TGO columnist Ed Byrne makes the pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago tonight on BBC2
The Camino de Santiago – or ‘Way of Saint James’ – is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes with the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, NW Spain, as their destination. Modern pilgrims don’t always hike for religious reasons, and the Camino has become a popular long-distance European trail.
At 9pm tonight on BBC2 (England only), in Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago, a group of celebrity pilgrims set off for a fifteen-day journey along the 780km (485-mile) Camino. Alongside Neil Morrissey, Debbie McGee, Raphael Rowe and JJ Chalmers, our very own Ed Byrne will live as a modern-day pilgrim, enjoying the delights of the Way.
In an interview for the BBC, Ed said the most challenging aspect was “probably the heat. And getting up early in the morning in order to avoid the heat. I’m used to walking in places like Scotland where heat is rarely an issue.”
Ed is an experienced hillwalker and mountaineer. Over the years he’s written numerous columns for The Great Outdoors, on a range of topics from navigation to first aid, from dry-stone walling to sea-cliff climbing. You can read features from the Ed Byrne archive here – and, of course, you’ll find his latest column in the current issue of The Great Outdoors.
Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago airs at 9pm on Friday March 16, BBC2. The second and third episodes will air on subsequent Fridays.
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