The English Pilgrimage To Canterbury Cathedral | Pilgrimage With Simon Reeve | Timeline

For centuries pilgrimage was one of the greatest adventures on earth, involving epic journeys across the country and around the world. This series sees Simon Reeve retrace the exciting adventures of our ancestors. He learns about the forgotten aspects of pilgrimage, including the vice, thrills and dangers that all awaited travellers. He explores the faith, the hopes, desires, and even the food that helped to keep medieval Britons and more recent travellers on the road.

Simon embarks on a 400 mile journey to Canterbury from the north of England, beginning at the mystical Holy Island, just off the coast of Northumberland. To reach the island, one of the earliest sites of Christian pilgrimage in Britain, Simon follows a line of posts marking out a crossing that emerges from the North Sea at low tide.

You can find more from us on:

[AustinthGenTexan]

As a very young man, I visited Canterbury on a rainy and cold day.
It was absolutely empty and a woman who had been a teenager during the War was my guide. She was magnificent! I felt comfortable enough with her to get down on my knees and put my hands on the very stones where Beckett's blood had flowed. I looked up at her and asked "on these very stones? " She said yes, and I was so glad to be able to do that. Not so much as a Christian believer, but as a degreed student of history. I plan to return within the next 2 years with so much more knowledge in my head about the place...

[historify.]

American here, posted in England in the early 1980s. What a wonderful program. Respectful and interesting. I miss the BBC and its intelligent programming.

[dinx]

Simon Reeve's programmes are always interesting and insightful, an oasis in a desert of dumbed down television.

[GildaLee]

41:33 I love when Simon asks the man on the side of the road what he thinks of when he sees the pilgrim carrying a cross all the way to Canterbury. The man simply says, "Christ." Then he greets the pilgrims, says he's Catholic, and asks if they need water or anything. I want to be a pilgrim like the cross-carrying man and walk everywhere with Jesus, and meet His secret friends on the road.

[martinbitter]

Thank you for your honesty Simon, for your open mind and for you letting us share your journey. Pilgrimage is never a straight journey, never without doubt. Therefore you are a true pilgrim.

[lw]

Such a great travel presenter. Open, friendly, curious, respectful and enthusiastic.

[lw]

Simon is right, today is the golden age of travel, its become affordable for the many, not just the few.

[calendarpage]

Lovely to watch and listen to at work. : ) I'm fortunate to have been to Canterbury twice, once as a young undergrad, and years later with my then 13-yr old son. It is an experience of a lifetime, especially for Anglophile Americans.

[willowwillow]

I have just finished reading "The Pillars of the Earth". This documentary really helped some of that content come to life. Thanks for sharing

[celtichero]

As an American Teacher of English History I found this one of the Best Programs on this Topic I have ever seen! the BBC and Especially Simon Reeve are to be Congratulated for a Program WORTHY to be Called ENGLISH HISTORY! There is a saying today " Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk!" This is the Living Definition of that Saying! I once wrote an Essay for my Students called " Castles and Cathedrals" a History of Europe in these 2 structures! I can't wait to watch the next Part of this Excellent Documentary! Again Well Done and Thank You from one Historian to Another! God Bless Always Richard M. O'Bryan

[tamaracarter]

Beautiful medieval architecture, and a wonderful documentary. Thank you.

[anniemody]

Thank you so much for uploading this series. It is truly wonderful to go the pilgrim way & see the beautiful Churches & feel the Blessing of Faith. Today is the Assumption of Our Beloved Mother Mary. I am not Christian but I respect all Faiths & I feel as if being led to this series is a Blessing in itself as I watch it in India. Palpable Grace bonds Humanity everywhere.

[june]

I've watched so many of Simon's programmes since I Discovered him. He's one of the best presenters I have seen and heard.

[tristanbaldauf]

The point where he 'crosses' the road is iconic

[amandab.recondwith]

How fascinating to be following the actual pilgrimage road to Canterbury from London!

[oliverlee-ostr]

until comparatively recent times my old church (which is Anglo catholic) used to regularly attend the bank holiday pilgrimages at Walsingham, the protesters where there even in the 1980s and my mother can remember them shouting at the pilgrims as they processed down the high street!. incidentally Lindsey Urwin (who has since returned to his native australia) ordained one our curates and whilst I recall attending the service (as a ten year old) I didn't get a chance to meet him!.

[melanietoth]

I'm in Oregon, USA. I would love to go along for the Chaucer tour with that guide. I've loved Chaucer ever since I was little

[gracelumacang]

"...and how dare anyone take that away from people"

[kathleensmith]

I love this documentary, it is beautiful and well done. I appreciated hearing your skepticism and lack of faith as a modern man. I guess a word that occurs to me is transcendence. I wish you well.

[derrickzeller]

I don't know why those protesters can't just leave the high church Anglicans alone. They're not hurting anyone, nor are they actually worshipping the saints. As an anglo catholic Episcopalian, I may be somewhat bias, but still.