Crossroad:
A Pilgrimage of Unknowing

Author Charles Moseley
Publisher DLT £20
Format hbk
ISBN 9781913657864

Whitby, Iona, Ely and Walsingham: these are just some of the sacred sites visited in a meandering pilgrimage by Charles Moseley, a retired academic whose lyrical account is marked by a deep learning, as he reflects on the history, both natural and spiritual, of the British Isles. There is a refreshing earthiness to the story, as the author faces the challenges of uncertain weather and terrain, enjoys his beer and sandwiches, or manages to keep on walking despite a painful hip. He is a gentle and genial guide to some of the most haunting and beautiful sites, hills, cliffs, coasts and river valleys steeped in the prayer of past generations. A lifetime’s reading and research is reflected in quotations and commentary from passages of scripture and poetry. He is a man of faith, his worship informed by an Anglo-Catholic spirituality, and a great lover of the countryside’s traditional ways. There are flashes of anger too, as he considers the past destruction of monasteries, the iconoclasm of the Reformation, and the present destruction of the environment. This is a charming book, to be enjoyed at leisure.

Reviewed by ADRIAN ROBERTS

Pilgrimage