The Keys!

Why am I carrying the beautiful keys made for me by Mike Marshall?

The key is the symbol of the pilgrimage to Rome, in just the same way the scallop shell is the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. In this case, the key is for St Peter, who holds the keys to the gates of Heaven - as you all know. I am carrying two keys as one of them will return with me to go on the wall of our village church in Childe Okeford.

The keys are not, I very much regret, able to open some enormous Vatican wine depository solely for the use and succour of much needy pilgrims (like moi) at the end of their journey (and tether?!) from London....

I might add, they ain't light these keys; Mike made them to last (you tend to if you build steam locomotives as a past time) and to give you an idea of their size, they are roughly the width of an iPad screen. Mike, being an old Light Infantryman ensured I also travelled with suitable cleaning materials so they wouldnt get dirty... Dirty brasses simply don't rub!