Adventurously Learning the Canterbury Tales

At 8.15am on Thursday 9 July, the senior school pupils of Ashford School began a 15 mile pilgrimage from Canterbury to Ashford to celebrate 125 years of the United Church Schools Trust and raise money for the charity Red Balloon.

Canterbury is the end point for many pilgrims dating back to before the time of Chaucer. The pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were on their way to visit the shrine to Thomas Becket in the Cathedral and the Tales are a description of the stories the pilgrims told each other as they walked to and from Canterbury. The Houses in Ashford School are named after characters from the Canterbury Tales (Pilgrims, Squires, Merchants, Knights, Yeoman, Franklins).

Staff and pupils chose to recreate their own modern day pilgrimage by travelling from Ashford to Canterbury and walking back along the Stour Valley Way. Split into 3 groups starting from Canterbury Cathedral, Chartham and Wye, each House nominated an ‘elite’ team to cover the longest distance and carry hand-made pennants to represent their House across the picturesque countryside walk.

July 2009 marked the end of the 125th anniversary year for the United Church Schools Trust of which Ashford School is a member. The year was started with a hugely successful and moving celebration in Canterbury Cathedral and to complete the celebrations the whole senior school united together for the adventurous event.

As part of the pilgrimage, each pupil and adult was asked to donate a minimum of £10 to raise money towards launching a Red Balloon Learning Centre in Kent. This is a charity that “recovers” bullied children who have disappeared from the school system with the aim of getting them back into education or employment. To learn more about Red Balloon, visit www.redballoonlearner.co.uk.