Please note that the following photographs of Walsingham were taken by Mike Maxfield in 2005 when twenty parishioners from S. Helen's made a pilgrimage there for five days in the summer
You will be taken to an enlargement of each photo if you click on it.
Our journey to Walsingham began with Mass in St. Helen's Church before being joined by parishioners from St. James, Darlington, St. Catherine's, Crook and St. Mary's, Howden-le-Wear
Arriving in Walsingham we passed the Roman Catholic Shrine just as the massive National Youth Pilgrimage was coming to an end and a sea of tents was being dismantled.
Currently part of the Shrine is undergoing refurbishment to improve facilities for visitors, particularly for the disables and families with a new entrance and information cum education centre being constructed.
On Tuesday we explored the village and visited a Steam and Traction Fairground Museum which was most enjoyable.
The day began, as all days begin,with a service in the morning and ended with one at 8.15pm. Some of these services were just for ourselves while others were attended by many of the other pilgrims.
On Wednesday we visited the Roman Catholic Slipper Chapel where we said Stations of the Cross and then proceeded to the village for lunch. Four of us decided to return via the Pilgrims' Way which involved a one and a half mile barefoot walk. That evening we enjoyed a wonderfule and most moving candlelit procession around the gardens
Our visits took us to Cromer and Sherringhamwhere some joined a steam train to Holt before rejoining the main party for the return bus trip to Walsingham. In previous years we had visited Wells by the Sea and Holkham Hall which is the home of the Coke family and the Earls of Leicester and was built between 1734 and 1764 by Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester. This Palladian style mansion reflects Thomas Coke's appreciation of classical art developed during his "Grand Tour" of Europe which lasted 6 years and from which he returned in the spring of 1718.
The whole of the Shrine is such a peaceful place that one comes away from it with a serenity of peace and calm knowing that one has had a wonderful experience, an experience never to be forgotten
