Day 11: Chesterfield to Mansfield Woodhouse

After breakfast, and the packing of the van, it was only a brief walk to the Church of the Annunciation for our joint service, where we all brought with us a stone to represent our sins.

These were then placed in a basket, and offered up to God by Father David, to represent the offloading and absolution of our sins.

We were, once again, accompanied in joyful praise by our group of musicians.  Kto śpiewa ten się dwa razy modli!!!

Then, we were off on our way, walking through the backstreets out of Chesterfield, our home of two nights.

The first drink stop of the day, and we were greeted by a buffet of bread, cheese and strawberries, as well as our usual variety of drinks.

At St Mary's, Sutton Scarsdale, the pilgrims were welcomed personally by the church warden . . .

. . . and were then treated to tea and biscuits. Here, Maurice and his protegé, Francis, discus the fine ales on offer at a pub they found when route planning, whilst drinking a far milder beverage.

As soon as we were all refreshed, Anne spoke to us about keeping religion and reason in balance with each other.

Afterwards, we were left to roam the ruins of Scarsdale Hall, where the youngest of our pilgrims posed for a photo in the former entrance hall . . .

. . . while the not so young pilgrims admired the architecture on the front of the building.

Some of the pilgrims didn't think it was very funny clambering through the 'ha-ha', but Ant and Mike took it in their stride.

At the Elm Tree Inn, Scarcliffe, Patrick was shown an interesting passage in The Telegraph by Father David.

With the majority of pilgrims running ahead of schedule, Helen seemed to have spent too much time at the pub (she hadn't had that much to drink really).

Just up the road at St Leonard's Church, Monica told us about her breast cancer support group, and their motto 'Hold U Gently' (or H.U.G.).

We were soon off again, and the sky started to clear.

Our route took us along a mill complex by the river.

In Pleasley Vale, pilgrims rested outside St Chad's Church.

Patrick found the wall more comfortable than the ground.

Inside, Pat talked about the pain and bereavements that she had suffered since we were all together last year.

The church has several stunning wall paintings.

So does the wall at the Turner Memorial Hall, Mansfield Woodhouse, which is our home for the night.