Phil McCarthy writes of the inspiration for his founding Pilgrim Ways, a project of walking pilgrimages in England and Wales.
Over half a century ago, aged 6 or 7, sitting in the back of the family Morris Minor, I glimpsed a gaunt man striding along bearing a haversack: weather-beaten face, dishevelled white hair and beard, and long flapping coat. My father said he might be an ex-soldier, scarred by war, who had taken to the road. To me the “tramp” looked brave, independent and free. I wanted to walk like him, with nothing except what I could carry, so I pestered family and friends to hike with me.
