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More about this trip-
In April 2023, we will gather in a small group in Derbyshire, England to embark on a Pride and Prejudice walking pilgrimage led by Margaret H. Willison. Our days will consist of daily class time, long walks, delicious food at local pubs, and peaceful moments for reflection. We will explore the text through the theme of compromise, using sacred reading practices with passages from the novel to deepen our understanding of the book and of ourselves. Outside, we will ramble through beautiful countryside and woodlands for up to twelve miles a day, allowing the landscape to energize and refresh us.
For the time we are together, we will be thinking about what role compromise plays in Pride and Prejudice. We’ll connect these themes and conversations to our own lives, asking ourselves questions like: when has compromise acted as negative or positive force in your life? How can you discern when you should compromise and when you should hold true to your position? What guiding principles in your life can help you navigate moments of conflict?
Our group of pilgrims will convene at the Chesterfield train station on the afternoon of Monday, April 24th to begin our adventure and depart from there on the afternoon of Friday, the 28th.
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We will be walking up to 12 miles each day, sometimes on hilly terrain. The Derbyshire springtime might be mild and sunny, or wet and windy, sometimes all in the same day. We won’t be rushing but we expect to be tired at the end of each day. We will be meeting at the Chesterfield train station on the afternoon of Monday, April 24th and ending at the train station in Chesterfield on the afternoon of Friday, the 28th.
All rooms are shared.
People who have attended another Common Ground pilgrimage will receive a 5% discount on the cost of the trip.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at commonground@notsorryproductions.com.
Trip Faculty
Margaret H. Willison
Faculty Leader (she/her)
Based in Boston, where she grew up, Margaret has a B.A. in English and History from Kenyon College, a Masters in Library Science from Simmons University, and a profound enthusiasm for 19th century British everything. You may know her from her work with Not Sorry, as a regular fourth chair on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, or simply because her ability to make friends and influence people is definitely on the mutant superpower, maybe-she-was-bitten-by-a-radioactive-social-butterfly level and cannot easily be contained. She loves mixing cocktails, dispensing on-call shopping advice to anyone in need, and attending concerts in the greater Boston area wherein any kind of woman plays any kind of guitar.
You can find her writing at twobossydames.substack.com.
Elizabeth Oldfield
Chaplain (she/her)
Elizabeth Oldfield is an experienced leader, speaker, writer and podcast host with a passion for intelligent public engagement on issues of faith, identity, and healing our common life. She appears regularly in the media, including BBC One, Sky News, the World Service, and writing in Prospect Magazine, UnHerd and The Financial Times.
She also hosts The Sacred, a podcast, events and visual content brand which creates space for a wide range of guests to reflect on their deepest values. She is motivated by the dearth of real wisdom in public life, by a desire to increase empathy across our deep differences and the way spirituality can help individuals and societies flourish. She has a masters in Theology and the Arts and lives in an intentional community in south London.
Elizabeth will be providing chaplaincy support throughout the pilgrimage, as she did on our 2022 and 2023 Pride & Prejudice Pilgrimages.
Mandy Sheppard
Logistics Coordinator (she/her)
Mandy has a BA in English Literature from the University of Sheffield, during which she found a love of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, amongst many other writers. Much more recently she completed an MA in Gender and Women’s Studies and English from the University of Lancaster. Her MA led her to specific interests in women’s health, post-colonial women’s literature, violence against women and girls, and motherhood studies. She does voluntary work with a charity whose purpose is to assist women experiencing domestic abuse. Her passions are reading, feminist theory, growing flowers from seed, and walking. She lives in rural Lancashire, UK with her husband and two children who share her love of books and reading, and especially Harry Potter!
Mandy will be the Logistics Coordinator for this pilgrimage.
“Where does discretion end, and avarice begin?”
-Elizabeth Bennet, Pride & Prejudice