Pilgrim Cello
All 42 English cathedrals. With a cello. On a bike.
In 2022 I strapped my cello to the back of a 50-year-old Dawes Galaxy bicycle and cycled from Hadrian’s Wall to Rome, performing every day on the way. The book about this journey is called Highway Cello.
In Lent 2024 I performed a Meditation on the Seven Last Words of Jesus in about thirty churches. The work consists of meditative poems on the seven last sayings of Jesus on the cross, interleaved with the slow movements from the Suites for Solo Cello by J.S. Bach.
Together these two ideas have inspired the Pilgrim Cello journey – a pilgrimage around the 42 English cathedrals, by bicycle, performing the Seven Last Words Meditation in nearly all of them. The pilgrimage will begin in Newcastle on 19 May 2025, and conclude in Carlisle seven weeks later.
A new bike!
Sadly, the Dawes Galaxy has had to be put into retirement. It really isn’t up to a 2,000 mile journey. I’m not sure that I am either, but I can’t back out now. I’ve bought a new bike – an Omnium Cargo. It’s long and heavy, but the cello goes on the front where I can see it, and is much lower down, where it should be safer. Wish me luck!
Tour Dates
Please come and hear the cathedral performances if you’re nearby. And if you live in a cathedral town, or somewhere en route, any offer of accommodation will be very gratefully received. Here’s the schedule:
| Cathedral | Date |
|---|---|
| Newcastle | Mon 19 May, 2.00pm |
| Durham | Tues 20 May, 1.15pm |
| Ripon | Weds 21 May, 2.00pm |
| York | Thur 22 May, 1.00pm |
| Bradford | Fri 23 May, 3.00pm |
| Wakefield | Sat 24 May, 2.00pm |
| Sheffield | Sun 25 May, 12.15pm |
| Lincoln | Mon 26 May, 3.00pm |
| Southwell | Tues 27 May, 1.30pm |
| Derby | Weds 28 May 2.00pm |
| Leicester | Thur 29 May, 3.00pm |
| Peterborough | Tues 18 Mar, 2.30pm* |
| Ely | Sun 1 June, 1.00pm |
| Norwich | Mon 2 June, 3.00pm |
| St. Edmundsbury | Tues 3 June, 6.15pm |
| Chelmsford | Weds 4 June, 6.30pm |
| St. Albans | Thur 5 June, 6.30pm |
| St. Paul’s | No performance |
| Southwark | Sat 7 June, 11.00am |
| Rochester | Tues 8 April, time TBC* |
| Canterbury | Mon 9 June, 12.00noon |
| Guildford | Tues 10 June, 3.00pm |
| Chichester | Weds 11 June, 1.00pm |
| Portsmouth | Thur 12 June, 1.10pm |
| Winchester | Fri 13 June, 1.15pm |
| Salisbury | TBC* |
| Exeter | Sun 15 June, 12.00noon |
| Truro | Tues 17 June, 1.00pm |
| Wells | Fri 20 June, 3.30pm |
| Bristol | Sat 21 June, 2.00pm |
| Oxford | Sun 22 June, 7.00pm |
| Gloucester | Mon 23 June, 3.00pm |
| Hereford | Tues 24 June, 2.30pm |
| Worcester | Thur 26 June, 12.15pm |
| Coventry | Fri 27 June, 3.00pm |
| Birmingham | No performance |
| Lichfield | Mon 17 March, 1.30pm* |
| Chester | Mon 30 June, 2.00pm |
| Liverpool | Tues 15 April, 1.00pm* |
| Manchester | Weds 2 July, time TBC |
| Blackburn | Thur 3 July, 3.00pm |
| Carlisle | Fri 4 July, time TBC |
*These performances are out of sequence. The cathedral diaries were too busy to accommodate the Meditation within the pilgrimage schedule, so special visits will be made to them in Lent (not by bicycle, sorry!)
The Pilgrim Cello blog
I hope to write an occasional blog during the lead-up to the journey, and a more-or-less daily blog during the pilgrimage itself. Please sign up below to receive notifications (you can of course unsubscribe whenever you get tired of them!)
