After a surprisingly sound night’s sleep, we breakfasted in the canteen on scrambled eggs and slightly dodgy bacon surrounded by bulging Belgian cyclists in lycra and seventies leisurewear…there was also a supply of boiled eggs and cold meats which we pocketed as filled rolls for lunch. Dave’s military training comes in handy for spotting opportunities….an army marches on its stomach.
We then drove across town to the sports centre which is the organizational hub for the walk. We registered and collected details of the morning’s route. We also met up with Thierry the boss of the walk and Mark Boiting a German friend who has been on these walks for over twenty years and knows just about everybody there. We selected the 10k route as our day’s target and were en route just after 9.30. Mark was intending to join us for the day but had got embroiled in a chat so we set off alongside the moat under some shading tree cover…the day was already promising fine weather.
Crossing the N37 we were walking through the flat landscape being regularly overtaken by speeding walkers who were either older, much younger or more physically challenged than us…one memorable moment being forced to give way to a rickety old boy , not a day under 80 , supported by Nordic walking poles but outpacing us both. We reached a stretch of water formed by one of the numerous drainage systems which have reclaimed this landscape from the marshes and bogs it would otherwise be submerged by. In WW1 it was the accidental or intended destruction of these drainage systems which provided defensive barriers at points but also created such dire living conditions in trenches constantly flooding and men literally drowning in mud.
Leaving the ducks and coots of the lake behind, we walked through farmland with Mark having caught up and he and Dave were reminiscing about previous walks and walkers including the many groups of Sexey’s cadets who had completed the whole 100K. We came across some very vocal frogs ( amphibians not French people) in a reeded watercourse and then turned into some wooded stretches.
We joined a section of road around the 7k mark and then walked back into a slightly built up area called Zillebeke. Here we took our first proper rest break (this is a very well organized walk) where it was an option to resupply with burgers / snacks / various drinks. One old boy was relaxing over a glass of Belgian lager well before the sun was over the yard arm.
We resumed the walk on a beautiful stretch alongside the original lake under the colonnade of trees, mainly native oak and ash. Dave identified a great crested grebe amongst the waterfowl. It is notable of the Ypres area that you are rarely out of sight of the tallest buildings in the town centre, the cathedral and the cloth hall, which can either be an encouraging sight as you turn towards them or a demoraliser as they shrink to tiny distant towers. We recrossed the N37 at a roundabout dominated by the Magic Tap installation (How does that work Sir? Dave recalled many cadets asking).
Wonderfully, the organizers provide an ice lolly stop to cheer up tiring walkers and we all fuelled up on choc ices just as we reached the final rest area. Boosted by these refreshments we stormed into Ypres, passed the Crack factory (who knows?) and so completed our first day’s walking in good fettle.
In the afternoon, we pottered around the city centre , admiring the cloth hall and cobbled squares (which gave Dave some gip). Then we set off on a road trip out to see some remarkable commemorative sites: starting with the first aid station where the Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae treated wounded servicemen under the guns. Here he wrote possibly one of the most moving and famous wartime poems “In Flanders Field.”
We then moved onto the Essex Farm cemetery to visit the grave of Rifleman VJ Strudwick who lost his life at the incredible age of 15, therefore possibly the youngest British casualty of the war. Dave and I also returned to see Harry’s Stone, the site of the last fighting Tommy’s engagement in the war with his machine gun unit. Dave has met Harry Patch and had the honour of sitting on his bed swapping military memories.
We had agreed to join Mark and the German walking group at the Langemark cemetery where German soldiers lie in a very different setting to the familiar Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries. The grave stones lie flat and the area is shrouded in columns of oak trees. As Mark later explained, the German government is even now conflicted about how to handle remembrance. There was a brief remembrance ceremony with pipers and a pair of buglers as the sun began to set over the peaceful landscape.
We returned to the centre of Ypres and made our way to the Menin Gate in time to secure places in the centre of proceedings so that we could see the daily ceremony. It was very moving to be present as the beautiful notes of “Abide With Me” and “The Londonderry Air” soared from the local band into the great arches above us surrounded by the names of over 54000 soldiers who have no known grave. The words of Laurence Binyon’s poem rang out:
“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old…”
Among those laying wreaths it was good to see a contingent of youngsters from the Global Peace Games who placed a signed football including a refugee from Ukraine.
Finally, the evening closed with a delicious steak and chips and refreshing glass of Belgian lager.
Read about day 3 here
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