Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

I recently had the immense privilege of participating in one of the Nest Collective's nature pilgrimages, led by folk singer Sam Lee. The outer form of this saw 20 or so pilgrims walk and camp, moving over a couple of days from the village of Rusper in West Sussex (where Vaughan Williams collected the folk song 'The Turtle Dove' in 1907 from the local pub landlord, John Penfold) to Knepp Castle, the flagship Re-wilding project, where a population of critically-endangered turtle doves still breeds each year. The powerful idea that underpins this is that of rewilding both the song, which Vaughan Williams had somewhat 'tamed' with his choral arrangement, and ourselves, through connecting pilgrims, song, landscape and the turtle doves themselves in repeated singing at salient sites along our path. For a deeper dive into the story and concept behind the pilgrimage, you can enjoy a BBC documentary about it here.

For me this was a profound experience, weaving together as it did, my passions for folk music, the natural world and connecting with other people. It also, maybe unsuprisingly as a pilgrimage, included elements of the spiritual or sacred, both formally (an initiating blessing from the vicar of St Mary Magdalene in Rusper) and informally through moments of reflection, silence and and extemporised ritual using our hazel pilgrim's staffs. This aspect may not be everyone's cup of roobois, but for this pilgrim, it was natural and beautifully congruent.

The curation of the experience by Sam and the nurturing of the support team, as well as the other people who scaffolded our route with hospitality and warmth, allowed us pilgrims to connect deeply and immersively with and in the place, and with each other. Though all different in background, preoccupation and intention, we quickly co-created a conscious and caring community; for me this was a timely reminder that both my love of the natural world and the anxiety around threats to it are best shared, as an enhancement of the former and bulwark against the latter. Only connect, indeed.

A few further random observations and realisations from this, that make sense to me, which I offer with no anticipation of being understood:

• It has consolidated my long-held feeling that Baba Dioum's assertion that "in the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught" is critical... if we are to rise to the challenge of climate change, habitat loss and threats to biodiversity, this must flow from love, not solely by raising fear, anxiety and dread of the alternative
• Artistic and cultural discourse around habitat, landscape, ecosystems and climate change are every bit as important as scientific, political and market responses; in some ways are a precondition for those being effective
• Experience, life, existence, consciousness is deeply interconnected and fractal in nature... the notion of 'interbeing' is one that seems somehow to have settled on me recently and I want to explore that further, creatively and personally
• Oh brave new world that has such people in it. My faith and hope that humanity can and will evolve consciously and creatively in response to existential threats is stronger as a result of the experience
• I have long been unsure about my relationship to Englishness and English folk song in particular, identifying more with my Irish roots, and other traditions. I may have found a way in, and it starts with places and experience, not with material or concepts.
• Sleep deprivation and tiredness can yield incredible emotional, spiritual and creative experiences!!

I don't yet know quite how this pilgrimage will leave its mark, personally and creatively but I know it has and will continue to. I look forward to the journey.  To my fellow pilgrims, Sam, Carolion, Grant and Josh, our hosts at Rusper, Sedgwick and Knepp, and of course, the turtle doves themselves, thank you and safe travels.