What the components of a ‘good’ day out on the battlefields? For me it’s simple, good company and ending the day having learned something new. Today tick’s those boxes and more. A gentle cycle out of Ypres onto the N8 where we head towards Sanctury Wood museum and the other memorials in the area. It’s a long cycle off the N8 onto Canada Lane, but it’s a quiet road with very little traffic. After the war, a soldier returned to what was left of his land in and around Sanctury W

It’s a cold, dark and miserable day and the skies are heavy with rain. It’s the first day that has suggested Autumn, so I’m glad we’re in the car. The shortest distance between Albert and Ypres is just 137km but taking that route means you miss out on some of the finest of WW1memorials, and our circuitous route will take to Vimy Ridge, the Notre Dame de Lorette Necropolis, Neuve Chapelle, the Portuguese Military Cemetery, Ploegsteet and Messines Ridge before arriving in Ypres

The crossroads before entering Longueval. To the right, off photo, are the memorials to the Indians and the New Zealanders. Slightly stiff and aching, a hearty breakfast gives us the boost needed for the longer route planned for today. We headed out northeast, to the right of the Albert-Bapaume Road and went towards Contalmaison. People that know the D929 which runs straight between the two towns, will also know that it is a busy road with very little tolerance for slower tra

Day one Day One then, and we set of from the Ibis in Albert, heading the back roads towards our first major stop of the day, the Hawthorne Ridge crater. On our way we stop at Crucifix Corner in Aveluy (1) , where Ivor Gurney, the poet and composer wrote the verse of the same name. A few little uphills later and we arrive at Blighty Valley Cemetery in Authuille. It’s a new one to me: beautifully kept as they all are. Ttoday the gardeners are there making sure the graves are te

The Normandy beaches that made up the D Day landing zones are places of both great beauty and interest and while the excellent books on the subject can meet the interest, it is only being there that you can appreciate the huge, complicated and ultimately successful endeavour undertaken by the Allies on 6 June 1944.  It is while standing on one of the vantage points above Arromanches-les-Bains or Omaha that the scale of the operation becomes clear and the years of planning pri

First walk finished, and it's time for coffee at the famous café. The first building to be liberated in France on D Day, the café remains in the hands of the original family. Inside, a treasure trove of memorabilia. See the Walking the D Day Beaches page for details of the tour. https://www.untoldww1.com/about