Spring Meeting at Comrie Croft, Thursday 23 April 2026

The theme of this year's meeting is a follow-up to the one held last Spring at Dunkeld. Largely thanks to the excellent scoping and mapping work carried out since then by the Dunkeld Pilgrimage Group, SPRF is actively promoting a more wide-ranging revisioning of a ‘Columba Way’ coast-to-coast pilgrimage walking route comprising this and several other braids, which are at different stages of development.  
 
During the day we will also hear about other practical aspects of these exciting and significant plans.  In the afternoon session of the meeting we will hear important news about SPRF itself from Nick Cooke as our interim Chair and from several of our pilgrim routes Steering Groups.
 
For more information or to book your place contact secretary@sprf.org.uk before Monday 20 April. 

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January 2026: Kentigern Way gains Bronze Level accreditation
The Kentigern Way has been awarded Bronze Level accreditation under the Scottish Pilgrim Ways™ Accreditation Scheme — a national standard that recognises authentic, walkable pilgrim routes with strong volunteer support and historic connection to pilgrimage tradition. 
 
Celebrated at Glasgow Cathedral on St Kentigern’s Day, 13th January, the accolade honours the hard work of the dedicated volunteers who’ve developed this 150-mile off-road pilgrim path from Annan to Glasgow — tracing the footsteps of Scotland’s beloved patron saint, Saint Mungo, also known as St.Kentigern.
 
The Kentigern Way now joins other recognised Scottish pilgrim paths under a national framework that helps walkers and cyclists know what to expect and celebrates Scotland’s ancient pilgrimage heritage. 
 
For more information visit https://www.kentigernway.com/ 

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Fife Pilgrim Pastorate: New Fife Pilgrim Way Pastor

The appointment of Rev Simon Hessett as the new Pilgrim Pastor has been announced. The Pastorate Steering Group much looks forward to working with Simon as we build on the pioneering development work of Duncan Weaver over the previous two years. Details of the ecumenical Commissioning Service for Simon later this summer will be announced in due course. 

 

John Henderson Award 2025

The SPRF Trustees warmly encourage members to put forward nominations for this year’s Award. If you know of someone who has made a particularly significant voluntary contribution to the establishment or ongoing development of a Scottish pilgrim route, this is your chance to put them forward for recognition. The winner of the Award, now in its fourth year of operation, will be announced at the annual Pilgrimage Gathering and AGM.

 

Scottish Pilgrimage Gathering and SPRF AGM: Saturday 27th September 2025

We are very grateful to the Forth to Farne Way Steering Group for hosting this year’s Gathering at East Linton Church and Hall, located on the Forth to Farne Way just between North Berwick and Dunbar.  We much look forward to seeing members and guests at a popular event in the SPRF calendar. As usual, we will be planning a ‘walk and talk’ programme on the day to encourage networking and sharing of information on current Scottish outdoor pilgrimage developments.   

 

Northern Pilgrims’ Way: Skinnet Stone Dedication

A most successful event took place in Halkirk, Caithness on 10th May when the superbly carved replica of the C9th Pictish cross slab known as the Skinnet Stone was unveiled by Lord Thurso and dedicated by Bishop Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church in front of a crowd of around 100 people. Raising the funds to enable this unique project to go ahead and be completed has taken the Northern Pilgrims’ Way Group three years to achieve. The end result marks a significant addition to the cultural and spiritual heritage of the north of Scotland which pilgrims will find represented on the Northern Pilgrims’ Way walking route. Our congratulations go to all in the NPWG, and especially Jane Coll as its Secretary for such a successful outcome.

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The Church Service Society Study Day 2024

The theme of this year's Church Service Society Study Day is Pilgrimage and the date will be Thursday 24th October, from approx 10.30/11am until 4pm. A medieval pilgrim lunch and tours of the 900-year-old St Drostan’s Church will be provided. The church is 7 minutes walk from the mainline station of Markinch.  Further details will be sent to those who register, but typical trains are 9.43 from Haymarket, 9.17 or 10.14 from Perth, and 9.46 from Dundee. Journey times 35-50 minutes. Attendance costs (lunch and speaker expenses) will be £10 on the day.

For further details of the Study Day, including information about speakers and how to register, please visit the Church Service Society website at: https://churchservicesociety.org/news/study-day-2024

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St Magnus Way Guided Walks, September and October 2024

There will be a series of guided walks covering all sections of the St Magnus Way during September and October 2024. The dates will be as follows:
 

• Egilsay - Saturday Sept 7th

• Gurness to Birsay - Sunday Sept 15th

• Birsay to Dounby - Saturday Sept 21st

• Dounby to Finstown - Sunday Sept 29th

• Finstown to Orphir - Saturday Oct 5th

• Orphir to Kirkwall - Sunday Oct 13th

To book a place, please email smwwalks@outlook.com. All ages welcome, but dogs must be kept on a short lead at all times. As these walks will be at the end of Summer and approaching Autumn, they may be subject to changes due to weather. Have a quick look at the 'Advice for Pilgrims' tab on the St Magnus Way website at: https://www.stmagnusway.com/news/st-magnus-way-guided-walks

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Fife Pilgrimage Opportunity, August 2024

Walk the 55 mile historic Fife Pilgrim Way from the ancient town of Culross through the delights of Fife to the cathedral at St Andrews with the Pilgrim Pastor, Rev. Duncan Weaver, on a five day pilgrimage staying in churches and church halls.
Sleep on camp beds, transport to move overnight kit each day. Walk, pray, cook and eat together.

This event runs from 26th-31st August 2024. Cost is £190 per person.
If interested, please contact Rev. Duncan Weaver at pilgrimpastorfife@gmail.com.

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SPRF Spring Meeting, Friday 26th April at The Grace Church, Bothwell, South Lanarkshire

A good time was had by all at the recent Scottish Pilgrim Routes Forum meeting held at the Grace Gospel Church at Bothwell on Friday 26th April. Talks and briefings given by delegates included subjects such as the PILLAR survey on pilgrim accommodation, the recent upgrade of the SPRF website, and updates from routes around the SPRF network. The event concluded with a guided tour of nearby Bothwell Parish Church led by Ian McKellar of the Bothwell History and Heritage Society. As part of the spring gathering, a number of attendees took the opportunity to visit the historic Bothwell Parish Church, past which the Kentigern Way runs on its way to Glasgow. Photos by Julie Christie and the Very Rev. Dr Martin Fair.

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John Henderson Award 2024

Now that the Award is in its third year, we are keen to receive nominations of individuals known to members who have played a significant voluntary role in developing a Scottish pilgrim route. The winner is announced at the autumn Pilgrimage Gathering and receives a £200 prize and also holds the fine Award trophy for the coming year. Nomination forms are available from the SPRF Secretary. Bill Jack and David McNeish have set the bar high as previous winners, but we know there are many other unsung heroes out there!  

 

‘Pilger Messe 2024’ in Hamburg

Last month, SPRF Secretary Nick Cooke revisited the historic St Jacobi Hauptkirche in Hamburg accompanied by Duncan Weaver, Fife Pilgrim Way Pastor, for this year’s ‘Pilger Messe’ weekend symposium. This is now a well-recognised  ‘trade fair’ networking event for some 40 pilgrim route organisations across Germany and Scandinavia, many closely associated with the Lutheran Churches through the work of local part-time pilgrim pastors.

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Rucksack Readers walking guides

Rucksack Readers will be selling walking guides to five Scottish pilgrim routes, with their new Fife Pilgrim Way guide - co-authored by Jacquetta McGarry and Duncan Weaver – joining the existing St Magnus Way, Forth to Farne Way, St Cuthbert’s Way and Borders Abbeys Way guides in this series.  The SPRF website includes a new online ordering facility for these titles, and all sales generated through this link will benefit SPRF financially. 

 

Sli Colmcille walk

Sarah Akehurst, one of our members living on Mull, has been planning this long-distance walk for some time, and this year intends to do it! Starting in county Donegal in Ireland and crossing by ferry to Kintyre and up though the Argyll coast and across Mull to finish at Iona Abbey, the Sli Cholmcille (or Way of St Columba) is arguably the most authentic of the various pilgrim routes named after this iconic saint - see https://www.colmcille.org/en/

 

‘Re-Rooting: Pilgrimage, Community & Creation' video

Those of us who attended the Pilgrimage Gathering on Orkney will remember the visually powerful 4 minute trailer of this video introduced by Joel Chaney and produced by his colleague Tze-Hung Seeto, with contributions from several SPRF members. Joel and Tze have now launched a new online crowdfunder page to secure the funding to complete a full-length video production. Go to https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/re-rooting for more information on how you can support this.   

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The future of Scotland’s church buildings

Scotland’s Churches Trust has recently posted an online blog on the current status of the Church of Scotland’s plans to potentially close a significant number of parish churches. You can read the SCT article and accompanying interactive map at https://www.scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/blog/scotlands-closing-churches/

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Confraternity of St James – Scotland

Last year, SPRF entered into a reciprocal corporate membership arrangement with CSJ (as it already has with SCT) since we share a common interest in sustaining the engagement of individual Camino pilgrims in Scotland in the development of our own pilgrimage walking routes here. For more information on CSJ, see https://www.csj.org.uk/