After a disrupted year due to Covid, I am happy to announce that the fifth William of Orange History Walk was successfully held last week on Friday 9th July by members of the History with English FdA team from University Centre South Devon. I have posted previously about the walks completed over the past few years. Here’s an overview of what this walk is all about:

What is this annual tradition, I hear you ask? Essentially, a group of lecturers/students walk from Brixham harbour to Berry Pomeroy Castle over the course of a day in an attempt to replicate a small part of the route that William of Orange took when arriving in England in 1688 to take the throne from James II. The events of 1688 have become known as the ‘Glorious Revolution’ and I quite delight in how William and his invasion force walked on Long Road in Paignton, the very same road that my college – South Devon College – now sits on.

The previous posts on the blog provide an overview of the four previous walks (links are provided at the bottom of this page). This year’s walk was a particularly welcome one due to the tough academic year that has just been completed, and it allowed staff and students (current and former) to all catch-up with one another. For our current students it was a chance to actually speak to one another face-to-face, and for our former students it was wonderful to hear about their progress after university (it is great to hear that they are doing so well, with some deciding to become teachers!).

My colleague – the ever enthusiastic and energetic Jon Baldwin – managed to record a couple of brief conversations with former students, which can be viewed on his Twitter page:

Unfortunately for me, I became a tad obsessed at finding some geocaches on the route; all of these completely alluded me! As such, I fell behind the group and now regret not enjoying a proper chin-wag with all walkers. But I will make up for this in next year’s walk in 2022!

Links to previous William History Walks: