From the Crowded Mountain: A Pilgrimage on the Via Francigena across the Alps from Laon to Aosta and Turin

The Via Francigena is the ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome 1900 kms through some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery in England, France, Switzerland and Italy. Nick Dunne resumes his walking pilgrimage at The Crowned Mountain, the medieval hilltop city of Laon in Picardy, for a journey which takes him through the battlefields of the Chemin des Dames to Besançon and Lausanne and along the route of Napoleons daring military expedition across the Alps to Aosta. The pilgrimage introduces him to a Christian heritage lost in Britain and to questions of Faith that bemuse believers and non-believers alike. The normal routines of life are disturbed on this challenging journey where even small acts of kindness can illuminate a pilgrims day.

Nick Dunne has been a social and community worker for over 40 years and, until his retirement in 2021, was Director of the community charity, Bede House, in south London. He is currently Chair of Trustees of the Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome, a charity that promotes the Via Francigena to walkers and cyclists from across the world.