least one church on the itinerary each day, where possible for either for an Anglican service, Catholic Mass or a simple blessing. Attendance at these is entirely optional.

Some of you have committed to completing the full pilgrimage, others have opted to dip in and out. At this stage it looks as if about half a dozen of us will walk the full route, with variable numbers joining as for a time. Before Henry VIII outlawed pilgrimage and the veneration of saints in 1538, the route from London to the shrine at Walsingham in Norfolk was the most popular pilgrimage in England.

For 400 years, no pilgrims walked to Walsingham. Since the 1930s, when both Catholic and Anglican shrines were re-established here, Walsingham has undergone a revival. It draws around 300,000 pilgrims each year, but hardly any of them walk much more than the final Holy Mile, and only a few church and other groups trace the full route from London. Andy said: ‘It would be wonderful to see what is arguably England’s most important pilgrim route re-established, with a comprehensive guidebook, pilgrim stamps in churches along the way, and perhaps ultimately a waymarked route.

I hope to gather a small band of pilgrims around me who will walk long sections (possibly all) of the route. Approximately 180 miles in all!

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Identifying the very best walking route at each point, and offering a good alternative route via Bury St Edmunds, will be key to the success of the project. Kings from Henry III to Henry VIII and queens including Catherine of Aragon came here on pilgrimage. From the 1930s, with the Catholic shrine re-established, and an Anglican one founded, Walsingham again became the country’s most important purely-pilgrim destination.