Bereaved Bakewell businesswoman brings first guided modern-day pilgrimages to Derbyshire this September

This year’s National Heritage Open Week theme may be Architecture, but Tideswell’s Cathedral of the Peak will be offering more than a building tour this September as new minister Revd Fiona Kouble and local pilgrim guide Faye Smith have teamed up to bring guided modern-day pilgrimages to this beautiful part of the world.

Medieval gothic masterpiece St John the Baptist Tideswell is ‘Mother’ to three daughter churches and sister to another parish church in Wormhill, all opening their doors to pilgrims and visitors alike in Heritage Week 12 to 21 September.

“We were already aware of local church communities creating some outstanding long-distance self-guided pilgrimages around the county, such as the Hope and Peak Pilgrimages and the Peak Wesleyan Way”, says Revd Fiona, and my predecessor had asked a church member who was a keen walker to create a day pilgrimage route around the five churches in Tideswell benefice a couple of years ago: Cressbrook, Litton, Millers Dale and Wormhill.

There wasn’t the resource to promote it, so when Faye joined the church fresh from walking the world-famous Camino to Santiago last Autumn, we discussed the idea of formally launching the 8.5-mile pilgrimage along the same lines, with a pilgrim passport and badge of completion.

Our wardens were all keen, so national Heritage Open Week in September this year seemed like the perfect time to launch our Parish Pilgrimage.”

The month-long YHA Festival of Walking is also back for its fourth year starting Friday 12th September – Sunday 12th October 2025 aiming to encourage more people to get involved in walking, alongside the Sheffield Walking Festival Week.

Now a trained walk leader, modern-day pilgrimage guide and bereavement befriender, it’s a world away from running the busy Sheffield charity marketing and PR practise Faye founded when six years ago- following the tragic deaths of her husband and daughter a few years before- a relationship breakdown and death of her father just as the Pandemic struck, was the final straw for her mental health.

Faye became so unwell, she joined a unique specialist residential trauma recovery community in coastal Kent for a sabbatical. Initially six months, due to the Pandemic and the benefits, Faye stayed for over two years.

“It was the best thing I could have done,” Faye recalls. “Alongside the psychotherapeutic trauma recovery techniques I was learning, during lockdown I discovered the healing power of long-distance walking and swimming in nature. The result was a whole new life purpose and business I called ‘Hope Walking’, which I launched as I moved out after a lifetime living in Sheffield to the Peak District over two years ago now.”

Faye has since guided pilgrimages as diverse as the World Heritage site around Canterbury Cathedral, Pilgrim’s Way along the North Downs and onto the roof of Peterborough Cathedral. She has spoken widely in the media about the healing power of walking in nature and her grief and loss walks which have been featured on television and radio, including BBC podcasts, The One Show and Woman’s Hour.

Having moved to Bakewell, this is Faye’s first Derbyshire pilgrimage. “I have called the Tideswell Pilgrimage ‘Mills and Martyrs’”, Faye explains, “because Tideswell benefice has a fascinating story connected with both the Elizabethan Padley Martyrs and the tragic treatment of the Victorian Litton orphan child millworkers- some of whom are buried in the churchyard- which many say inspired Dickens storyline for Oliver Twist. I always emphasise one absolutely does not need to have any particular faith to gain the proven holistic benefits of a Pilgrimage. I share a wide variety of historical, therapeutic and nature insights from buildings and trees to ancient customs… We all bring and respect our own beliefs.”

Last year following a traumatic car accident, Faye set out solo on a 700 km trek across two countries to complete the world- famous Camino Portugues from Lisbon in Portugal to Santiago in Spain carrying her pack between hostels, raising money for charity with every step. As interest in modern pilgrimage- whether for religious, spiritual or cultural reasons continues to rise, record numbers of almost half a million walked to Santiago last year and millions more visited the shrine of St James and other pilgrim sites worldwide.

Revd Fiona has herself spoken on Woman’s Hour about bereavement, and has a passion for supporting people on their journeys through and with loss.

“Saturday November 1st, All Saints Day, will begin a season of Remembering in the Benefice, with all four churches open between 10am and 4pm for a pilgrimage and Day of Remembering, followed by a Memorial service on Sunday November 2nd for all who want to remember or to give thanks for loved ones, or simply be allowed to sit with their own grief.

We are also aware that weekend marks the start of International Stress Awareness Week, and bereavement is said to be the most stressful thing any of us can endure.”

“Our prayer is that our varied and beautiful churches, and the journey between them will offer pilgrims the space and opportunity to engage with life, with their hopes and dreams, with their sorrows and to encounter the joy and the peace of God that passes all understanding,” adds Revd Fiona.

More on Hope Walking and Tideswell day pilgrimages for men and women of any and no faith 13 September and 1 November https://hopewalking.co.uk/ and facebook Hope Walking and Tideswell Church

Additional editor’s notes

Faye and Fiona have both spoken extensively in the media and are available for interview. Contact: Faye on 07985 038265 Faye@hopewalking.co.uk Fiona on 07852 316796 tideswellvicar@gmail.com More on Faye and speaking topics https://hopewalking.co.uk/media-1

Gabi with mum Faye and brother Zach on her last walk from Ashford in the Water to Bakewell aged 12, bereavements which have inspired Faye to start Loss Pilgrimages.

Faye guides her first women’s grief and loss walk, featured on BBC and ITV and BBC Radio

Faye reflects on how walking saved her:

“My new venture, Hope Walking, has grown out of my own experience of the restorative impact of walking – across fields and in woodland, among the hills and by the sea, alone and in company – as I struggled with and eventually came to terms with a series of challenging life circumstances.

Growing up on the edge of the stunning Peak District National Park, I always enjoyed walking in nature, but I only discovered the deeply therapeutic power of ‘walking myself well’ after my marriage broke down and I endured a succession of bereavements.

My daughter Gabi’s tragic loss came two years to the day after her father had died and the story became national news.

Determined not to resort to medication, walking became an increasingly important part of my life pretty much every weekend. Several women friends were going through their own difficult experiences: some were separating or divorced and suddenly without their children at weekends; some had other caring responsibilities; some were bereaved, some facing empty nest, menopause and health issues. One by one, they asked to join me, and my first Sunday morning women’s walking group grew and grew. As we walked, the natural environment and the rhythm of our movement would start to work its magic; we talked, sharing what we felt comfortable with; we listened and supported each other both emotionally and in practical ways; we started to feel more resilient, able to cope and to know that we would come through safely and indeed stronger.

Time and again, walking has been the means to recovery of my own mental and physical health, enabling me to find hope, strength and a new belief in myself and in life when so much that was precious had been lost. Today you find me in the process of creating a far more sustainable, inspiring, healthy future than I could ever have imagined and bringing as many people as I can on that journey with me.”

Current rise of pilgrimage

Banned in Britain by Henry VIII in 1538, today there is a global renaissance of pilgrimage – six million pilgrims make the journey to Lourdes, 2.5 million make the Hajj to Mecca and almost half a million pilgrims walked the Camino to Santiago in 2024. Pilgrim numbers, especially longer solo walks and among people without a specific faith motivation (60% of pilgrims), have seen a record increase since 2016. Since lockdown, pilgrimages have been described as the next post-Pandemic trend as many people have started to engage- sometimes for the first time- in solitude, stillness, silence and spirituality. The success of celebrity TV shows such as The Abbey and Pilgrimage, has led to a huge rise in interest walking Britain’s 200 pilgrim routes shown on the interactive British Pilgrimage Trust website. And some Camino routes like the Camino Portugues have seen pilgrim numbers double.

Bereavement support links:

For parents and those widowed young available from Care for the Family https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/support-for-you/family-life/bereavement-support/bereaved-parent-support/

Faye was also supported through her husband’s death by a Cruse Bereavement Care listener. Cruse encourage walking through grief: https://www.cruse.org.uk/understanding-grief/managing-grief/walking-nature-for-grief/.

Buen Camino

Faye Smith

Founder & walking guide