Week 40

The Pill-grimage

It was talked about for a long time but in the end came together in a couple of days. Well over a year ago I was on a walk with two friends and we saw the sign for Pill, in north Somerset, and the idea arose that we should walk all the way from Bristol to Pill one day, a Pill-grimage, if you will. Certain details immediately became important: there would be soup in flasks, sandwiches - cheese sandwiches, ideally, for dipping in the soup - and cake. It was settled and then put on the back burner, and we just occasionally talked about wistfully, almost like one of those impossible, never-to-be-fulfilled dreams… But then the temperature started to drop to ‘big walk’ temperature, and last week Amy said ‘we could do the Pill-grimage on Sunday’, and no-one could think of a reason not to.

In my list of ways to approach the autumn equinox I mentioned planning a big walk, and I can confirm that it is just the right thing to do at this moment in the year, as the leaves are turning, the air is still pretty gentle but with a little nip that makes you want to push on and keep warm. There were only a few bits where it looked properly autumnal, but we did gather a bag each of sloes and blackberries to make Pillgrimage Gin.

It was roughly 12 miles altogether there and back, and that was PLENTY for me. I don’t quite want to admit how much my legs ached the next day as neither of the others has mentioned it…but I really did feel like I’d achieved something. The dogs curled up on the sofa and slept for hours and hours after. It was all a very good feeling for an early autumn weekend.

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Enough from me, this is our communal post in which I tell you something I did/noticed/ate - soup and sandwiches - this week, and then you tell me yours in the comments. At the end of the month I stitch them all into a big beautiful poem, of sorts (you can read or listen to September’s, here).

So that was mine. What have you done or noticed or eaten etc…this week that felt particularly ‘this week in the year?’. Please leave your comments below.

AND…a little housekeeping…this weekend is the first of the month and so it is time for us to play ‘usual spot’ in the Sunday morning chat, so line up your pictures ready for that.

AND…if you love following the year through with me here, or on my podcast, please do consider buying my new book, The Almanac 2025, which is out now. You can place it on your bedside table and it will guide you through the year ahead in moon phases, sunrises, tide times, seasonal food, folklore and more.