Washbrook Meadows
It all began with two people who had discovered the joy of living by a stream. “After finding the stream, we had to find the source and that became a pilgrimage. Later, keeping horses here gave us a rhythm and tied us to the seasons.” This pattern of life fitted perfectly with a contemplative journey of faith for Paul and Pam (see pics) who began to observe the nurturing effects of this connection to nature. “We described it as, ‘Head in the clouds, feet in wellies!’. People who came round seemed to pick up on the calmness here and left happier and relaxed.”
After a biodiversity study was conducted the way forward seemed clearer. The biodiversity study designated the land as ‘Washbrook Meadows’ and awarded it Local Wildlife Site status. Protecting wildlife rather than keeping livestock and gently opening the space for people to relax was the obvious way to go. The land lies on the upper section of the River Sherbourne in Allesley. Advice from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has helped but it’s just Paul and Pam with help from Ebba the poodle, who manage it all. It’s early stages, so imagination is required but there’s already a meadow, no-dig veg plot, orchard, wild area, hedgrows, old stables and the stream which is the River Sherbourne.
Pam relaxing waiting for a ‘While a Way’
meditation guest to join her for ‘companion slot’
Paul with Ebba the poodle at the ‘trig’ on one of the pilgrimage routes
From Pam’s early working experience as a Health Promotion Specialist, she developed a passion for helping people make positive changes in their lives. “A lot of our work focused on helping people with lifestyle changes, stopping smoking, taking more exercise and so on, but the relaxation sessions we ran seemed to have a more longer reaching effect and were also highly relevant right across the population. One day we could be offering stress and relaxation sessions to addicts, and on another supporting a women’s group.” The body scan and visualisation techniques Pam learnt there were employed by her when she later taught horse riding, helping people calm themselves. “Only through my own faith journey did I come to realise that visualisation was only one small part of contemplation and meditation. It’s been a joy to continue to discover more.” Recently Pam and Paul have been exploring a Zen walking path at Washbrook Meadows which, along with meditative value, leads people out around the meadow to enjoy the site from new angles.
Paul’s love of the outdoors and walking has seen him tackling Snowdon and Ben Nevis along with pilgrimages to Lichfield from Coventry. “I like the local stuff mostly. Following the River Sherbourne before there was any published route was so exciting the first time we followed it into Coventry! Passing this enthusiasm on is great.” Paul was part of a small planning group which set up Coventry Pilgrimage in 2012 which authored a route along the river to Coventry Cathedral. Coventry Pilgrimage, the full 50 miles, has been organised a number of times but it’s the last section through the river valley that Paul loves the best. “I really began to appreciate the valley, it’s history, the wildlife and just how beautiful it is by walking it time and time again. There is no need to venture far to experience the delights, and challenges of pilgrimage because we can do it right here in Coventry.” Paul doesn’t rule out a personal pilgrimage along a more famous route at some point.
The soul usually knows what to do to heal. The challenge is to silence the mind. Sadly, the way to this is not widely practised. We need places of retreat where we can learn this afresh with companions to encourage us.