New walking route commemorates William Tyndale

 

Baptist church member Anne Hayward devises the Tyndale Trail to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his pioneering translation of the New Testament

Anne Hayward, a long-distance walker and contemporary pilgrim, has devised a 28-mile walk in south Gloucestershire to mark the 500th anniversary of Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament from the original Greek into English. Tyndale's New Testament was published in 1526, and had a huge impact on Bible translation and on the English language, with many of the words and phrases we use today traceable back to him. 

The idea came about in 2024 when Anne and the chair of the Tyndale Society, Neil Rees, were discussing Bible Society and how the charity wanted to organise a walk to celebrate the anniversary. Tyndale was born in this area of the west of England in about 1491 and appears to have stayed there throughout his childhood before leaving to study at Oxford University in 1506., before returning in 1521 where he worked for a further two years. He may also have held other posts in the area, and his wider family also had close connections with Gloucestershire.

Knowing that Anne was a regular hiker and founder of Pilgrim Street Contemporary Pilgrimage, Neil, who is also Digital Bible and Translation Advisor at the Bible Society, asked for her input.

Inspired by the request, Anne began by organising a pilgrimage for herself between Gloucester and Bristol in September 2024 in order to get to know the area better and to begin making contact with interested local churches.

Completing the trail, she wrote a report informing the Bible Society and the Tyndale Society of the suggested route, which connects several key places in Tyndale’s life into one walk as well as various commemorations to him in more recent years, including central Bristol, Iron Acton, Chipping Sodbury, Little Sodbury and North Nibley. 

One key spot on her walk is the Tyndale Monument in North Nibley, with Tyndale Baptist Church in Bristol also being close to the route.

The route closely follows existing walking trails and also passes other places of considerable interest. It is covered in its entirety on the Ordnance Survey maps 155 (Bristol and Bath) and 167 (Thornbury, Dursley and Yate).

This work has led the Bible Society to organise and run a 26-mile sponsored fundraising walk to celebrate the work of Tyndale, which ran in September this year.



Celebrating the anniversary hasn’t just been a Baptist and Bible Society project; multiple denominations have participated in taking the pilgrimage. Groups from the Congregational Federation have had walkers follow the trail as part of a larger 500-mile celebration. Local parish churches have been working on extending the trail with additional loops and plan to add way markers and information boards to educate people further. A Catholic pilgrim has also been assisting Anne in improving the trail’s mapping.

The ecumenical nature of the project has parallels to Tyndale himself, according to Anne. “Tyndale belongs to us all”, she comments.

But Anne’s plans for the trail go further than just this year and supporting the Bible Society’s celebration. She is hopeful that soon the route will become a registered walk on Strava, so many can discover for themselves about Tyndale and the Bible.  

The impact of Tyndale's translation of the New Testament was highlighted in October, when Bible Society convened church leaders in a show of unity at London's St Dunstan-in-the-West church, on the site of an earlier building where Tyndale lectured. 

The gathering included testimonies and reflections on the Bible's role in mission and in conflict resolution, and the premiere of a specially commissioned setting of The Lord's Prayer to Tyndale's translation.

Its centrepiece was the signing of an Affirmation on the significance of the Bible in today's world.

The Affirmation said: "Whatever our historical and theological differences, we gather together around the Bible as the revealed written word of God.

"We affirm the Bible as a living text through which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us today."