Quaker Journey 2026

Travel from the United States to Manchester, England and overnight at the four-star Clayton Hotel (adjacent to the airport) or other lodging. Early arrivals generally go into the city together from the hotel for sightseeing and/or dinner and an evening stroll.

We take a charter coach from The Clayton Hotel to Oxenholme rail station (for any train travelers) and on to our home for the week, the Victorian-era Glenthorne Quaker Conference Centre and Guest House, in Grasmere (what William Wordsworth called The loveliest spot that man hath ever found).

Over afternoon tea, we orient ourselves to Glenthorne and our week together. The rest of the afternoon is open for rest, local exploration, or other activities.​​​​​​

• Welcome and introductory talk by our British Quaker guide
• Airton Meeting House
• Brigflatts Meeting House
• Colthouse Meeting House
• Fox’s Pulpit/Firbank Fell
• Hawkshead Village
• Lancaster Castle/Prison
• Pendle Hill
• Preston Patrick Meeting House
• Quaker Tapestry Exhibit, Kendal
• Saint Andrew’s Church, Sedbergh
• Swarthmoor Hall
• Meeting for Worship and final thoughts

We also tour the Wensleydale Creamery, home of Yorkshire cheeses and associated with the Wallace and Gromit stop-motion animation comedy franchise!

You can see his reflections about the power of experiencing "1652 Country" in this 2010 article by British historian and Quaker Roy Stephenson, our 2013 and 2018 guide and a guest for 2024.

Wednesday and Saturday are open for rest, local exploration, and other activities using local transport or on foot.

Possibilities include:

• writer William Wordsworth’s Dovecote Cottage, Allan Bank, and/or Rydal Mount homes
• the Wordsworth Museum
• his grave at St. Oswald’s Church
• Sarah Nelson’s Grasmere Gingerbread Shop (famous since 1854!)
• Beatrix Potter’s Hilltop home
• the Heaton Cooper Studio (an art gallery and shop)
• the garden of Taffy Thomas, Britain's first storyteller laureate
• the ruins of the Roman fort Galava
• a hike up Helm Crag or other peaks
• a cruise on Windermere Lake
• the Blackwell Arts and Crafts House
• Victorian writer, artist, and social activist John Ruskin's Brantwood home
• a visit to Morecambe Bay
• a walk to Easedale Tarn
• biking around the countryside
• local bus service northward to the town of Keswick (home of the Cumberland Pencil Museum) and the Derwentwater lake
• Mosedale Meetinghouse and Coffee Shop
• the Castlerigg stone circle
• an All Creatures Great and Small driving tour
• and more!

You can see Rick Steves' 2012 program about the Lake District, from Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum to the stone circle older than Stonehenge.

If you need an additional enticement, take a look at the beautiful photos in this UK newspaper story, 10 Reasons Why You Should Visit the Lake District!

We take our comfortable charter coach from Glenthorne to Oxenholme Station and then on to the Manchester Airport for travel to the United States or other destinations.

We anticipate at least one pre-trip potluck and informational meeting to which all participants will be invited.

We also hope interest warrants at least one post-trip potluck open to all travelers.

We're glad to include anyone at a distance via video-conferencing.

Please note itinerary details are subject to change.

We'll have various opportunities for reflection and sharing, for small-group walks, for shop and pub visits, and for other optional activities.

The itinerary incorporates some significant walking and an optional climb up Pendle Hill; if you have questions about mobility expectations, please contact the trip organizers at ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org.

Please wait for participation confirmation from us before making any travel reservations.

Each participant is responsible for arranging and paying for individual travel to and from England. England is five hours ahead of EST in the US. We recommend flying into Manchester Airport.

We have arranged for one shuttle (included in the registration fee) between Manchester Airport (and/or the nearby Clayton Hotel), the Oxenholme rail station, and the Glenthorne Quaker Centre and Guest House in Grasmere on the two Sunday mornings bookending our week.

If you are planning to ride the shuttle from Manchester Airport, your flight must arrive before our 10:30 am departure Sunday morning. We strongly encourage you to consider arriving the day before on Saturday and staying at the Clayton or another Manchester hotel close to the airport. 

Alternatively, you could fly in and out of other UK cities and travel to Glenthorne via rail to Oxenholme station or rent a car and drive.

Some participants choose to travel to other places in Europe before and/or after the tour. 

For many years, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) has sponsored Quaker Pilgrimages to England. For the CFS staff members who'd participated, the Pilgrimage was an unparalleled experience that continued to have an impact deepening their appreciation of our Quaker roots and practices.

In Spring 2012 a group--Cesanne Berry (Durham Early School head), Charlie Layman (Lower School teacher and staff clerk), and Natasha Shannon (Lower School art teacher), with organizing support from Lynn Drake (Chapel Hill Friends Meeting) and Nikki Vangsnes (Durham Friends Meeting)--felt led to consider whether we might be able to replicate the experience for interested F/friends in our local Quaker communities using the same Quaker retreat facilities, itinerary, and contacts in England. They were delighted that PYM organizers were willing to share all their information and help facilitate connections with “1652 Country Pilgrimage" planners in England.

So, in August 2013, 10 Chapel Hill Friends Meeting (CHFM) and eight Durham Friends Meeting (DFM) members joined eight current and retired Carolina Friends staff members for the weeklong adventure. Learn more about their journey in this We & Thee article.

The power of that trip led Nikki to join with CFS Director of Extended Learning Anthony L. Clay (a 2013 participant) and Lower School teacher Lynn Pickles (a native of the Lake District) to organize another iteration of the trip. In July 2018, almost 30 travelers joined once more with British historian, Quaker, and guide Roy Stephenson for a week in Cumbria.

The significance of 2013 and 2018 seemed to call for another such experience, so Anthony, Lynn, and Nikki organized a June 2024 trip with participants from eight states coast to coast.

Now, they'd like to invite U.S., Canadian, and other global F/friends on the 2-9 August 2026 pilgrimage. Won't you join us?!

Anthony L. Clay
Carolina Friends School

Anthony returned to Carolina Friends in August 2009 as the first Director of Advancement, responsible for alumni, parent, and grandparent relations; development; communications; community partnerships and outreach; and other aspects of the School’s external relations. In 2016-2017, he transitioned to the new Director of Extended Learning role, supporting after-hours, summer, and other enrichment programs for students, adults, and families and now leads our Institute for Teaching and Learning.

An Arkansas native, he earned baccalaureate degrees magna cum laude in International Relations and History and an Asian Studies Certificate at American University and then completed an M.A. in History and received Phi Beta Kappa honors at Emory University. Anthony has worked as a teacher--in subjects including U.S. history, government and politics, debate, and economics--and as a college counselor at four schools (including Carolina Friends from 2002-2005). He's grateful that his own children were nurtured by Quaker values and dedicated teachers at CFS.

Lynn Pickles
Carolina Friends School

Lynn has always been passionate about teaching math, writing, and cultural geography, and feels very much at home at CFS as she was born in Nelson, Lancashire, in the shadows of Pendle Hill, a cornerstone place in the history of the Quaker movement. She and her husband John have a son, Leon, and they enjoy traveling whenever the opportunity presents itself. 

Lynn grew up working in her parents’ fish, fruit, and vegetable shop in the 1950s and her formal post-secondary education took place at St Martin’s College in Lancaster, England, after which she taught in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa for four years. She and her husband came to the U.S., to State College, Pennsylvania, in 1978 where Lynn worked as a Special Education Teacher and as a Young Adult and Children’s Librarian for the County.

She undertook a second Education / Math degree and a Masters Degree in International Affairs and Linguistics at Ohio University, prior to moving to Morgantown, West Virginia. There, she started an alternative elementary school with a group of parents.  Lynn later moved to The Lexington School, in Lexington, Kentucky, and then to the Duke School in Durham before working in Lower School Forest Class at Carolina Friends School. Now retired after almost 50 years of working with children, she has come full circle and is looking forward to taking you to Pendle Hill and tracing George Fox's 1652 itinerary.

Nikki Vangsnes
Durham Friends Meeting

Since 1985, Nikki has been active in the Durham Friends Meeting where she has served in various capacities, including clerk of the Meeting. For 10 years she served in various governance roles, including as clerk of the Board, for the American Friends Service Committee. Nikki is also a former member of the Carolina Friends School Board of Trustees and parent of three alums. Since 1999, she has worked as the Associate Director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine at Duke University.

With 2013 and 2018 guide Roy Stephenson, who also joined us for part of the 2024 experience.

The 2026 cost will be set as soon as possible in Spring 2025. 

The trip fee includes:

• all lodging and meals at Glenthorne Quaker Conference Centre and Guest House
• round-trip ground transportation via air-conditioned coach between Manchester and Glenthorne
• all ground transportation between Glenthorne and itinerary stops
• entry fees, honoraria, and gratuities for site visits and guides
• the services of three experienced trip organizers and of knowledgeable British Quaker guides

The trip fee does not include:

• airfare
• optional evening or other activities
• trip/travel insurance
• incidental purchases

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A $1,200 deposit will be due at the time of application.

The balance will be due in Spring 2026.

We're glad to work with you on alternative financial arrangements. 

The trip cost is non-refundable unless we reach capacity and are then able to fill your space. 

We encourage you to consider purchasing travel insurance to cover air travel for unforeseen circumstances.

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We have some tuition assistance funds available to support Carolina Friends staff members and possibly also other educators who couldn't afford to go otherwise.

If you're in a position to do so, even a modest tax-deductible gift added to the overall tuition amount can increase our program funds and expand access for educators. Thanks for your consideration!

Registration will open as soon as possible in Spring 2025.

If you'd like us to keep you updated on this and other transformational travel-learning programs, please complete this brief notification form.