PILGRIMAGE has become a popular way of expressing faith — none more so than the Camino. This is a network of pilgrimage routes running across Europe and converging at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. In this book, Eddie Gilmore tells the story of his walk from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port in south-west France across the Pyrenees and along the north coast of Spain. He also walked the route north through Portugal, approaching Santiago from the south.

I did part of this walk some years ago; so I have some idea of that extraordinary experience. He describes the flow of people from everywhere. He could talk to everybody. There were deep conversations with complete strangers whom he would never meet again, shared meals, help, and support.

At times, Gilmore was quite overwhelmed by it: “I felt that my heart would burst with gratitude for all the goodness I had received on the Camino: the walking, the scenery, the encounters, the food, the laughter, even the tears.” But why do it? He shares the thinking of Kate, who talked about a liminal space — no past and no future — only a present. You will never see these people again. So we are able to be more open and more receptive to the seeds of ideas. So pilgrimage is “a little glimpse of heaven”.

Gilmore describes other pilgrimage experiences — to Canterbury, Jerusalem, Lourdes and Walsingham. Finally, it is Ireland’s holy mountain, Croagh Patrick. On the last Sunday of July, 25,000 make the ascent — some in the dark, some barefoot or on hands and knees. Gilmore said that he made the climb not in penance, but in thanksgiving. That is the spirit of this book.

The Rt Revd David Chillingworth is a former Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Another Day in Paradise: Stories of transformation from the Camino and other places
Eddie Gilmore
Brimstone Press £10.99*
(978-1-906385-94-1)
essexthinker.com/Brimstone.html