Town's pilgrimage route starting marker unveiled

A group including Reading's mayor Alice Mpofu-Coles (third from the right) unveiled the granite marker on Wednesday

A milestone that marks the start of the Reading leg of a well-trodden pilgrimage to Southampton and to northern Spain has been unveiled.

The granite marker, which was shipped from Spain, marks the start of St James' Way, a 70-mile route to the south coast which forms part of the Camino de Santiago network of pilgrimages.

They all lead to the shrine of St James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, a 690-mile hike from Reading.

It is thought hundreds of thousands of people complete the pilgrimages around Europe every year.

The marker was sent from Galicia and was officially unveiled by a group including Reading's mayor Alice Mpofu-Coles on Wednesday.

"Because we had Reading Abbey here in medieval times, pilgrims would come to Reading Abbey and then go on their pilgrimage right through southern England, across the Channel and to the Bay of Biscay in Spain," Alex Brannen, from Reading's Economy and Destination Agency, said.