Look !! New for 2005 !

To complement the range of existing tours “Past Endeavours” is now offering a whole range of specially developed walking tours for the better understanding of the battlefields visited. Each walk has been structured to follow a theme of the particular battlefield, some look at the rear areas, so often neglected but full of human interest – others follow the path of particular units involved or look at other aspects of the conflict such as medical services. All my walks are guaranteed to bring home to the visitor the heart & soul of the battlefields and provide a greater understanding of the battles and the men who fought them. To quote professor Richard Holmes – “ There is a world of difference between a really memorable battlefield tour, that engages brains as well as emotions, and a drive-by that does no more than point out the obvious”

Structure.

Small groups ( up to five persons ).

Each walk is accompanied by two experienced guides and we shall perform two walks each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A different guide leads each walk with the other driving a seven-seater people carrier offering refreshments at a pre-determined and selected rendezvous during the walk and also to pick up any walker who has had enough or who, for any reason, has decided to drive the rest of the way !

Larger groups ( up to 14 persons )

Larger groups will normally be divided into two smaller groups and each group will be led by a guide. There will be the opportunity to re-join the small coach at selected points during the walk.

Feel like getting fit whilst taking on board some fascinating history and sometimes stunning scenery at the same time ? What better way to increase your overall fitness than a battlefield walk ! All walks involve gentle slopes, stiles and general cross-country ability. Whilst all the walks will be possible for most visitors, anyone who feels that their walking ability is impaired should consider asking for specific advice before booking. Although refreshment is provided you are recommended to bring a small rucksack with water bottle and flask.

Itineraries

DAY ONE Travel down to the Somme book in to accommodation, lunch.

Walk One – The `Pals’ walk 1^st July 1916 – “Day of Disaster”

· Starting at Hebuterne Village ` Preparing to go to war ‘

· Luke Copse CWGC – the expectation of war

· Sheffield Park – the Pals form up

· Serre Rd No.1 CWGC

· Quadrilateral Redoubt – a hard day’s work

· Redan Ridge – the `Pals’ dream in tatters

· The Sunken Lane – `The Regulars fare no better’

· Newfoundland Memorial Park - ` The ultimate amateurs’

Return to accommodation, wash & brush up and evening meal.

DAY TWO

Walk Two – Thiepval – “The soul of the battlefield”

· Authuille CWGC - ` Willie McBride’

· Bloody Road – losses mount – the Germans have planned well

· Mill Road CWGC - ` The Ulstermen pay their dues’

· The Ulster Tower - chance for a bite & a cup of char

· Down the German Front Line - `preparations made’

· St Pierre Divion - `a fortress in hiding’

· The Schwaben Redoubt - `over the ridge boys !’

· The Thiepval Memorial - `so many missing….’

Lunch at Avril Williams’ – optional tour of the cellars.

Walk Three – PoziÀres “The Anzacs and the Empire”

· Casualty Corner

· Up Dead Man’s Rd to Gibraltar Blockhouse

· `K’ Trench to the Civilian Cemetery

· Brinds Rd & Toms Cut to Mucky Farm

· Old German Front Line by the Windmill

· The Elbow ( Albert Jacka VC )

· The Windmill Memorial and Tank Corps Memorial

Return to accommodation and evening meal.

DAY THREE

Walk Four – Ovillers to Fricourt “Storytelling at its best”

· Ovillers CWGC - `the edge of the wire’

· Along GFL to La Boisselle - `still finding them today’

· Lochnagar Crater - `the original big bang – the REs moment of triumph’

· Walk down Avoca valley towards the Fricourt spur

· Norfolk CWGC - `Major Loudon-Shand VC’

· Dartmoor CWGC - `age knew no bounds- family suffering’

Lunch – Albert or Avril’s.

Walk Five – The Horseshoe of Woods “The Heart of the battlefield”

· Caterpillar Valley CWGC `Salute the Welsh’

· Crucifix Corner to Bazentin Quarry & Military Cemetery

· Wallace memorial

· Gravey Road to High Wood & the London Cemetery

· High Wood Memorials & craters

· New Zealand Memorial Longueval Ridge

· South African Memorial Delville Wood

· Walk to Trones Wood, finishing at Guillemont Rd CWGC

Depart Somme, reaching the coast at about 2000hrs.

This is representative of what can be achieved during the course of a three-day tour. Obviously, if you wish to spend more time it is possible to cater for 4 and even 5 day tours as there are many more walks which can be added to more than fill the time available. Other such walks include:

“The other `PALS’, achieved so much, so often forgotten”

· The Liverpool Pals at Montauban

· Carnoy CWGC - `Billie Nevill and the footballs’

· The Manchesters at Fricourt & Montauban

· The 8^th & 9^th Devons at Mansell Copse - `a poet becomes prophet’

“The Territorials show their worth but the diversion fails”

· Gommecourt Wood - `The Londoners show the way’

· Gommecourt New Military Cemetery - `The North Midlanders pay the price’

· Rossignol Wood CWGC - `More thy friend than thine enemy’

· Owl Trench CWGC - ` smallest on the Somme’

“Behind the Lines”

· Starting at Colincamps base area

· The Sucrerie CWGC - `Shot at Dawn – James Crozier’

· Auchonvillers - `medical services are stretched’

· Mailly-Maillet – Crozier meets his fate’

· Engelbelmer village & CWGC - `Edmund Blunden writes’

· Mesnil-Martinsart - ` sites of numerous field dressing stations’

Other walks available

At the time of writing other walks are being prepared. These will include a selection of walks in the Ypres Salient and Vimy Ridge/Arras area as well as walks to encompass the forgotten battlefields of 1915 – Loos, Neuve Chapelle, Festubert and Aubers Ridge and the AIF at Fromelles.

Walking and the War Poets

We are also offering walks based on a war literature theme, following in the footsteps of Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Edmund Blunden and others. These walks will encompass sites that inspired some of the most influential, as well as biting social commentary of the war via the medium of poetry. They are suitable for students of all levels, from those with only a passing interest in the war poets, to those who have a more serious academic interest. Please call for details. As with all our tours a bespoke itinerary can be prepared to suit your individual requirements. Here are 2 sample walks that give a flavour of what can be achieved:

2 Suggested ‘Poetry Walks’:

Walk 1 (starts Citadel Cemetery, finishes Devonshire Cemetery)

· Citadel New Military Cemetery - Cpl O’Brien - Sassoon’s medal for bravery

· In the steps of Sassoon’s walk to the front line

· Point 110 New Cemetery (Sassoon and Graves’ Officer friends)

· Point 110 Old Cemetery (“But death replied, ‘I choose him’” – the story of Bill Beckington)

· Site of RWF raid in which Sassoon won his MC

· Bois Francais

· Devonshire Cemetery - ‘Help me to die, O Lord’ – the poetry of W N Hodgson

Walk 2 (starts Serre Road Number 2 Cemetery, finishes Ancre Military Cemetery)

· Serre Road Number 2 Cemetery - Wilfred Owen’s baptism of fire – ‘The Sentry’

· The Redan Ridge – ‘Exposure’

· Beaumont Hamel Village – ‘I could have been a great child, were it not for Beaumont Hamel’ – (Wilfred Owen)

· The Ancre Valley – behind the German front line

· Ancre Military Cemetery - the work of A P Herbert and Edmund Blunden - both knew this area well.

· Graves of the Royal Naval Division – some of whom were friends of Rupert Brooke

(A third walk could take in Bazentin, High Wood and Delville Wood – mainly Robert Graves)

(A fourth walk could emulate Stephen Wraysford’s journey in “Birdsong” – which would be similar to Walk 2 but could start at Sunken road – Newfoundland Park and down to the river)

Accommodation

For the Somme walks there can possibly be no better place to stay than at Avril Wiliams’ guest-house in Auchonvillers. Here you are guaranteed an old-fashioned welcome from a hostess who is herself extremely knowledgeable of the area and who will make you feel at home in her comfortable accommodation. There is a choice of rooms, twins, a family room and also a self-contained apartment. Evening meals are available as are packed lunches. You can of course opt to stay in a hotel and I frequently use the 3* Hotel De La Paix in nearby Bapaume which boasts one of the finest restaurants in the region. Alternatives may include the Hotel De la Basilique and the Grande Picardie in Albert

For walks in the Ypres Salient area I can thoroughly recommend a stay at Varlet Farm. Like Avril, our hostess Charlotte is a fount of knowledge about the locality and will delight in telling you the history of Varlet Farm, a former German strongpoint captured by the Royal Naval Division in 1917. Although only B&B I guarantee you will not have seen a breakfast like it anywhere in the world. With the town of Ypres only a matter of minutes away there is a host of restaurants where a reasonable evening meal can be obtained to suit all tastes and appetites. Hotel accommodation may include the 4* Ariane ( on request ), the 3|* Novotel or the `Old Tom’ in the town square.

Bespoke Tours

For many the off-the-shelf tours offered are just the ticket. However, some visitors may have a particular thrust or focus which they wish to follow, for example to walk in the footsteps of a relative. I offer a research service to make such a pilgrimage a reality and am happy to tailor a tour to suit your individual needs and requirements. This may be a mix & match of vehicle and walking for example. Whatever it is you wish to do, “Past Endeavours” can arrange it for you. We can arrange tours of any duration, and even include different areas to walk over any period, ie. walks on both the Somme & Ypres Salient.

The Guides

Me ! Since I posted this website I have recently become only the 11^th guide to achieve the status of badged guide of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (q.v.). This is a great honour for me, but it has a more important significance in that it assures you, the traveller, that you are getting a tour organized and run by a person who has been officially prepared and assessed by the battlefield guiding industry, and certified as competent to guide and who has been examined and passed on all aspects of the tour industry such as duty of care and health & safety issues. However, apart from myself there are three other guides who will be conducting the walks and I enclose a short pen picture of each:

Andy COOK.

Andy has been visiting and walking the Somme battlefields for many years and has built up an enviable reputation in the guiding world for his passion for the subject and for the soldiers of the Somme. I can think of no-one better to lead your Somme walk than Andy whose knowledge of the battlefields is without peer. He is co-author of a book about the men of Marple in Stockport who fell in the Great War.

Ian COYNE

Ian has been guiding tours of the Western Front for 7 years and has built up an impressive knowledge-base in that time. He reads a great deal about the men who fought and has an enormous appetite for the history of the period. He is currently researching the names of men on his local war memorial and spends a great deal of time walking the battlefields in pursuit of a better understanding of the battles.

Chris CUFF

Chris has worked with me for a number of years and is an expert on the literature of war and the war poets. He is a retired head-teacher who now divides his time between writing and battlefield guiding. He has been walking the battlefields of the Western Front for many years and has developed a style all of his own which endears itself to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

All 3 are members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides. A tour with these guides will not fail to impress and will be an experience you will remember for a lifetime. This may be the only time you visit the battlefields –make it an occasion to treasure.

Advice to walkers

Walking the battlefields inevitably involves more risk to the visitor than a simple battlefield tour. You will be walking over farm tracks, un-made ground and on occasions fields which are often rutted and may be slippery after rain. You therefore need to be more than usually careful where you tread. “Past Endeavours” undertakes to do its best to ensure your safety whilst on tour but we need your co-operation. We will always point out particular hazards and known risks but ultimately responsibility for your safety and well-being rests with you beyond our statutory duty of care.

General advice

The very nature of battlefield walking means that you will be spending a considerable amount of time in the open. If the weather is fine this means that you may be exposed to a fair amount of sunshine that can cause painful sunburn if the skin is unprotected. We therefore recommend a good sun-screen and sun hat where appropriate and to keep the arms covered. We will always ensure that there are plenty of fluids available but we recommend you carry a water bottle with you. A small first aid kit is also a must containing a sting pen, plasters, after-sun lotion, a small pair of scissors and antiseptic cream. When the weather is inclement we recommend a decent lightweight waterproof as well as warm layered clothing and a good pair of walking boots is always useful to avoid painful blisters. “Past Endeavours” will provide suitable maps for the walks but you may like to invest in your own ordnance survey maps of the area and the best are the IGN Series Blue 1:25,000 scale. We will be pleased to advise.

Other Tours/visits

If you don’t see anything here which meets your requirements please do not hesitate to call – “Past Endeavours” is always happy to discuss your requirements with you and sort out an itinerary which fulfils your wishes – we can organize all sorts of other tours such as visits of “Home Front” interest to places like the National Army Museum, The Royal Airforce Museum at Hendon, HMS Belfast, The IWM at Duxford and of course our “London in the Blitz” tour. Whilst our reputation has been built on small tours we are happy to arrange tours for larger groups – please enquire for prices, etc.

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