More than 250 Christians are dusting off their walking boots for the start of Britain’s oldest annual pilgrimage this Saturday.

Student Cross will see 10 groups – known as ‘Legs’ – will set off from different points across England and walk around 120 miles between 4 and 12 April.

Each of the Legs will carry a large wooden cross as a visible witness to their Christian faith.

On Good Friday, the groups will come together for a joint Easter celebration in Walsingham, one of the biggest pilgrimage sites in the world during the Middle Ages until the Reformation.

Although the pilgrimage is predominantly Catholic, it has over the years attracted many Christians from other denominations.

At an ecumenical service last year to celebrate its Diamond Jubilee, former Master of the Dominican Order Fr Timothy Radcliffe, stressed that the pilgrimage was about “unity in difference”.

Felicity Cairns, Student Cross national director for 2009, said: “If anyone is looking for a unique way to celebrate Easter and experience fully the community of pilgrimage then Student Cross is for them!”

On the web: www.studentcross.org.uk