Warm welcomes from people along the way made for an uplifting experience for Frome historian Adam Stout on his 19-day walk from Yorkshire to Somerset, retracing the steps of an 18th-century eccentric who wanted to see the Glastonbury Thorn bloom at Christmas.

Highlight of the walk, he said, was the reception he received from strangers. "It's heartwarming, rejuvenating, realising that people are basically good, given half a chance," he told me.

On one occasion, a man Adam was due to stay with overnight had to go away but left the key of his home hidden in a pre-arranged place.

"There's still this degree of trust to be found in modern Britain when people sound off all the time about how untrusting we all are," said Adam, who's "number-one plan for 2009" is to write a book about the walk.

Adam followed John Jackson's 220-mile route of 1755 which took place after the calendar was changed to bring Britain into line with Europe. Eleven days were dropped from the year and many people wondered if the thorn would still bloom at Christmas.

At the age of 71, Jackson took two months to walk to Glastonbury from Woodkirk, near Dewsbury, and kept a diary. He saw the thorn blooming, went to church on Christmas Day, visited the Tor and other historic sites and, after a few days, walked home again.

"There was something about it which caught my imagination," said Adam. "I was tickled pink by the zaniness of Jackson's mission. And a pilgrimage type of walk is a good thing for the soul."

Jackson was a poor man with no money, no mobile phone and no Press contacts – he "just turned up" in Glastonbury where Adam's reception on Christmas Eve couldn't have been more different.

The media, town crier Graham Coles and a crowd of supporters were there to greet him, and the Rev David MacGeoch, vicar of Glastonbury, presented him with a cutting from the thorn in St John's churchyard.

"It was quite incredible – I had no idea there would be such a reception," said Adam.

Well done to Adam, who brought some colour and inspiration to rather depressing times with a quirky but novel undertaking.

■ Adam's walk has raised funds for the Pilgrim Reception Centre in Glastonbury, but the final sum has yet to be calculated. You can still make a donation by contacting the centre on 01458 835572, or emailing prcadmin@ glastonbury-pilgrim.co.uk