posted on 13th April 2014

Starting my journey with a light run, I would now be just a mile down the road, at the Chantry Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin. The chapel is the oldest of just four surviving bridge chapels in England and is situated in the middle of the medieval bridge over the River Calder in Wakefield.

But why would I stop here? Well, not only have I never seen a bridge chapel (or any building on a bridge for that matter), it also seemed strangely appropriate that I would have to cross such a bridge so soon into my journey.

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to have a poem and an autobiographical story published in a book entitled ‘Shattered Images and Building Bridges‘ available from Lapwing Books, which included the writing of a number of prisoners based, in part, around the idea of lives falling apart and being rebuilt. This journey fully represents that for me. It’s a chance for me to put something positive out into the universe. A chance for me to break free of my past and my present, and cross the bridge into a future where I can do the things I enjoy, such as writing and fitness, and help out a charity in the process.

So, as I cross this bridge, passing through this symbolic building of redemption, I also run forth, into a life where I am not bound by tall walls and locked doors, or even by the shadows of my past. I am free to be the me that I want to be.

Now it’s time I picked up the pace a bit.