50ccPilgrim.uk

Well, I had in mind a movie about my Vespa ride through Europe last summer. I imagined Chris Hemsworth playing me as a kind of superheroic pilgrim boldly going where no cassock-wearing scooter-riding priest had gone before ... It turns out the movie kinda sorta exists already: The Pope's Exorcist . It's a horror flick, not about a pilgrimage, and it stars a somewhat portly Russell Crowe. But he does ride around in his cassock on a scooter (a Lambretta, if you're interested) in Italy. So, you know, cool, right?  And a fun fact? In the early 2000s I was the convenor of the Church in Wales national group of Bishops' deliverance ministry advisors (the new name for exorcists). But trust me, that sounds way more sensational than it was in reality. It's just nothing like in the movie ... except for the scooter. If you're interested, the movie's coming to Netflix on January 19.

It's my mum's birthday today - that's her in the photo, although that was taken a few years back. When I was little she used to tell us kids, when we asked her age, that she was 14. I don't think I started to question that until I was nearly 14 myself, at which point it began to seem improbable. I know how old she is now, of course, but a gentleman never tells such things. And she brought me up to be a gentleman.  I know not everyone has a mother who, like Mary Poppins, is practically perfect in every way . And I do feel sorry for you, if that's you. I did. She's loved her kids, grandkids, great grandkids and other assorted relatives unstintingly, and sacrificed so much over the years to ensure we had the best possible go of it in life. She's charming and caring and I love her to bits. I've found, with the passing of the years and the arrival of the next couple of generations, that I've come to appreciate my parents (and step-parents) a g...

Went for a winter walk in the woods this morning with my sweetheart, Sally. It was brisk and icy, but the skies were clear and the January sun, low in the sky, brought out all the colours around us so richly. We started at a brisk pace on a wide, gravelled path, but the further we went the trickier (and muddier) it got. At one point we found an animal trail through the trees and picked our way along it, spotting deer and badger tracks along with scat and other evidence of those who'd shared the same path. As always, the slower we travelled the more we saw.  We went up to Scotland over Christmas and travelled by car, on the motorways. That's not something I often do these days, and I was surprised to find that the speed felt quite unnerving. I kept surreptitiously glancing over at the speedometer, wondering whether Sally was flooring it a bit - but she's an excellent and careful driver who, mostly, was under  the limit rather than over it. It's just that moto...

I spent the last few days of 2024 in Scotland with family, and had the opportunity to revisit St Andrew's, where my second (Scottish) pilgrimage had culminated in the summer. A wonderful opportunity to revisit some good memories, only this time with a warm bed to look forward to at the end of the day!  I picked up a few things on the beach which caught my eye: some smooth green glass, a rough red pebble, and a bleached bone. Heading out for a walk this afternoon back in Leicestershire I find them still tucked into the pocket of my jacket.  I don't always know quite what to do with these little things that grab my attention, but over the summer this blog was a great place just to mull them for a brief while. And mulling felt very much in the spirit of the slow journey made by a 50cc Pilgrim. So, as we go into the new year, I'm going to start blogging here again. All the odd bits and pieces I notice as I go slowly along. Glass and bone, red and green, rough and sm...