Kettering Leg are traditionally a diverse bunch. Every year we welcome new walkers, and welcome back old hands. Last year’s walkers included students, a sports journalist, debt advisor, retired teacher, and one was even a priest. Our youngest walker was 14 and our oldest was, well, in her sixties. Not everyone is at, or has been to, university.

We walk from just outside Kettering in Northamptonshire to Walsingham in Norfolk, via the Fens, spending each night in a different town or village. We pass through Wisbech and Swaffham, plus many much smaller places.

Every day includes liturgy (morning prayer, personal reflections on route, and perhaps Mass or a penitential service), walking during the morning and the afternoon, a break for sandwiches in a local pub, and relaxing in the evening. Some nights we cook together, and sometimes we are cooked for in style. While our week is spent very much as a group, there are opportunities for space and quiet, both while walking and in the evenings. For some, the week is contemplative, for others, it’s enough to be away from the demands of everyday life, and to enjoy singing everything from hymns to pop songs and pub songs. For all of us it is a journey towards Easter and towards God.

We carry with us a cross. Groups of three people take it in turns to carry the cross on their shoulders, for a few minutes at a time. It does not add much to the demands of the journey, but it is an important symbol for us, and for the people we meet on our way.

Although the week is physically demanding, you do not need to be super-fit (many a couch potato has made it to Walsingham) and there is a support car always to hand. If you walk with us, you will no doubt be tired at the end, but we think you will feel recharged, not just fitter.

Essential information about Kettering Leg

Contact the Kettering Leg leaders to enquire about taking part

Download a Kettering Leg 2012 booking form (pdf)