In Rachel Joyce’s bestselling book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Harold lives a life without purpose until he learns an old friend is dying and vows that in walking across England to see her, his journey can keep her alive. Harold’s journey has been made into a film, starring Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton.
Harold’s pilgrimage was 627 miles in 87 days in yachting shoes and walking along roads, not footpaths, because that’s what Harold knew, having driven cars all his life.
His route can now be downloaded and navigated using instructions. But if you’d like to suggest improvements, I’m sure Harold would be delighted to hear them. Then, once enough people have made their suggestions, we can promote alternative routes.
Follow on social media @haroldfryfilm – #HaroldFryFilm is exclusively in cinemas April 28th. Come to our pre-release on April 25th, 6-9pm, at Cineworld, Leicester Square, London.
What an absolutely amazing and inspiring film. I haven’t read the book, but I will now.
The route through Ripley in Derbyshire is not totally accurate as there are shots in the film of Ripley that are away from the route.
The route through Chilton, County Durham is not totally accurate as there is a shot in Chilton in the film which is away from the route
Thanks Gary, we’ve recreated the fictional route of Harold Fry with help from the author Rachel Joyce. Whenever you translate something to film they will of course seek out the most visually appealing shots, which might not quite match up with the most sensible path for people actually walking the route. Creating practical routes always involves a certain amount of compromise, but pilgrims are free to make their own amendments as they wish – which detours would you recommend?