| A CANNON was fired to salute the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, as he approached Belvoir Castle on his Lent pilgrimage round his diocese (right). He is being warmly greeted wherever he goes, but the cannon was the most dramatic greeting yet.
He is walking for four days, Thursday to Sunday, in each of the six weeks of Lent, staying overnight with church families and clergy. He began on Ash Wednesday in the cathedral: his robes were ceremonially removed at the end of the service, and he started walking the next day in Melton Mowbray.
His diary for that first week records that he gave an interview on Radio Leicester, and the young woman interviewing him burst into tears when he gave her a small wooden cross.
Later in the day, he walked with a group of children, all proudly showing off their crosses, and the next day met farmers, doctors, and a head teacher, talking to them about changes in the rural countryside and the place of the church. On Saturday, he arrived at Belvoir, having dedicated new seats in the chancel at Stathern, and on Sunday he received a standing ovation from the congregation at Redmile.
Later, there was an unusually large congregation for the evening service in Bottesford. “I said a few words, and realised that speaking to these little gatherings is going to be an important part of the pilgrimage pattern in the weeks ahead”, the Bishop said.
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