Pilgrimage: The Road Through North Wales

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Seven celebrities tackle a modern-day pilgrimage that promotes tolerance for all cultures.

Celebrities take a journey of a lifetime. They all have different faiths and beliefs - will stepping in ancient footsteps on a spiritual journey broaden minds?

The Road Through North Wales

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Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

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Lee Ingleby

Eshaan Akhbar

Amanda Lovett

Spencer Matthews

Christine McGuinness

Tom Rosenthal

Sonali Shah

Michaela Strachan

Dan MacDonald

Toni Williamson

Pilgrimage: The Road Through North Wales: Episode 3

Episode 3

BBC Two - Pilgrimage, The Road Through North Wales, Episode 3

The pilgrims' final destination is Bardsey Island, the fabled ‘Island of 20,000 Saints’.

The pilgrims' final destination is Bardsey Island, the fabled ‘Island of 20,000 Saints’. Along the way, they see spectacular landscapes, visit holy sites and engage in fasting, ritual and meditation. 

It’s the final episode and the pilgrims’ second week. Today, they start just outside Eryri national park and head west towards the Llyn Peninsula and the village of Y Fron in the famous north Wales slate landscape. They have a tough day of hill walking in the rain ahead of them. Tom and Spencer join Sonali on a 24-hour fast to celebrate the start of Paryushan, the holiest festival in the Jain calendar.  

The following day, the Pilgrim’s Way takes them through the spectacular slate landscape of the Nantlle valley, a Unesco world heritage site, before they head to St Beuno’s church in Clynnog Fawr - an imposing medieval pilgrim church, where it’s said St Beuno was buried. The pilgrims find their overnight accommodation at a Buddhist meditation and retreat centre, where they’re met by Tara, one of the spiritual leaders.  

The following morning, Tara leads them in meditation, before taking the pilgrims on one of the local pilgrimage routes to an ancient holy well, dedicated to Cybi, a 6th-century Celtic early Christian saint. As she lights incense, Tara explains that the Buddhist tradition is to come to places that are known as sacred, and to add their own practices and prayers. When they return to the hermitage, the pilgrims meet Lama Shenpen, its founder and spiritual leader. An extraordinary conversation about Buddhism and a ritual around the stupa – a Buddhist shrine – unlocks something unexpected and powerful in some of the pilgrims.   

The last leg of their journey takes them along the spectacular north Wales coast path. They climb a steep pass through two peaks, known as the Rivals, before tackling a narrow muddy track high up on the cliffs. They come across another ancient church dedicated to St Beuno, which has straw covering the floor as well as a medieval lepers’ window.  

On their penultimate day, the pilgrims reach Aberdaron, their final stop on the mainland. Here, they visit St Hywyn’s, a medieval church dedicated to the Celtic early Christian saint, and rich in pilgrim history. It’s a recent tradition that pilgrims collect a stone from the beach and then add it to a prayer stone cairn outside the church. But the process of ‘letting go’ unleashes waves of emotion in almost every pilgrim. Christine is delighted to let go of things from her life, including the breakdown of her marriage. 

On their final day, they reach the nearby cove, where the ferryman, Colin Evans, is waiting for them. But today, as thousands of pilgrims before them have found, the wind and tides aren’t favourable. A crossing in these conditions could be treacherous, and Colin tells them it’s impossible to get to Bardsey. However, he does tell them where they can at least get a stunning view of the island, the legendary resting place of 20,000 Christian saints.

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Seven celebrities of differing faiths and beliefs experience a pilgrimage in north Wales.

Seven celebrities of differing faiths and beliefs experience an emotional journey on a pilgrimage in north Wales, a route linked by churches dedicated to early Celtic Christian saints.

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