The Crossway

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Jonathan Bailey

Guy Stagg

Jill Waters

Isobel Creed

The Crossway by Guy Stagg: 1. France

1. France

The Crossway by Guy Stagg

BBC Radio 4 - The Crossway by Guy Stagg, 1. France

A young man makes a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury - and then keeps walking.

4 Extra Debut. Guy leaves England for France, where the weather turns grim, and the strangers are kind. Read by Jonathan Bailey.

An epic journey, but also an intimate one. 

After several years of mental illness, Guy Stagg set off one morning, from London, to walk to Canterbury. Ill-prepared and not entirely clear why he was doing this, he nevertheless got there. Exhausted, he lay beneath the Cathedral walls and then decided to continue.

A few months later, on New Year's Day, 2013, he set out from Canterbury to follow the paths of the medieval pilgrims to Jerusalem.

Ten months and 5,500 kilometres later, he arrived.

This is the story of Guy's walk. Danger and physical hardship lay in his path but he was also haunted by the memories that he sought to flee and ambushed by echoes of his breakdown. 

Five extracts follow some of his experiences through snow and storm across the Alps, among other pilgrims in Italy, despairing and alone in Greece, and finally to the incessant rounds of competing worship in Jerusalem.

It's a journey through the pathways of faith and recovery towards healing and understanding. 

In this episode, Guy leaves England for France, where the weather turns grim and the strangers are kind.

Abridged in five parts by Jill Waters and Isobel Creed

Read by Jonathan Bailey

Producer: Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2018.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Factual: Life Stories

Guy Stagg's evocative account of a modern pilgrimage. Read by Jonathan Bailey.

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1. France

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