Easter fun
FAITHFUL AND FAMILIES BOTH TAKE PART IN COMMUNITY LED EVENTS
Reporter UP to 50 people walked more than 100 miles as part of their annual pilgrimage to Holy Island.
The group made their way to the North East for the Good Friday crossing in two groups – one setting off from Carlisle and the other from Lanark.
The Northern Cross journey, which started on April 8, saw people walk to the island carrying large wooden crosses between them.
They stayed in churches and village halls along the route before meeting up on the mainland in Northumberland yesterday. They then crossed over to Lindisfarne in keeping with the Easter tradition.
A spokesman for Northern Cross said: “Northern Cross is an extremely unique experience – a week of fellowship that can be tremendously rewarding as we share a common pilgrimage.
“Stepping away from their daily routine, making this time for Easter, participants come from many different backgrounds, denominations and ages, and walking together are boosted in many ways through experiencing the beautiful countryside, local communities and sharing prayer, worship and song.
“It might often be thought pilgrimage is a historic activity, yet Christian pilgrimage is very much alive, demonstrated yearly by the five million people who go to Lourdes, or the 200,000 who walk the Camino di Santiago. Northern Cross is another example of this.
“A combination of walking holiday and retreat, on pilgrimage we are removed from many trappings of modern living, and just require whatever can be carried in a small bag. Cut down to essentials – it is a chance to mirror life, to step back and look to see what is really important. You have time to look for meanings, work out things that troubling, or just reflect.”
Northern Cross was founded in 1976 by a small group who walked from Penrith to Lindisfarne. Since then it has grown and can consist of up to five main groups of pilgrims.
Meawnhile, hundreds of families were bowled over at an egg-citing Good Friday event. The Penshaw Bowl took place at Herrington Country Park, in Sunderland, and centred around a traditional egg rolling competition.
Around 800 people registered for the event, which allowed youngsters aged up to 11 to decorate their own eggs and roll them down a hill.
The children whose eggs rolled the furthest won prizes. And every child who took part received a small treat.
Mayor of Sunderland, Councillor Alan Emerson, who also rolled an egg, said: “I certainly didn’t win anything – the children’s eggs went much further than mine.
“But it was really great to see the enthusiasm and the atmosphere, which was tremendous. You could see the joy on the children’s faces.”
Among those who attended were Joshua, nine, and Gabriel Cambrooke, seven, and their cousins Lewis, 11, and Ebony Charlton, nine. The youngsters all decorated eggs for the competition.
Rachel Charlton, 38, mum of Lewis and Ebony, said: “It was a lovely event – it was organised very well and there were lots of other activities for the children to take part in. It’s great to have such a community event.”
Vicky Bowers, of Oxclose, Washington, brought her two children Isla, one, and Rhys, three, to the competition.
The 30-year-old said: “Decorating the eggs was part of the fun for the children. They painted theirs and put stickers on, and had a fun time rolling them down. “It was a good day out for us.” Meanwhile, five-year-old Jamie Curtis decorated three eggs – a ladybird, a Minion and one with a space theme.
His mum Laila, 43, of Sunderland, said: “This is a great event for the children. It’s something different and it’s free.”