Reflections on BBC's Pilgrimage Series
The format is now a tried and tested one. The BBC takes a group of ‘celebrities’ who hold different faith positions on a pilgrimage walk and films their interactions and reflections along the road. This year’s offering was a journey on the North Wales Pilgrim Way from Basingwerk Abbey in Greenfield to Bardsey Island – well almost.
Along the way the pilgrims open up to one another about their beliefs and life experiences. There is much honesty and openness about very personal issues. You see the individuals becoming a group and growing in their appreciation of one another as the journey progresses. The series arranges for the pilgrims to meet faith leaders along the way, to practice rituals and explore the ancient history of the special places which they visit en route.
As with previous series, this one showcases the varied beauty of the landscape, the sacred and historic places along the pilgrimage route. In so doing the programmes provide a better advert for the pilgrimage walk than any tourist office would be able to manage. I’m sure many viewers will have watched the series and started making their own plans to head to north Wales to walk in the footsteps of the BBC’s pilgrims.
As with all such programmes, the viewer is given edited highlights and left to ponder what happened in between. The pilgrims don’t walk the whole way on foot and make several detours, such as on this occasion to climb Yr Wyddfa (the mountain formerly known as Snowdon). How much of the conversations are staged or spontaneous is hard to tell. But one is given the feeling that this is an authentic pilgrimage, that it includes physical and emotional challenges and that the sentiments expressed are genuine and stimulated by the walk.
On this occasion, a number of the pilgrims were dealing with grief and loss. Two reflected on their close relationship with mothers who had recently died, another was grieving the loss of a close friend, another the breakdown of a marriage. This demonstrates the power of pilgrimage to bring to the surface the deep issues which in daily life we keep repressed or contained. Pilgrimage causes us to face our darker side, our fears or painful memories. And pilgrimage provides the opportunity to positively address what we’ve been living with, to release pain, to choose to move on and find a different way of living with the past.
It is touching to see the care the pilgrims take with one another. Compassion seems to be opened up between them, as often happens on such journeys. Each one learns and is stimulated in their own recollection and reflection as another opens up about their own life experiences and responses.
Here are what some of the pilgrims said towards the end of the journey:
“It’s just a catalogue of powerful experiences. I get pilgrimage. I get how when you do these things back to back they become more powerful.”
“I have found this experience to be quite meaningful. I do feel affected by it… It gives you some perspective on your life and your place on earth.”
“I didn’t expect to feel anything but I did feel a lot lighter. That was a very positive experience… The power of pilgrimage has been insane. I honestly didn’t think that I would be feeling like this right now.”
“The pilgrimage has been totally different to what I expected it was going to be. I never thought for one minute that I’d leave this pilgrimage ready to let my mother go.”
It is positive to hear figures who live in the public spotlight talking about their own faith or lack of it. Such issues are normally regarded as private and left out of the public square, and yet it is our core beliefs which shape who we are and how we act. In a supposedly secular country it is important to be reminded that so many of us have faith or consider ourselves spiritual, who wrestle with life’s big questions. This kind of programming gives permission for all of us to be more open about what we believe and why.
The walk ends with what might seem to be an anticlimax. The wind is too strong to enable the pilgrims to make the boat crossing to Bardsey Island. We never get to see the intended destination (and as someone who has had the privilege to step onto the shores of Bardsey, I can say that it is a truly remarkable and unique place). But this change of plan demonstrates the nature of pilgrimage walking – it throws up the unexpected, and in such moments there are powerful lessons and possibilities.
The series can still be watched on the BBC iPlayer, along with episodes from previous series. Other clips are available on YouTube. Better still, head for North Wales, or a local pilgrimage route, and take some time on the road to see what pilgrimage can do for you.
April 2024