C7CAT

Belgium - August 2008

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend we visited Ypres and Bruges in Belgium with Steve & Jenny Walker. We stayed at a very rural B&B surrounded by fields of maize near Wijtschate, 10km from Ypres. The owners of Muscari were very welcoming and most interested in the Se7ens! The photos below show the various places we visited over the weekend.

En route to our B&B we passed this unusual haystack! We drove into Ypres for dinner on our first evening and took this photo of the Cloth Hall in Grote Markt

This is Tyne Cot Memorial in Passchendaele where there are 11,952 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated The Memorial also bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. It was designed by Sir Herbert Baker

The Memorial is built around two German blockhouses which were used as advanced dressing stations We found two casualties listed in the memorial register with our family name and we also located them on the memorial. This has prompted us to check our family tree to see if we are related

We spent a day in Ypres and completed the Ramparts Walk which starts at the Menin Gate. The memorial commemorates those from most of the Commonwealth nations who died in Ypres Salient in the First World War

The memorial lists more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known and was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield A strange group of sculptures on the Ramparts Walk

The Ramparts Cemetery holds 198 Commonwealth graves and was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield A memorial close to Grote Markt

The Cloth Hall was built in the 13th century and demonstrated the wealth and power held by the merchants of the town. The main façade is 125m long and the belfry 70m high with a carillon with 49 bells Architecture in Grote Markt

We returned to the Menin Gate for the Last Post which has taken place every day at 8pm since 1928 On the evening that we were there, the guard of honour was formed by the City of London Police

Unfortunately not a clear photo, but the Last Post was sounded by three buglers An intriguing night time shadow of the tower

This was the view from our bedroom window You can just make out the driveway to the property

En route to Bruges, we visited the Yorkshire Trench and Dugout which was at the time a front line position

This is the view that a sniper would have had from the trench

The Provincial court is the best example of how Bruges was renovated in neo-gothic style during the second half of the 19th century. Reconstructions of medieval-style houses in the Markt

The Old Civil Registry The Lion of Flanders and the Bear of Bruges

Our boat trip started from this picturesque jetty

On the way home we programmed the shortest route into the satnav and this picked up some 'interesting' roads. This one, although clearly unmade, actually had a proper street sign, so being the adventurous sorts we trusted the satnav!

Touring


En route to our B&B we passed this unusual haystack!	We drove into Ypres for dinner on our first evening and took this photo of the Cloth Hall in Grote Markt

This is Tyne Cot Memorial in Passchendaele where there are 11,952 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated	The Memorial also bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. It was designed by Sir Herbert Baker





The Memorial is built around two German blockhouses which were used as advanced dressing stations	We found two casualties listed in the memorial register with our family name and we also located them on the memorial. This has prompted us to check our family tree to see if we are related

We spent a day in Ypres and completed the Ramparts Walk which starts at the Menin Gate.	The memorial commemorates those from most of the Commonwealth nations who died in Ypres Salient in the First World War

The memorial lists more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known and was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield	A strange group of sculptures on the Ramparts Walk

The Ramparts Cemetery holds 198 Commonwealth graves and was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield	A memorial close to Grote Markt

The Cloth Hall was built in the 13th century and demonstrated the wealth and power held by the merchants of the town. The main façade is 125m long and the belfry 70m high with a carillon with 49 bells	Architecture in Grote Markt

We returned to the Menin Gate for the Last Post which has taken place every day at 8pm since 1928	On the evening that we were there, the guard of honour was formed by the City of London Police

Unfortunately not a clear photo, but the Last Post was sounded by three buglers	An intriguing night time shadow of the tower

This was the view from our bedroom window	You can just make out the driveway to the property

	En route to Bruges, we visited the Yorkshire Trench and Dugout which was at the time a front line position



This is the view that a sniper would have had from the trench



The Provincial court is the best example of how Bruges was renovated in neo-gothic style during the second half of the 19th century.	Reconstructions of medieval-style houses in the Markt

The Old Civil Registry	The Lion of Flanders and the Bear of Bruges

Our boat trip started from this picturesque jetty