Wipers
 

June is turning out to be a busy month. On Thursday the annual cycle holiday starts and this year we're off to Ypres for another First World War inspired trip. The British troops found many of the towns and cities difficult to pronounce, and in the case of Ypres, the name was turned into Wipers. The other well known name from this region is Plug Street (from Ploegsteert).

Six of us this year - first time we've had so many. There won't be much to report until we get back late on Monday, but the usual website will follow. Paul, my usual cycling companion, and I last did the trip in year 2,000 - pre digital photography. It's an amazing area with plenty to offer in the way of history. Ypres still conducts a daily ceremony at the Menin Gate each evening at 5.00pm when The Last Post is sounded and wreaths are laid by the local firemen and by children from any visiting schools. It is the area that includes the site of one of Britain's most calamitous battles, Passchendaele. In contrast there's the town of Popperinge, several miles behind the front line and the home of Toc H where troops could go for respite from the sounds and sights of battle.

So I hope to provide an interesting website. I've made a very modest start - just an overview map and a picture of our motley crew which you can see here

Waiting with abated breath, as usual, for your perspective on the french countryside. Good luck and be careful,

Aw, I thought this was going to be a reminder to change the windshield wiper blades on my car. :rolleyes:

Cyclefrance, I hope the weather is good and the trip better. I've not seen any of your ride posts yet, but I am really looking forward to this.

I guess it's time for me to start looking back into old posts, huh?

There you go - websites rather than individual posts but gives you an idea what to expect (or avoid!).

Thank you! That's just fantastic -- simple enough even for me. It has been bookmarked and shall be investigated over lunch today.

WIPERS:

Ypres = Wipers

:biglaugha

I don't see anything up yet. Am I missing something?

I don't see anything about the 2007 trip on his website yet. Must still be recovering.

We made it safely back last Monday (albeit a trifle wet!) - only to discover that a storm had blown out the phone lines to our house, and also the network port on my laptop computer. Have just managed to install a USB connecting network driver and am now back in action. Loads of photos to edit and organise. Will offer some tasters over the weekend, but with today being Mrs CF's birthday we're off to have a celebratory dinner.

It'll take some time to put the website together, so just a few pictures to give a flavour of the places we visited.

First two are of the memorial at Ploegsteert, which is on the road between Lille and Ypres, and then the Menin Gate at Ypres. At Ploegsteert there is a ceremony each Friday evening, while at the Menin Gate one is held daily

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Just two more for now - the preserved trench system at Sanctuary Wood, south-west of Ypres, and a partial view of Tyne Cott cemetery, the largest single cemetery on the Western Front and site of the battle at Passchendaele.

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Are those fox holes or shell holes, in the woods?

They're the remains of shell holes. Most of the terrain around the sites is either pock-marked or marked with the dips and lumps resulting from the shelling before and during the battles.

Here are a few more pics of Sanctuary Wood - the zig-zag pattern of the trenches is more recognisable here - the pattern was adopted to prevent shell blast spreading along a substantial length of the trench - the zig-zag contains the blast and therefore the number of casualties. Also you can get an idea of how easily the trench floors could became saturated and then turn into mud-baths:

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Hey cf, are you still working on the, he'll-pay-for-this honey-do list that greeted your arrival home?

wow - those are some interesting pictures

This site will show you how those trenches looked back then. Black & white gore.

omg - i can't imagine the people who actually believed that "gore" didn't happen. it's war - peole are going to die in gruesome ways.

Being shot and blown up, I'd expect. Having their skin burnt off, right through their clothing, by mustard gas is a little jolt to my reality.

It makes me understand why the Americans said, fuck those trenches, we'll fight it out in the open.

i think the picture that really made an impression on me is the one where the two guys are "up" on the wire - we know that crap goes on, i guess when your not "up close & personal" you tend to grow numb from hearing about it - i'm sure those images are just a drop in a bucket of the shit that really happened - i can almost begin to understand why our soldiers have such difficulty resuming their life after something so disturbing.

True, they are a far cry from Mathew Brady's carefully placed, non-gory, bodies in the first war photographs.

It doesn't look like cf has had time to put the "wipers" tour up yet, unfortunately.

Working on it - half way through photo preparation (have to resize to ensure they download at a reasonable speed) - looks like being a big site this time. Time has been eaten up preparing a training course that I have to give on 8 August, plus all thchores and gardening that follows a spell away from home.

Hope to make a substantial start this weekend - sorry to keep you waiting so long.

Don't worry, CF; knowing you, I'm sure it will be worth the wait. :)

And traipsing off to Italy with that hot woman, half your age.No problem, we'll be here when your ready.

Pictures appearing now - text will follow - it's the intro stuff first prior to reaching the Western Front, so don't expect too much at first...

Mrs CF is very pleased with that comment, you old smoothie, Bruce. Can't reveal a lady's age, naturally, but you've certainly made her day!

That's only fair, she certainly made mine.

OK, what were you doing in the wet ditch and what's with the little angel with the wings?

All in good time...all in good time....

Oh, you clock teaser, you.

Pictures all uploaded to the website - text will be added over next week(s)

Text has been added to the first page, #1 Calais.

Several more pages of text are up at the Wipers link.

Several more pages of descriptions have been added to the link, so don't give up on the old codger yet.

I'm getting there - painfully slowly I know - cannot believe the amount of work right now that we are having to deal with where I am employed - added to which we have staff absent which never helps. Also training season is here (October and November are always active months) meaning more demands on otherwise spare time to prepare and give lectures and courses - London two weeks ago, Cambridge next week, Rotterdam the week after and then London again the week after that. No rest in sight! - but I'm determined to have Wipers finished before I get back from Cambridge. Then it's just a case of building the site to cover the Leatherhead to Le Mans Cycle Ride I participated in at the beginning of September.....

Nearing the end now.... up as far as entry number 9 out of 11 - on schedule to finish by Tuesday - all going well

Well, that takes the biscuit - just spent two hours preparing text for entry 10 only to have the pc freeze on me before I could save the entry. Lost the lot - back to square one for this page...!

We appreciate the effort, and will wait for the ultimately excellent result.

All done at last!

Just need to add 2007 to the main index - and for some reason the Geocities software is not co-operating tonight - will do that last chore in the morning. G'night all!

Thank you sir.

http://www.geocities.com/cyclefrance2007/