Ploegsteert Woods CWGC - photograph by Hannah Bausor Today I'm really missing Flanders, having not visited in 3 months which is the longest period I've been away from there in nearly a year! One of my favourite areas is Ploegsteert Wood and it's a place I am keen to return to soon for some solitary … Continue reading ‘There is nothing more alive than a tree that learns how to grow in a cemetery’
I'm off to Flanders next weekend for a night away with a good friend and am currently day dreaming about watching dawn break at the Menin Gate and night fall in the Silent Cities. These pilgrimages have become more and more important to me over the years and I'm reminded of a poem by one … Continue reading The King’s Pilgrimage
This grave at Essex Farm caught my attention as I wandered quietly among Them last weekend. It's the grave of a young lad, Private Philip Phillips of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. I was drawn to the grave as I so often am, by the inscription which reads: 'He weakened my strength in the way he … Continue reading ‘He weakened my strength in the way he shortened my days’
This weekend I made my first visit of the year to Flanders for some quiet time on the Old Front Line and an overnight stay at Talbot House. After a bitterly cold day out visiting the silent cities, we were welcomed at Toc H by the warden Joe, and what a warm welcome it was. … Continue reading Toc H – Part 2
Here we are then, the centenary of the Armistice has been and gone. The 11th hour, of the 11th month 100 years later, arrived in Flanders and on the Somme as it did in London and Burwash and many other places dear to my heart. Soon, it was 11.01, and a little after, 11.15, then … Continue reading There are no endings, only new beginnings
Lucy Betteridge-Dyson 