I took up the position of Pilgrimage Manager for the Peak Wesley Way in October 2023.
I was raised in the Peak District from the age of 11 until I went to university, and have maintained links with Bakewell Methodist Church, throughout my adult life. My career in Mineral Exploration and Mining has taken me to all corners of the world, before returning to the UK four years ago and settling in Hathersage.
I am a member of the Hub at Hope and enjoy our outdoor church on bike rides or walks with the Hub family. The Peak Wesley Way pilgrimage is a wonderful initiative to share our beautiful surroundings with others seeking spiritual enrichment and with a sense of adventure, and I am proud to be part of the team.
The Peak Wesley Way is a new, self-guided, way-marked pilgrimage through the Peak District National Park. The 47 mile pilgrimage journeys north from Matlock through the picturesque hills and dales of the White Peak to the more dramatic, rugged, Dark Peak, ending in Edale, in the Hope Valley. to Edale (both serviced by train stations).
Accommodation is provided in rural Methodist chapels along the way, each with their own character and story, still in use as places of worship.
The vision was born from local circuit members reflecting on the future of our smaller chapels in a changing world and recognising that we and our chapels had a new mission, and a story to tell. Most of the work preparing the Peak Wesley Way was undertaken by local volunteers and supporters, who continue to work with me both behind the scenes and as welcomers to our visiting pilgrims.
