Category: British History

Learn Something New Every Day | Days 6-10

September means that the Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness is approaching. It also means that Shimelle is running her annual class, Learn Something New Every Day.As with the previous few years, I’m recording what I’ve learned throughout September here. Rainbow over Windsor Castle just minutes after the death of HM Queen Elizabeth was announced Day 6 | Times passes … Continue reading Learn Something New Every Day | Days 6-10 →

Me on Tuesday | 20 September

It was a week where our everyday life ran alongside historic times. Floral tributes to HM the Queen, Green Park We seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time watching the BBC The Brainy One took a car full of recycling to the recycling centre The Best Friend and I went into town to see … Continue reading Me on Tuesday | 20 September →

Summer Road Trip 2022 | Commonwealth War Cemeteries | Belgium

Lijssenthoek Cemetery There are just over 600 British war cemeteries in Belgium, a staggering figure, and to visit them all would be a major undertaking. I think we visited five, including Tyne Cot, and we chose them for a number of reasons - the grave of the youngest casualty on the Western Front, graves of … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2022 | Commonwealth War Cemeteries | Belgium →

Summer Road Trip 2022 | Talbot House – Toc H, Poperinge | Belgium

Talbot House, Poperinge Toc H During the Great War, Poperinge was part of 'unoccupied' Belgium. Away from the turmoil of battle in the Ypres Salient, the town developed into the nerve centre of the British sector. In the heart of this bustling town, Army chaplains Neville Talbot and Philip 'Tubby' Clayton opened a club and … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2022 | Talbot House – Toc H, Poperinge | Belgium →

Summer Road Trip 2022 | A Place of Execution, Poperinge | Belgium

Poperinge Town Hall Behind the Town Hall in Poperinge, tucked away in a cobbled courtyard, is a place of execution and death cells. Soldiers who were 'shot at dawn' create quite heated debates these days, especially as we all now know so much more about mental health conditions like PTSD. The British Military executed 346 … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2022 | A Place of Execution, Poperinge | Belgium →

Summer Road Trip 2022 | Tyne Cot Cemetery | Belgium

Tyne Cot Cemetery ... this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war King George V, 11 May 1922 Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2022 | Tyne Cot Cemetery | Belgium →

Summer Road Trip 2022 | The Menin Gate | Ypres | Belgium

The Menin Gate, Ypres The Menin Gate dominates Ypres and it is probably the one Great War memorial that most people have heard of. It is also probably the most visited Great War memorial on the Western Front (see my post here about the daily Last Post Ceremony). The Menin Gate was designed in classical … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2022 | The Menin Gate | Ypres | Belgium →

Summer Road Trip 2022 | Daily Act of Remembrance | Menin Gate | Ypres | Belgium

At 8pm each and every evening, buglers from the Ypres Fire Service hold an act of remembrance under the Menin Gate and play the Last Post before observing a minute's silence. This act of remembrance has occurred daily since 1929. The only time it has not happened is during the German occupation in WW2. The … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2022 | Daily Act of Remembrance | Menin Gate | Ypres | Belgium →