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I waited by the side of the road near Barrington cement works to wait for the marchers to come into view. The sound of a drum carried on the breeze before they came over the brow of the hill. It was a smaller group than I expected but the team take shifts depending on other commitments and struggling to keep up were a group of supporters who were following from Cambridge to Royston. The walk from Hull, the home of William Wilberforce, to London is taking three weeks covering about fifteen miles a day. It's run by an organisation called The Lifeline Expedition who organise walks of witness to try to heal the past and transform the future. This is the first of two abolition marches. The starting point of Hull links Wilberforce's Hull home with Westminster where Parliament voted to abolish the slave trade on March 25th 1807. Thomas Clarkson wrote a life changing essay on slavery in Cambridge and went onto ride the length and breadth of the country on horseback commited to fighting abolition. The final leg will be from the Cutty Sark at Greenwich to Westminster and it was in Greenwich that former slave Olaudah Equiano lived for a time. his experiences were central to the cause of the Abolitionists and he is buried at Chesterton near Cambridge.
I spoke to Andrew Winter the man with the drum. He explained how the adult marchers were yoked together as were the African Slaves. He also spoke of the welcome the marchers have received along the route. Indeed people were gathering in the church at Barrington to provide lunch. There is a second March of the Abolitionists planned for June and July. The Sankofa Reconciliation Walk will link together the three major slave ports of London Bristol and Liverpool. This walk will visit Olney where John Newton was curate in charge on Sunday July 8th before walking to Luton on July 9th. I left the walkers cracking along towards Royston. Quite rightly they are receiving great support and good media coverage of a powerful gesture. | 
