by Ken Haigh
University of Alberta Press
2021/$26.99/288 pp.
The idea of pilgrimage might sound antiquated and medieval, but it’s still very alive for many seekers across the globe—think of walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain or going on the Hajj to Mecca. Though the word brings with it religious connotations, a spiritual quest—however you define it—is something in which even those of us of the more secular persuasion can find value and knowledge.
Ken Haigh’s memoir On Foot to Canterbury (a finalist for the 2021 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction) is a story of such a spiritual journey, a walk along the traditional route in southern England taken by followers of Saint Thomas Becket from Winchester to Canterbury Cathedral. Haigh planned to take the trip years earlier with his father, a devout Anglican, in honour of his father’s retirement. Haigh himself had once intended to study theology and become a minister, until seeds of doubt regarding key tenets of Christianity (the virgin birth, the trinity) led him away from the church.
After his father died suddenly of a heart attack, Haigh shelved the idea of the trip. Years later, in a self-described mid-life crisis and mourning for his father, he revisited his plans. From landing in London (from Canada) to walking the streets of Canterbury, Haigh proves a fun and erudite companion. An avid reader and librarian by trade, he weaves in English and literary history among the more diary-like details of his walks, such as breaking in boots, tending to blisters, day-to-day encounters with locals, and descriptions of architecture. Fans of essayistic non-fiction, or books about books, will get lost in this memoir’s pages—Haigh’s commentaries on Chaucer, Dickens and Jane Austen are a delight, while his more extensive writings on (now) esoteric and challenging classics such as Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler and John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progressare revelatory.
In an era of declining church attendance, particularly in the West, where spiritual debate can resemble strident arguments (religion has value vs. it’s ruinous), Haigh’s book feels almost radical. It is not a story of a lapsed believer finding his faith again, but rather a meditation on time and memory. What is a cathedral, really, but a monument to the persistence of belief?
On Foot to Canterbury is deeply felt and spiritual, funny and mournful. It deserves a wide readership. These long pandemic months lend themselves well to armchair travel and Haigh is a welcome companion. As he writes, “After all, walking a pilgrimage is really just walking in the footsteps of those who have gone before, and there is some comfort in knowing that.” It may even inspire a pilgrimage of your own.
Bryn Evans is a writer and social worker in Calgary.
