Ypres, Belgium

[ped]

I just got back from a tour of the battlefields of Ypres, Belgium. It was fantastic and having family who fought in and around the area it was humbling to see the sites and memorials.

For those interested about my family connection, look up 'Arthur Martin-Leake' - You'll find he was the only living double Victoria Cross recipient.

Anyway I hope you like the pics!

Cheers
ped

Albert Memorial View by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Ypres Salient by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Hotel by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Choclate by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

405 by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Merc by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Hell On Earth! by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Hill 62 Trenches by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Tyne Cot British Cemetery by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Tyne Cot British Cemetery by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Lijssenthoek Cemetery by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Lijssenthoek Cemetery by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Full album here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chiscocks/albums/72157659664913648

 

[ped]

No love for Belgium it seems!

 

[DominikDUK]

I like the photograph of the chocolate store as for the trenches I would have chosen a different viewpoint either inside the trenches or at lower level.

But the chocolate photo makes me feel warm and good.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Just spotted this topic. Sometimes it drops off the first page of new posts soooo fast 🙁

I visit Ypres and the surrounding area at least once a year. Usually during the Living History event at the Memorial Museum Passchendaele in Zonnebeke and Armistice Day.

Hill 62 is too much of a Tourist Trap in my opinion. I thought the museam at Hooge Crater not far from there is much beter.
Is the Ramparts Museum in Ypres still open?

The weather does add an extra sombre note to your images of the sites and the street views. Pretty much how it was for most of the months in 1917.

 

[ped]

Thanks for the comments guys - I was starting to worry!!

Indeed a view through the trenches would have been nice. I went with 50 kids from my school so it took patience to get one of the trenches empty but here are a few others

Cheers
Chris

Bayernwald (Croonaert Wood) German Trench by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

Trench of Death, Dixmuide by Christopher Hiscocks, on Flickr

 

[Mr_Flibble]

I have a very similar shot from The Bayernwald trenches that I took with a Leica I.
I have not visited the site at Dixmuide...euh. the Yorkshire Trench I think that one's called? I did follow the work on the excavation of it back in 2010.

 

[ped]

I have a very similar shot from The Bayernwald trenches that I took with a Leica I.
I have not visited the site at Dixmuide...euh. the Yorkshire Trench I think that one's called? I did follow the work on the excavation of it back in 2010.

That's right - my school is in York so we went to the Yorkshire regiment areas (though my family is from Oxfordshire)

 

[tbhv55]

I would take a different view from DominicDUK, regarding the trenches photo. For me, it gives a sense of the incongruity of the trenches in relation to their surroundings i.e. 'normal' countryside.

Most pictures (that I have seen) of the trenches, have tended offer a view within the trenches, and whilst this can certainly help the viewer to imagine the squalor in which the soldiers had to live, it's also worth viewing the surroundings, to allow one's imagination to portray the extremities of war, set against the backdrop of an 'everyday' rural scene. Not, of course, that it would have looked as pleasantly natural, then, as it does now.

Thanks for posting.