Gustywinds Posted 8 May , 2017 Share Posted 8 May , 2017 In 1914-15 there was a Hospice in Ypres that was run as a hospital. At the time of the 2nd Battle of Ypres it was heavily damaged and the staff were moved to the Chateau Elizabeth in Poperinghe. Does anybody know exactly where it was? I have read "on the Poperinghe road" and 'near the railway' but it would be nice to pinpoint exactly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 8 May , 2017 Share Posted 8 May , 2017 It was apparently the same building as the Ypres Asylum Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 8 May , 2017 Share Posted 8 May , 2017 Try square H12 (just to the west of Ypres) http://maps.nls.uk/view/101464903 Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustywinds Posted 8 May , 2017 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2017 3 minutes ago, ss002d6252 said: Try square H12 (just to the west of Ypres) http://maps.nls.uk/view/101464903 Craig Many thanks Craig. i have been searching online for Ypres maps of the period not knowing they available from NLS where I was just last week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 8 May , 2017 Share Posted 8 May , 2017 Just now, Gustywinds said: Many thanks Craig. i have been searching online for Ypres maps of the period not knowing they available from NLS where I was just last week! Typical ! - always seems to happen like that. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustywinds Posted 8 May , 2017 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2017 Wow. It has been rebuilt! Is it housing? (Old images from postcards currently on sale on delcampe.net) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyGS Posted 8 May , 2017 Share Posted 8 May , 2017 It is still a psychiatric hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustywinds Posted 8 May , 2017 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2017 Just now, JeremyGS said: It is still a psychiatric hospital. Wow. Thats incredible. Do you know when it was rebuilt? It looks astonishingly new. I'm going t o be in Ypres next month and must go along and have a look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyGS Posted 9 May , 2017 Share Posted 9 May , 2017 I was there a few weeks ago but it was surrounded by road works - hopefully will have cleared by the time you go! You can view it very clearly on Google Street View. It is called the Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis H. Hart today. I don't know exactly when it was rebuilt, but would imagine in the 1920s as the returned people of Ypres went full throttle in rebuilding their city after the war and there was a strong desire to restore older buildings to their original glory. There was a military cemetery in the grounds - 'Asylum Cemetery' - but all the burials were removed to Bedford House Cemetery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelcave Posted 9 May , 2017 Share Posted 9 May , 2017 It also has a very smart new(ish) chapel. Interesting to note that there were two large asylums so close to each other geographically - the other being in Bailleul/Belle. Was there a particular psychiatric problem in this corner of French/Belgian Flanders, I have often pondered? The one at Bailleul, judging from numerous memoirs, had very acceptable baths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 10 May , 2017 Share Posted 10 May , 2017 Nigel, "A particular psychiatric problem in this corner ?" I have never wondered ... But as you know (and wrote) Ypres is Belgium, Belle is France. And the two are 15 km (over 9 miles) apart. Not that much maybe, but with a border in between ... Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustywinds Posted 10 May , 2017 Author Share Posted 10 May , 2017 7 hours ago, Aurel Sercu said: Nigel, "A particular psychiatric problem in this corner ?" I have never wondered ... But as you know (and wrote) Ypres is Belgium, Belle is France. And the two are 15 km (over 9 miles) apart. Not that much maybe, but with a border in between ... Aurel Well, it is/was the centre of both flax and hop growing so maybe spending all day heckling and all evening drinking beer isn't good for the mind... Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it, it's a part of France I've never been to and I've never been to Belgium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 11 May , 2017 Share Posted 11 May , 2017 Gustywinds, You wrote : Well, it is/was the centre of both flax and hop growing so maybe spending all day heckling and all evening drinking beer isn't good for the mind... How the flax and hop industry was a century ago in Ypres, I don't know. Actually I think : flax a little more to the east (Kortrijk - Courtrai), and hop more west (Poperinge). But I don't think you have intentions when being in Belgium to spend some time in the flax and hop industry ? So, I am still reassured about your wellbeing. However, as to the last words of the quoted words, and knowing how Brits sometimes spend the last hours of the day here ... ... Please, be careful ! I would not want to to be taken to Belle / Bailleul in France in one of our Ypres ambulances ! :-))) Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustywinds Posted 11 May , 2017 Author Share Posted 11 May , 2017 1 hour ago, Aurel Sercu said: How the flax and hop industry was a century ago in Ypres, I don't know. Actually I think : flax a little more to the east (Kortrijk - Courtrai), and hop more west (Poperinge). But I don't think you have intentions when being in Belgium to spend some time in the flax and hop industry ? So, I am still reassured about your wellbeing. However, as to the last words of the quoted words, and knowing how Brits sometimes spend the last hours of the day here ... ... Please, be careful ! I would not want to to be taken to Belle / Bailleul in France in one of our Ypres ambulances ! :-))) Well, you can't go to Belgium without trying the beers...!! I believe the Hop Museum in Poperinge is quite interesting? Yes, I am actually going to be looking at the Flax side as well. My ancestor, who I am basically following from his time in the FAU to his joining the RNAS and his death at Dunkirk, was T. M, Greeves, the grandson of one of the founders of J&T.M.Greeves, one of the biggest flax spinning mills in Belfast. Originally they relied on Irish flax but, as the demand grew in the late 19th/Early 20th they started importing from Belgium and I have some correspondence from a supplier in Courtrai from 1905. There is a flax/fabric museum in Kortijk. Of course, by 1917 when my great uncle died, much of their spun flax would have gone to make linen to cover planes like the Sopwith Camel in which he met his end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 11 May , 2017 Share Posted 11 May , 2017 Gustywinds, Some years ago when I was doing some research on a Belfast soldier, I couldn't help noticing there was (is) a Courtrai Street (or Rd.) When I asked : what's the link ?, the answer was : flax. Hop Museum interesting ? Last time I was there was 20 or so years ago. Since then : newer style. Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Blanchard Posted 30 April , 2021 Share Posted 30 April , 2021 Excellent thrread. Thanks David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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