Our trip to Belgium was a great success all round. We found all the graves of many of the Old Colstonians and we had a very enjoyable time. Our trip lasted a week, and throughout this week we got to know two of the OC’s who accompanied us very well; Fred Forse and Nigel Hurley.
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The Colston's Contingent at the Menin Gate Parade |
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We stayed in Belgium Army Barracks, which differ quite a lot from the English ones! We spent the week in Ypres, and we visited most of the Ypres Salient. We also took a day trip to the Somme and Vimy Ridge. We had a guided tour of a trench system and a tunnel system at Vimy Ridge, and at the Somme, we visited a French cemetery.
We managed to visit a German cemetery during the week as well. All of these were different and reflected the attitudes of people to the war.
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Laying a cross at the grave of an Old Colstonian |
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The highlight of the trip was the parade at the Menin Gate where we were all moved by a wonderful experience in front of a crowd of hundreds. It was an experience we will never forget and a great honour for the school.
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Colston's CCF at Tyne Cot Cemetry |
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Mr Drew took us to see hill 60 and hill 62, so that we could see the reality of what we had been learning about in our history lessons. This was really interesting as we realised that there was actually barely a hill, although, from the top of it, you could see right down into the town.
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Vimy Ridge |
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We quickly learned to master the art of travelling with Mr Warren driving our mini-bus, and spent many happy hours moaning to him. We visited a theme park on Thursday, and it was great fun! It was a boiling day, and so the water rides were especially useful. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Belgium, and I would advise anyone else to go too!
Izzy Marsh
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