The Imbolc Pilgrimage
A wonderful article in the December 2025 Idler magazine promoted walking pilgrimages based on ancient festivals throughout the year.
February 1st sees St Bride's Day and Imbolc;
Imbolc, celebrated around 1 February, marks the quiet turning point between winter and spring. Rooted in early Irish tradition and later associated with St Brigid (or St Bride), it is a festival of renewal, light, and potential rather than arrival or abundance. Traditionally linked to lambing, fresh milk, and the lengthening days, Imbolc focuses on what is beginning to stir beneath the surface: the cleaning of hearths, the lighting of fires, and visits to sacred wells. It is a threshold moment in the year, attentive to small signs of change, when survival gives way—cautiously—to hope.
The suggested itinerary for an Imbolc inspired walk: to find a holy well.
I'd already thought of St Kenelm's Well in Clent when the monthly Walk West Midlands newsletter arrived in my inbox. Everything is connected - their feature walk is a linear route from Halesowen to Hagley. The only decision to be made is which direction to travel. Roberto's Bar for interesting world beers or the King Arthur for Bathams. Start-of-the-week opening hours make the choice for me.
I alight the 192 bus in West Halesowen, practically on the Clent foothills. A muddy climb leads up to St Kenelm's Church and well.
St Kenelm's Well
According to legend, St Kenelm, a 9th-century Mercian prince, was murdered as a child on the Clent Hills, and when his hidden body was discovered a spring burst from the ground, now known as St Kenelm’s Well. This well is traditionally regarded as one of the sources of the River Stour, which rises from several springs on the Clent Hills before flowing south-west through the Black Country and into Worcestershire. The story of Kenelm’s death and translation is commemorated today by St Kenelm’s Way, a long-distance walking route that traces the legendary journey of his body from the hills near Romsley to his shrine at Winchcombe Abbey, linking landscape, water, and story into a single, enduring sacred geography.
The well is met first.... a trickle of water falling into a bricked conduit. I am not the only one "celebrating" Imbolc. The nearby bushes are decorated with hung fabrics and at the source of the water, a St Bride's cross fashioned out of reed.
 |
| Located to the north east of the church - downhill |
 |
| St Bride's Cross at the Well |
The small church is "doors open" and demands exploration. An ancient semi-circular tympanum above the door representing "Christ in Majesty". Inside, a more modern wooden carved screen denoting the last supper.
 |
| Two raised fingers - Christ divine and mortal |
 |
| Judas carrying the purse - John resting on Jesus' shoulder. Peter, unusually for the Last Supper with keys |
The Walk Midlands route creator likes road walking. At least I am out of the mud. A drop down St Kenelm's Pass and then across to the main Clent village. The decision on whether to turn this into a pub crawl is taken out of my hands. Too early for the Vine. The newly reopened Fountain doesn't open on a Monday. And the Lyttelton Arms is only for first dates.
As planned - it's a quick Bathams at the King Arthur - timed to perfection with 40 minutes until the return 192 bus. Busy with pensioners and eaters of cobs and pork pies.
 |
| Hagley High Street |
 |
| Happy Mondays - it's Bathams |
Walk Details
Diatance - 6 Miles
Geocaches - 3
