Depart Thursday!

This coming Thursday [21st], Billy and I will finally leave on our rather epic walk to all three English Oratories. We're all kitted out and ready to go, and all we can do now is hope and pray that the weather holds -- well, I think bright sunshine would be bit much to hope for, but I hope its not too wet!

We leave from the Oxford Oratory after the 10am Mass. Father Daniel is going to give us a blessing, and then we'll be on our way. Ben, the original third walker who has had to drop out due to an injury, will walk with us as far as the Oxford Ring Road, but after that it'll just be the two of us. We hope to reach the London Oratory in time for the Saturday evening (vigil) Mass.

Then there were two

At the weekend (Friday July 1st - Sunday July 3rd) the three of us walked from Bidford-upon-Avon (near Stratford) to Oxford. A distance of around 45 miles, in preparation for our epic sponsored walk in three weeks time.

It was slow progress in the heat we had grown unused to this year and over the Cotswolds. Nevertheless we made at least 15 miles each day with time to spare, and spent two nights in the shade of the woods.

On the Sunday, with less than ten miles to go before we reached Oxford disaster struck! In Woodstock, Ben twisted his knee and, after a long discussion and a pint, decided he couldn't go on. Well, the two of us carried on to Oxford without him.

The bad news is Ben won't be able to walk with us anymore. Instead he will assist us in the car (bring food packages etc.)

Contact

I cannot get access to the advertised contact email address oratory.walk@yahoo.com.

If you need to contact us directly for any reason, please leave a message in the comments box of this blog, or on the Twitter or Facebook accounts (links at the right of this page). Otherwise you can leave a message with the Fathers and Brothers of the Oxford Oratory.

Donate via Just Giving

The Oxford Oratory have mentioned our walk on their Campaign blog. The have also set up a new way to sponsor - by donating directly to them via the Just Giving page. Just please write in the comments box that you are sponsoring the walk.

Our own sponsorship forms are still a great way to give, too!

Scare Over!

We have re-calculated our recent re-calculations, and the milage scare seems to be over.

We were measuring the milage using the wrong scale. Our maps are 1: 25 000 scale and we were measuring 1: 50 000 scale, so we ended up with double the milege for the London-Birmingham leg.

The total milage will in fact be roughly 265 miles.

Information

 Up to now, the details of the walk have been a little vague - mainly because we are still working them out. Here are some hard facts. Notice the difference in the distance. We made quite a big mistake when working it out and had thought we would be walking 260 miles. Now it seems it is considerably more than that (80 miles).

The 3 – Oratories Walk

An Ambitious 340 mile Sponsored Walk to raise money for the

Oxford Oratory’s Reaffirmation & Renewal Campaign

The Route

The walk will cover about 340 miles in total, over 3 sections. 

Section 1, from the Oxford Oratory to the London Oratory is about 60 miles.  The walkers will use footpaths and minor roads following more or less the line of the M40 motorway.  They will pass through Wheatley, High Wycombe, Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross before entering London from the North West.

Section 2, from the London Oratory to the Birmingham Oratory is about 150 miles and follows the Grand Union Canal for nearly the whole way.  The walkers will use the canal towpath.

Section 3, from the Birmingham Oratory back to the Oxford Oratory is about 133 miles.  The walkers will be using footpaths and minor roads.  The route passes through Redditch, Shipston-on-Stour, Chipping Norton and Woodstock

Accommodation en-route

The walkers will mainly be camping in woods and fields along the route but may make use of well-placed youth hostels and B&Bs along the way.  

The Walkers

The walkers are three young men who are regular Mass-goers at the Oratory.  They are Nicholas Griffiths and his brother William (Billy) and their good friend Ben Sivewright.  They value the Oratory very highly and want to make a positive contribution to its future.

The Schedule  

The walk is planned to start on 21^st July 2011 and it is thought will take about 18 days to complete, covering around 20 miles per day.  The walkers will aim to complete the walk more quickly if conditions allow, however they are going to World Youth Day in Spain in August and if the walk takes longer than planned they will complete it on their return

How to Sponsor the Walk

The walkers will have a stall in front of the church after some Sunday Masses where you can fill in the Sponsor Form.

Many people will know Nick, Bill and Ben and can approach them directly any time.

Nick, Bill and Ben can be contacted by phone on 01865 716412 or

They can be contacted by e mail on oratory.walk@yahoo.com

They can be contacted via the Facebook Page: Three Oratories Walk, or Twitter @3OratoriesWalk

They can also be contacted through Julian Griffiths, on 01865 716412 or 07513 428 486

Sponsorship can be Gift-Aided by UK taxpayers simply by filling in the sponsor form and ticking a box

Thank you for your Support!

The Oxford Oratory,

25 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HA

.  The Oxford Oratory is a registered charity, number 1018455

Changes to the Route

We have decided to change our route slightly, so we will now be walking the 266 miles from Oxford to London to Birmingham and back to Oxford. Not the previously planned route.

From Oxford to London we will be following footpaths and small roads, but for the second leg we will be able to follow the Grand Union Canal most of the way. We will go cross-country again for the Birmingham-Oxford leg.


If all goes to plan we will leave early in the morning of the 21st of July, giving us 19 days before we leave for World Youth Day in Spain.

Three Oratories Walk

During the summer, three parishioners from the Oxford Oratory will walk from Birmingham to London via Oxford. This long and tiring journey will be Oratory fundraiser. to try and boost the amount needed for the church to complete its restoration work. We hope this will raise a suitable amount to give to the Oratory. However to achieve this we will need sponsership from local parishioners and friends.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in sponsering us , please ask the priests of the Oxford Oratory for a sponsor form, alternatively  you pledge using our online sponsorship form [link on the right of this page].