![]() They tell you what to expect along the route but don’t offer much historical or cultural context. Most notably, it includes downloads for the French, Baztan, Norte, Primitivo, Aragon, coastal Portuguese and Aragon routes. Guidebook and pilgrim passports available from /st-james-way. James (Buen Camino app) This free Camino app has a lot of nice features. Two Bare Feet, Winchester, has doubles from £85 room-only. The Swan Hotel in Alresford has doubles from £110 B&B. The Chapel in Little London has doubles from £75 B&B. The trip was organised by Visit Hampshire. An apt end, I thought, to an English camino. Instead I completed my pilgrimage round the corner in the Dancing Man Brewery taproom with a half of Necessary Evil stout. Shuttered for almost a decade, it reopened as an arts venue in 2019, but only Friday to Sunday. So it was with the utmost care that I continued, eventually entering Southampton’s suburbs, passing mighty Saint Mary’s (for worshippers of football, not the virgin) and finally reaching God’s House Tower, the 13th-century gatehouse that once allowed passage through the town walls to the quay. ![]() View image in fullscreen Wayfarer’s Dole – a cup of beer – at St Cross in Winchester Photograph: Sarah Baxter It was a similar story in the Plough Inn that evening: as soon as I walked into the excellent pub I was metaphorically embraced by four gents who wouldn’t allow a solo visitor to drink alone. The woodburner was ablaze, homemade buns awaited, and she’d even created her own stamp. However, owner Giorgia couldn’t have been more pilgrim-hospitable. Unlike in Spain, where hostels dot the camino, accommodation is trickier to find here. Soon after I passed Sinclair with his hammer, I found my way well marked into the Hampshire village of Little London, where home for the night was the Chapel, a 19th-century Methodist church turned cosy B&B. However, I did finally start my pilgrim stamp collection in Silchester’s 12th-century church. These once hugged a forum, temples and streets thronging with traders now there are only skylarks and pasture. It was lovely, easy strolling for much of the day, via the vast Roman settlement of Silchester, where I detoured to circuit the well-preserved walls. But I soon left the town behind for the serene blue-green Kennet and Avon canal, which is alive with dog walkers, cheerful barges, mallards and red kites. ![]() That this venerable site is just minutes from the Pret and Nando’s of the Oracle shopping centre is both a jolt and a reminder that a pilgrimage is not all about “pretty”. View image in fullscreen Saint James’s church in Reading, with scallop shell signage ![]()
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