Places and people we will visit

We will have a lot to fit into our visits to Belgium and France, here are a few.

Meningate and the 8pm last post that takes place every day of the year including Christmas day.

A number of museums including Zonnebeke, Talbot house, cloth hall and Albert.

Quite a number of cemeteries and the contrast between the German and British cemeteries. As well as the many different headstones for each nationality. We will also visit Tyne Cot which is the biggest commonwealth cemetery in the world.

Shrapnel Charlie or Ivan who makes model soldiers and monuments from shrapnel brought to him from around Belgium. He is visited by people from all over the world who buy his models...Ivan says it's his way of returning the soldiers home. Above are photo's of him at work. He gets invited to many important events one of which was the trooping of the colour as a special guest of the Queen mother.

I have also added photo's taken of the post and room that were used for the 'shot at dawn' soldiers who have finally been granted a posthumous pardon.

Essex farm is another particular place of interest where John Mcrae sat and wrote the poem In Flanders fields. It also shows the first aid shelters that were used.

Of course Lochnagar crater will be our first visit on The Somme and the many other memorials around the Somme, i always find Delville wood a special place to visit. We will also be laying a poppy at Mametz wood for Harry Fellows who fought there and lost many of his close friends and who's son and family are amongst the friends of Lochnager and friends of ours.

We use the term friends of Lochnager when we are talking about members who subscribe to the crater....the upkeep of the crater not only relies on the hard work of volunteers but also on donations and subscriptions to maintain it and keep it safe for the many thousands of visitors it receives each year. At £12.50 a year which includes a news letter i feel the subscription is very reasonable.

There will much more to see and hopefully on our way back to the ferry we will visit Vimy Ridge the Canadian memorial and trenches with an underground tour.