Sparkatan Posted 21 January , 2018 Share Posted 21 January , 2018 Hi, I am trying to locate a cemetery I visited about ten years age near Ypres. I have looked through the CWGC list but cannot seem to find it. It was a very small cemetery, probably about a dozen graves, in the middle of a little copse of thorny trees accessed down a track at the side of a farm. I remember it vividly as it was so unexpected to find such a beautiful little garden right in the middle of such an inaccessible thicket. i am visiting Ypres in May this year and would dearly like to visit this place. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 January , 2018 Admin Share Posted 22 January , 2018 I wonder if you mean RE grave? However this thread may help Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkatan Posted 22 January , 2018 Author Share Posted 22 January , 2018 (edited) The location was very similar to the R.E. Grave as I remember riding my motorcycle down the lane past the farm and the grazing cows but the graves were inside a small thicket whilst the R.E. grave seems to be outside. Surely there cannot be many cemeteries like that? Edited 22 January , 2018 by Sparkatan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 23 January , 2018 Admin Share Posted 23 January , 2018 RE grave is the smallest I know of. Other cemeteries contain about 40 odd. Did you take any photos? Maybe people could recognise it from them if you did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 23 January , 2018 Share Posted 23 January , 2018 Sparkatan, This is very intriguing. Thinking I knew "all" the cemeteries in the Salient, but I'm afraid that ... a very small cemetery, probably about a dozen graves, in the middle of a little copse of thorny trees accessed down a track at the side of a farm. right in the middle of such an inaccessible thicket. For each of these I can think of some candidates, but so far none that qualifies for all of them together. And "about a dozen graves" is a very low numberl. Even two dozen is ... Very curious if the cemetery will be found. And then I may exclaim : yes, of course, I had overlooked that one ... But so far ... Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 23 January , 2018 Share Posted 23 January , 2018 I agree with Aurel, certain small cemeteries come to mind, but none that matches all conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 23 January , 2018 Share Posted 23 January , 2018 Jan, True. I can think of a handful of cemeteries in a small (or big) copse, but they all have more than one (or two or three) dozen graves. But even if the memory is 'false', and if there are more graves than a dozen, I can hardly think of a cemetery in a copse. (And 'inaccessible thicket' and 'thorny trees' are a problem too. And then there is the track at the side of a farm.) True, the scenery can change. But the description was only about 10 years ago ... Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkatan Posted 23 January , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 January , 2018 Well I think i’ve Led you on a wild goose chase. I have just looked through my photos from my trip in 2008 and I think the woods were Ploegsteert and it was one of the cemeteries in there, possibly Toronto Avenue. My mind must be playing tricks on me because it seemed to be much smaller than it actually is. Thank you for your help. I’m going back there in May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilbo139 Posted 23 January , 2018 Share Posted 23 January , 2018 Last May...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 24 January , 2018 Admin Share Posted 24 January , 2018 If it is indeed Plugstreet Wood then unfortunately you can’t ride your motorcycle into the wood any more. You will have to park at Prowse Point and walk. There’s a barrier across the path into the wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 24 January , 2018 Share Posted 24 January , 2018 Sparkatan, This morning in the In Flanders Fields Museum Research Centre in Ypres I mentioned your problem to someone who knows "all" about Ypres Salient cemeteries : his immediate reaction, "Toronto Avenue Cem. in Ploegsteert Wood, or one of the other two cemeteries". And when I said : but it is supposed to be only a dozen graves, then : "Yes, but even after 10 years a man's memory can play tricks on him ..." ;-) So I'm afraid that your memory .... :-) But if there is one thing we have to agree on : if you come there for the very first time in your life, especially when not really prepared, then seeing the cemeteries is a real revelation, and most of all when the sun is shining on the headstones ... And the birds are singing, and ... Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 24 January , 2018 Share Posted 24 January , 2018 1 hour ago, Aurel Sercu said: Sparkatan, This morning in the In Flanders Fields Museum Research Centre in Ypres I mentioned your problem to someone who knows "all" about Ypres Salient cemeteries : his immediate reaction, "Toronto Avenue Cem. in Ploegsteert Wood, or one of the other two cemeteries". And when I said : but it is supposed to be only a dozen graves, then : "Yes, but even after 10 years a man's memory can play tricks on him ..." ;-) So I'm afraid that your memory .... :-) But if there is one thing we have to agree on : if you come there for the very first time in your life, especially when not really prepared, then seeing the cemeteries is a real revelation, and most of all when the sun is shining on the headstones ... And the birds are singing, and ... Aurel Aurel, do you hear a lot of birds singing? normally they are noticeable by their absence when we are visiting. I could also add sun shining, more wishfull thinking, a lot of the ones seen last week were a green tinge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 24 January , 2018 Share Posted 24 January , 2018 Chaz, Yes, absolutely. Maybe not "a lot", but I definitely remember. But not on a day like today... :-) Green tinge ... I don't know how all the headstones look like in the Salient, but I was struck last week by the green tinge on many headstones of Ramparts Cem. (Lille Gate) I don't know why, for in that cemetery sunshine (if there is) is not sparse. But ... last December was the least sunny month in Flanders since 1834 ... Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilbo139 Posted 24 January , 2018 Share Posted 24 January , 2018 Talking about bird life in the wood......when I visited last May I walked the area for about 2 hours, after leaving the wood I walked the footpath between Mud Corner Cemetery back to the Memorial to the missing. Just after rounding a bend I found myself about 5 feet away from a long eared owl which was sat on a barbed wire picket in use by the farmer. What a fantastic picture it would have made but having put the camera back in the rucksack it wasn’t to be as the bird took off back into the woods...having never seen a long eared owl in the wild it’s a sight I,m not going to forget! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 24 January , 2018 Share Posted 24 January , 2018 at Bagnaux the majority of headstones were green tinged, despite only having one side with bushes and nothing over hanging and no trees in the cemetery itself. in fact for those who don't know, its on a bit of a hill side and the valley to one of the long sides. as for the owls, they have a fair old wing span and you can tell they must seem to know they are not in danger as seem to wait and wait before moving on. even saying that, they are about the only bird seen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelcave Posted 24 February , 2018 Share Posted 24 February , 2018 I gather that many moons ago (maybe twenty years plus?) the Commission had to stop using the stone treatment that dealt with the 'greening', thus making it an altogether more difficult job, much more time consuming and less effective. Then they were trying all sorts of 'legal' options, but without much luck. I must say that I have not followed that particular matter since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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