Good Friday on Lindisfarne

[Apologies for the double posting today — This however was too timely to ignore]

Lindisfarne is a small island off the coast of Northumberland, north of the Farne Islands in the United Kingdom. Linked to the mainland by a causeway exposed only at low tide, it is the site of a church and monastery founded by St Aidan in 635.

I first arrived on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) on Good Friday 1979. With approximately twenty other pilgrims I had spent seven days walking with a full pack from Penrith on the West Coast of England to the eastern banks of Northumbria along a pilgrimage route called “Northern Cross.” Two other groups of pilgrims joined us on the shores of the estuary between the island and the mainland; one had walked from Edinburgh and another from Newcastle.

Now forty-six years later I see how that experience shaped my own spirituality and inspired a sense of adventure.

Watching with fond memories of my own crossing I was delighted to discover on my morning social media feed today images from this year’s 2025 crossing; pilgrims walking the ancient “Pilgrim’s Way” marked out by guide poles during low tide (read the tables carefully island residents strenuously advise). By tradition, pilgrims carry large crosses just as we carried ours all the way from Penrith. The tradition, it seems, continues. An additional thrill was being filmed and for broadcast on the BBC evening news. A still image made it on to the front page of the Easter morning Scotsman newspaper.

My wife and I returned to the island decades later. A special place for us and for many. We may have one more visit in us yet.