Parish Trip to Ypres and Bruges
Bright and early on Thursday 9 th October, forty-one parishioners and friends boarded their Armchair Tours coach for what has become the annual church trip across the Channel. Apart from a relatively short hold up on the motorway the trip was uneventful and we arrived at the ferry terminal in good time enabling us to catch an earlier ferry than planned. This had not the original plan. As usual we had planned to travel via the tunnel but our shuttle booking had to be cancelled due to the fire in the tunnel, we had then been booked on a Sea France ferry, which had to be changed to P & O – all within the space of the three weeks, immediately prior to the trip!
During our journey to the Belgian town of Ypres, our base for the three days, we encountered something that cropped up on almost every journey we took – a ‘deviation’ or detour because of road closures. Unfortunately we found that some of these Belgian ‘deviations’ can take you some thirty kilometres out of our way!
When you look at the apparently very old buildings in Ypres, it’s hard to believe, that the town was completely destroyed during the First World War. After the war the town centre was completely rebuilt in the original style.
There was a couple of hours to spare before our scheduled tour of the area, so many people took the opportunity to shop, grab a traditional snack of pom frits with the obligatory serving of mayonnaise or visit some of the sights of the town. With more free time over the next two days there was ample opportunity to take in all the buildings and exhibitions available
The “In Flanders Fields” museum, in the Cloth Hall was a popular attraction during our stay. With static exhibits and audio and visual displays it brings the suffering of the local population and the fighting men of both sides during the First World War much closer and amply illustrates the futility and waste of war.
The Anglican Church dedicated to St George was another ‘must visit’ location. The church was opened in 1929 and is dedicated to all the British forces that fought and died in the Ypres Salient during the Great War. Everything in the church, from the windows, font and hassocks is donated and dedicated to particular regiments or soldiers who died in the area. This is in addition to the memorial plaques decorating the walls.
Our first trip of our stay took us on a battlefield tour of the area, with an expert local guide, who still managed to get out and about, while recovering from his fifth hip replacement operation! We visited both battlefields and war cemeteries. We stopped for some time at the largest British and Commonwealth cemetery at Tyne Cott, with nearly 12,000 war graves; nearly 8,000 of these are unidentified. While we were there it was good to see a coach load of British youngsters visiting this and perhaps other sites. All the British cemeteries, large or small are immaculately kept under the auspices of the War Graves Commission, with its headquarters in Maidenhead. On our way back to Ypres we visited the German cemetery not far away at Langemark. This cemetery is a stark contrast to the British and Commonwealth cemeteries. Where they are very open with very white headstones, the German cemetery is very sombre with dark stones lying flat on the ground, with the statues of four sinister looking soldiers overlooking it.
That evening we went to the Menin Gate for the sounding of the Last Post, something that has been done here every night since 1928, apart from the period when the town was occupied by German troops during the Second World War. The Gate bears the names of nearly 55,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who died during the First War before July 1917 and have no known grave. A similar number, who were killed after this date are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing in Tyne Cott cemetery. The pavement area under the Gate was packed with people. The traffic was stopped, the Last Post was sounded and the large crowd were silent. It is difficult not to be moved while this takes place surrounded by the names of so many young men, who have no known grave. After the silence, a number of young people, probably of a similar age to many of those remembered on the panels came forward and laid wreaths.
The following day, after some free time, we drove, with the inevitable deviation to the memorial garden at Adegem. The garden is a living memorial built by one man and now maintained by his family to honour the Canadian troops that liberated the town in the Second World War. The garden was a gem, as was our guide Alexandra, the grand daughter of the founder of the garden. She brought the whole garden to life, explaining many things, including how to tell the difference between a male and female fig tree and how to identify a ‘viagara’ tree and its part in ensuring that the local barges can navigate the nearby canals. Due to the ‘deviation’ taken earlier we only had a short time in Bruges. While some enjoyed a brisk walk into the city, some took the bus while others strolled along the canal banks and just enjoyed the views. From here we enjoyed a leisurely cruise by paddle steamer along the Damse Vaart canal to the village of Damme. Here we enjoyed an excellent four-course meal in one of the many fine restaurants that the village is famous for.
On our last day we again had free time. Quite a number of trippers took the opportunity to enjoy a walk in the autumnal sunshine along the ancient ramparts of the town, while others used the time for last minute purchases of the famous Belgian chocolates. Mid-day we made our way to Lille, this time encountering a French ‘deviation’ which luckily did not take us quite so far out of our way as its Belgian counterpart. Our stop in the city gave us time to have a meal in one of the many restaurants, where it was warm enough to eat outside, as well as doing some sight seeing in the centre of the city.
Our ride to the ferry terminal was uneventful, but it was almost inevitable, with our transport changes, ‘deviations’ and other problems that our coach was selected for a thorough search by immigration officers while we left the coach to produce our passports to their colleagues. It seems that we were all in order as we were all allowed to proceed on our way, arriving back at Bray at 9.30pm.
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