Clergyman creates map showing how long it would take bishop to walk from their cathedral to Nando’s

A clergyman has created a hilarious map showing how long it would take each bishop to walk from their cathedral to the nearest Nando’s.

Fergus Butler-Gallie, the assistant curate in the Diocese of Liverpool, shared the map on Twitter and expressed sympathy for those clergymen who found themselves over five hours walk away from a portion of spicy Peri-Peri chicken.

The viral map revealed that the Bishops of Truro and Bath and Wells – as well as the remote Diocese of Sodor on the Isle of Man – face the longest pilgrimage to getting their hands on a cheeky Nando’s.

Reverend Butler-Gallie, 28, is known for his irreverent takes on life in the church, describing himself as ‘a Bon Viveur first and foremost, with a soupçon of Roguishness and Prodigality’.

Rev. Butler-Gallie, who studied Theology at Cambridge after reading History at Oxford said the idea of creating the map came to him while he had writer’s block

Writing on Twitter, he said: ‘Have you, like me, ever wondered how long it would take the Diocesan Bishops of the Church of England to walk from their cathedrals to a Nando’s if they were peckish? Wonder no more.’

Discussing his map, which has already been ‘liked’ by nearly eleven thousand people on Twitter, he said the idea came to him in a moment of writer’s block.

Rev. Butler-Gallie, who studied Theology at Cambridge after reading History at Oxford, said: ‘I was in the middle of writing a sermon, and I had reached a dead end.

‘In the emptiness of my head stupid ideas float through, so I thought I would look it up.

A Nando’s restaurant. Mr Butler-Gallie said he came up with the idea for the map while he had writer’s block

‘I read History and Modern languages in my first degree – at Oxford – so I’ve always been interested in maps.

‘One of my old professors was obsessed with linguistic maps which showed what languages where spoken where in vast places like Yugoslavia.

‘Battle maps and changing borders always fascinated me, so really it was displacement and distraction to stop me writing the sermon. It took an hour or so.

‘The Church of England map already exists, so it was just a case of going on Google Maps, working out the distance between Newcastle Cathedral and the nearest Nando’s and colouring it in.’

The clergyman, who has written two books on the eccentricities of the English clergy and the ‘loose canons’ who fought fascism in the twentieth century, was glad to offer a bit of light relief from the never-ending news cycle.

A portion of chips covered in Peri Peri salt and a pot of Perinaise at the popular South African chicken chain

He said: ‘Anything that allows people to abandon, even for a moment, the slog of their day is going to be appreciated.

‘I was surprised when people from the States, from Canada and Australia were engaging with it. I don’t know how many of them have even been to a Nando’s.

‘The world can be a very dark place. I used to be the class clown – all I was ever really good at was making people laugh.

‘If I can bring that to ministry then that’s to be welcomed.’

The map, however, was not good news for the Lord Bishop of Truro – as Revd. Butler-Gallie was quick to point out after sharing the map.

He added: ‘Apparently it’s a long running issue for people in Truro that the only Nando’s in Cornwall is on the border with Devon, not their favourite place.

‘It’s funny how all these old conflicts resurface through the medium of Peri-Peri chicken.’

The clergyman, who has written two books on the eccentricities of the English clergy and the ‘loose canons’ who fought fascism in the twentieth century, was glad to offer a bit of light relief from the never-ending news cycle