Infomal short walks in conjunction with Wirral's Viking Trail, The Unknown Vikings (Chester re-eneactment group), Wirral Archaeology CIC, the Grosvenor Museum, the Municipality of Trondheim and BBC Radio Merseyside
St Olave’s Church, Chester drawing from Holme in 1660 with tower in the syle of a Norwegian “Stave Church”.
Courtesy of ShoutWiki and the Bodleian Library, Oxford
18th ANNUAL WALK 2025
This years Olsok/St Olav Wirral & Chester Viking Heritage walk will take place on Saturday 9th August 3.30-5.30pm "Piladall & Wirral's Vikingvirke"
It is based around the old boundary border area between the Norse Viking settlements in the north of Wirral with the English regions in the south, focusing on a region formerly known as “Piladall” (Old Norse “Willow tree valley”) between Raby (Old Norse “boundary settlement”) and Hargrave to Willaston to the south. We’ve called it “Vikingwerke” after the “Danevirke” or “Danewerk” in Southern Denmark/Northern Germany.
It’s a mixture of beauty ("Willow Trees") and a feeling of border hostility (I know Vikings didn't have an electric fence then but you get the drift!). There should be space to park-up near Hargrave Cottages.
The walk is based on Chap 10 of the book Ingimund's Saga.... 90 mins max and we'll probably end up at the Wheatsheaf pub in Raby! Its about 2-3 miles. Please bring boots and some water. Unsuitable for dogs, pushchairs or mobility scooters. Part of the walk will be along Benty Heath Road so beware of the traffic. There are no toilets but walkers are requested to use their discretion.
The route (starting near Hargrave Cottages):
Please email Steve & Sue of Wirral's Viking Trail if you would like to join us for the walk. Please note that the walk is limited to a maximum of 50 people. The walk is free, but in common with the main St. Olav’s walks in Norway, people/pilgrims come at their own risk. We merely provide a guide. There should be some parking near Hargrave Cottages but please do not park along the Private track of Hargrave House farm.
History
The St. Olav's Wirral-Chester Viking Heritage walks - started in conjunction with the Grosvenor Museum in Chester and the Municipality of Trondheim in 2008 after a pilot walk in 2007, take place at the end of July/early August, and 2025 will be the 18th year of the walks. They celebrate Wirral and Chester's great Viking tradition, started by Norsemen led by Ingimund, who, in and after AD902 "settled in great numbers". The walks also commemorate Norway's patron saint St Olav whose life and works are celebrated across Scandinavia, particularly in Norway. Every year in July-August Norwegians commemorate him with a series of events including several walks which go to Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim where he is buried.
There is also a St. Olave's church in Chester originating from the Viking Age, St. Bridget's Church in West Kirby - also founded by the Vikings - with a dedication to St. Olav (stain glass window) and many fine Viking Age stone artefacts including one of two Viking hogbacks found on Wirral; and in between another church with strong Viking Age connections - the Church of St Mary and St Helen at Neston with fragments from at least 3 Viking Age Crosses one of which - the wonderful "Viking Lady" cross - has been beautifully reconstructed as a replica & displayed with the artefacts at the front of the church. In partnership with Trondheim the centre of the main "Olsok" Festival, Wirral and Chester also commemorate St Olav with walks near St Olav's Day, and are designed to complement the events in Norway and Scandinavia. The background behind these Wirral-Chester St. Olav Viking Heritage walks is described in The Norseman magazine. Many people have enjoyed the envigoration of these walks, including BBC Television’s Michael Wood, and BBC's Tom Pinfold from the series Tudor Monastery Farm: we hope you would like to join us too!
BBC’s Michael Wood (left) joins us on an earlier walk.
***Please bring adequate footwear, rain protection if the forecast is inclement, a face mask, and water and refreshments***
***We would like to stress again that in common with the main St. Olav’s walks in Norway please note that all walkers/pilgrims do so at their own risk. The organisers merely provide a guide***
from “On the Pilgrim Way to Trondheim” by Stein Thue: Wandering into a new landscape: Pilgrims made their way to the shrine of St. Olav in Nidaros Cathedral (the Cathedral in Trondheim) for a little over five hundred years, from 1031 until the reformation in 1537. When we now encourage people to walk the pilgrim ways it is to reap the benefits of outdoor life, special cultural experiences and personal reflection. The pilgrim dares to leave behind everything that is near and dear and wander into a new landscape, where he becomes a peregrine, a wanderer from far away. In the middle ages he would break from everything around him to express his devotion, seek healing, or do penance. Today a pilgrim seeks knowledge, recreation and self-fulfilment in such a way that perhaps the path is more important than the goal. The pilgrim understands that there is a path he must travel and that there is risk in the endeavour. The benefits nevertheless outweigh the risk for those who dare embark on such and adventure, as on their return from their fulfilling wandering, they will shed at least one prejudice and replace it with at least one new idea.
Radio/TV/Youtube Broadcasts from earlier walks:
Radio City 2008 walk - with Simon O’Brien
BBC2 – The Great British Story, 2011 walk – with Michael Wood
BBC Radio Merseyside 2014 walk – with Sean Styles and Mark Geyer
BBC Radio Merseyside 2016 walk – with Paul Beesley
BBC Radio Merseyside 2017 walk – with Tony Snell
BBC Radio Merseyside 2018 walk – with Sean Styles
BBC Radio Merseyside 2020 walk – with Lisa Marrey
BBC Radio Merseyside 2021 walk – with Sean Styles
Links:
Article in the Norseman Magazine, January/February 2009
Olsok: St. Olaf's pilgrimage in Norway produced by Trondheim Kommune
National Day (Ólavsøka): St. Olav’s Festival in Faroe Islands
Olsok Service at St. Olave’s Church, August 2001
Olsok Service at St. Olave’s Church, August 2002
Wirral and West Lancashire Viking Page
Wirral's Viking Trail: download pdf
SCIENCE AND THE VIKINGS BROADCAST
Enquiries: Steve of Wirral's Viking Trail or Text 078110 90635 (International texts: +44 78110 90635)
Return to Wirral & West Lancashire Viking Page