Loos Tunnels & Double Crassier

[Guest Simon Bull]

Over Easter I went to the Loos Museum and also on a visit up the Double Crassier. The visit was organised via Isabelle Pilarowski.

She told me about why the tunnels were closed. It is partly a matter of health and safety, but also of preserving them and the inscriptions in the tunnels. She was concerned that visitors would damage the inscriptions (largely unwittingly) by (eg) rubbing clothes against them as they walked along. Certainly on the video we saw that looked a distinct possibility, and I know that there are similar concerns about the (significantly wider) Arras Tunnels. I had the impression that she has had to go out on something of a limb over this closure, and that others who wanted to "exploit" the tourist potential of the tunnels may not have been so pleased. In short, in so far as Isabelle herself had an input into the decision it was for the best possible reasons, and she deserves sympathy and support re this.

The good news was that Isabelle hoped that the tunnels would be re-open within 1-2 years with the necessary steps taken to render them safe and preserve the inscriptions on the walls, although this is not by any means certain.

Our trip up the Double Crassier (by car to a point roughly half way up) was marred by poor visibility caused by bad weather but I think the view over the southern half of the Loos battlefield would be superb in the right weather conditions. Even on a very misty day we had a view of Dud Corner.

Isabelle is extremely helpful and fairly knowledgeable, although with more of an interest in the human angle than in the detail of military history. For those without French she speaks excellent English. The Museum is very interesting, with numbers of artefacts and a good deal of human interest too, particularly in the form of personal details re Canadian soldiers who left inscriptions on the walls of the tunnels and have been identified by Isabelle.

I also learned how the French pronounce Loos ("loss") and Hulluch (nothing like the way in which we do - something like "ullu"). I felt rather ashamed at how little effort many English tourists make to do any kind of justice to the French language!

[Robert Dunlop]

I was surprised at how high the crassiers were. Although they have increased in size since the war, they really do dominate the LOS. Thanks for the information.

Robert

[andigger]

I know its just 6 months on, but I was wondering if there was any update about the tunnels and the museum. Is it still anticipated that the tunnels will still be closed for atleast another 18 months? Hope not..... Andy