The North Wales Pilgrim's Way

By Nadia Chambers and Elizabeth Shanley

Elizabeth is on the left, and Nadia on the right.

‘Is that man riding a unicycle?’ is not a question that you expect to be asking your walking companion as you head out along the driveway from the tranquil Vincentian retreat where you’ve just spent the past two nights. But ‘yes, it is’ you realise as you embark on your last day of walking the first section of the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way (NWPW). However, the unexpected is what you come to realise you will get, in spades, while you are exploring this ancient route that starts at Basingwerk Abbey in Flintshire and wends its way for almost 140 miles, much of it coastal, to finally cross the sea and end up on Bardsey Island, Ynys Enlli. This is where St Cadfan founded a Christian community around 1500 years ago. This pilgrim’s route has endured, and the scallop shell of St James (Santiago) remains the symbol of pilgrims everywhere, uniting the NWPW with the various Camino routes that culminate in Santiago De Compostela in Galicia, Northern Spain.