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Remembered Today:

Visiting woods.


nikp

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On ‎13‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 20:08, BIFFO said:

Shrewsbury forest  along the Menin rd past Hooge  turn right at Clapham junction,as you enter the wood turn right keep walking to the edge of the wood German bunkers remains of trenches you look around you will see lots

if stuck pm me

:poppy:

Hi Biffo, 3 of us going over to Ypres mid March. I'd like to walk a wood especially Shrewsbury Wood, can you send me any plans, details you may have please

Do you know where Herenthage Wood (I think) I believe its west of Hooge

 

Regards

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would love to help you but I have never heard of it I will e mail a guide I know 

have sent e mail 

:poppy:

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guide has answered says it a chateau ?

will pm directions and other stuff

so ok have you been to ypres 

:poppy:

hoo.jpg

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  • 1 year later...
On 13/02/2018 at 13:43, trenchtrotter said:

 

But if you enter it is private property. We merely stopped at perimeter to look at some concrete structures and we observed from passing vehicles and also a car stopped a discreet distance and remained until we got back into our car. that was March. Likely to get challenged here?? 

Not Private at all, public footpath through wood to Adinfer Village, owner friendly, showed us some hidden gems. 

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9 hours ago, Darruss said:

Not Private at all, public footpath through wood to Adinfer Village, owner friendly, showed us some hidden gems. 

Still private property even if a path. Probably right to walk on path only? Or owner tolerates. AFAIK it’s privately owned.

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Hi nikp

Try Mametz Wood (Strip Trench) on the fringes of the wood. Trones Wood, Bailiff Wood, plenty of shell craters.These woods are all related to the Somme fighting.

Regards

Andy

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On 03/04/2019 at 14:09, andrew pugh said:

Hi nikp

Try Mametz Wood (Strip Trench) on the fringes of the wood. Trones Wood, Bailiff Wood, plenty of shell craters.These woods are all related to the Somme fighting.

Regards

Andy

 

Bailiff is tiny, but certainly very cratered. The line of strip trench is certainly evident, as, sadly, is evidence of recent digging. Trones is interesting, undoubtedly private (there are signs) but accessible. I certainly wouldn't venture in during the shooting season. It is still heavily cratered, even in the little bit on the other side of the track that sticks out towards Guillemont, where it is possible to feel that you are walking on a very recent battlefield. And there is a pervading sense of gloom, whatever the season. It is possible to follow the course of the railway track through the wood, with large craters on each side in some places. Mametz Wood has changing moods, some of which can be very forbidding, but Trones is relentlessly gloomy.

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Isn't Baliff Wood where George Butterworth won his MC with DLI 23 Division ? 

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Hi nikp

You could also have a look in Pigeon Wood, which was held by the Germans in 1916. A still present German trench runs the whole length of the wood.

Regards

Andy

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Could someone clarify the current position re Trones Wood please? Some years ago, I walked around it then back down through the middle, north to south. At the time, I was ignorant of some of the issues regarding privacy, hunting, etc but I really don't recall seeing any signs preventing entry (or I wouldn't have done so). I have always thought I'd like to do this walk again sometime but obviously don't want to trespass on private land. Thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Baillif is indeed associated with Butterworth.

 

There is at least one old keep out or Chasse Reservé sign in Trones higher up, but the place feels very neglected. I went in a few years ago further down. Beware of a deep and overgrown abandoned excavation near the railway track in the middle.

Edited by horrocks
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  • 3 months later...
On 05/04/2019 at 12:23, horrocks said:

 

Bailiff is tiny, but certainly very cratered. The line of strip trench is certainly evident, as, sadly, is evidence of recent digging. Trones is interesting, undoubtedly private (there are signs) but accessible. I certainly wouldn't venture in during the shooting season. It is still heavily cratered, even in the little bit on the other side of the track that sticks out towards Guillemont, where it is possible to feel that you are walking on a very recent battlefield. And there is a pervading sense of gloom, whatever the season. It is possible to follow the course of the railway track through the wood, with large craters on each side in some places. Mametz Wood has changing moods, some of which can be very forbidding, but Trones is relentlessly gloomy.

I'm visiting the Trones Wood area in September, staying in the B&B that is in Bernafay Wood.  I was hoping to walk through both these woods. Is Trones Wood off limits?

 

 

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I walked through Trones Wood last year. I did not notice anything - sign or notice - to the contrary. I entered via the 18th Division memorial.

Edited by Jervis
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Guest Ricard 51

Bonsoir. All woods on the Somme are privately owned and many are used both by our local shooting syndicates and others from further afield. Often there are traps set within the woods and also they are patrolled by gamekeepers and shooters who do not really want the problems so often caused by trespassers. Maybe best to regard these woods from the safety of the field edges than run the risk of being peppered whilst being caught off piste!. 

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A very valuable tip from Ricard. I

would add whenever the chasse is out - or men are seen with dogs and/or shot guns - keep well clear. In rural France proper shooting discipline is often an added extra. 

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Guest Ricard 51

Bonsoir et bien dit monsieur Filsell. Even more reason for those thinking of a bimble through our woods to maybe rethink their  plans especially during  the season of la chasse. More than once we have had to hold fire due to a couple of english trespassers  in the undergrowth at Bazentin wood doing a fair impression of wild boar. They then began to berate us for hunting in the first place!!.   

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Bon soir Ricard

Very British to adjure hunting. But quite mad of Brits to enter any woodland in the season of la chasse. 

Mind you, from past experience, I have always felt that Frenchmen with guns are often more likely to shoot each other the way they can bimble around  (move around without any apparent concern for their colleagues' shooting). The toll of friendly fire in the US is even worse I understand.

Best regards

David

Edited by David Filsell
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Guest Ricard 51

 Bonjour David... l like both your understanding and humour. At least we chasseurs don't tend to stand in line dressed as edwardian toffs potting semi tame birds. No... for the chasse the routine goes something like this. 0700hrs, café cognac times 2 or 3 maybe. Then walked up shooting until 1130 and a pause for a petit verre or two of pastis or muscat par example.Then more walking until 1300. Now time for apéros before a good lunch with plenty of rouge.Then continue with the chasse until dusk and a welcome glass or two whilst the day's events are chewed over in the company of good friends and there you have it. So, for any  good folk still contemplating an exploration of the somme woods armed with this knowledge.... Bienvenue et  le meilleur de la chance brittanique!!. 

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When precisely does this season start?

Would I be safe bumbling around my b&b in Bernafay wood in September or am I likely to receive a derriere full of shot? 

 

From your description of the chasse, Ricard, it appears that my chances of injury-free bimbling are better at the start of the day, before those 'petit verres' of cognac/pastis/muscat/rouge start to take effect? 

 

🍷😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • Admin

I think it’s normally the third weekend in September. 

Michelle 

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Guest Ricard 51
4 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

 

 

Bonjour à tous.Très bien Michelle but the opening dates vary slightly between départements. We are Somme 80 and the chasse begins 15 Septembre here. In response to JBee ... best to heed advice and avoid all woods here which are in private ownership. With respect, there would be some very frosty looks given and much tut-tutting if the local shooting syndicate rocked up on the village cricket pitch or croquet lawn in merry england... just imagine!!!.  Be safe, stay seen and thoroughly enjoy your visit in this hauntingly beautiful region.

 

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14 hours ago, Ricard 51 said:

 Bonjour David... l like both your understanding and humour. At least we chasseurs don't tend to stand in line dressed as edwardian toffs potting semi tame birds. No... for the chasse the routine goes something like this. 0700hrs, café cognac times 2 or 3 maybe. Then walked up shooting until 1130 and a pause for a petit verre or two of pastis or muscat par example.Then more walking until 1300. Now time for apéros before a good lunch with plenty of rouge.Then continue with the chasse until dusk and a welcome glass or two whilst the day's events are chewed over in the company of good friends and there you have it. So, for any  good folk still contemplating an exploration of the somme woods armed with this knowledge.... Bienvenue et  le meilleur de la chance brittanique!!. 

Better to shoot a reared bird, dressed in appropriate clothing, showing respect for the occasion, rather than killing anything that moves for the sake of it dressed in high-vis vests because the guns have some difficulty understanding basic safety.

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Guest Ricard 51

 Bonjour Mills Bomb..... a fellow hunter l think. Myself, l too have full respect for both the traditions of the hunt 

and more importantly the quarry. Having been invited to shoots in england  for many years l know that on one hand there are well run, disciplined and safe days and on the other, shoots where the safest place to stand is directly in front of the line and the muzzles of the guns due to reckless swinging through, low  and  wild shots at simply  unsafe birds. Think of some of these corporate days and folk with too much dosh and too little knowledge and understanding of our marvellous hunting history.  So, evidently the best and worst  of both examples on either side of the ditch. Yours in sport mon ami, Ricard.

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On 30/07/2019 at 16:45, Ricard 51 said:

 ...Then continue with the chasse until dusk and a welcome glass or two whilst the day's events are chewed over in the company of good friends...

 

...should that not read 'survivors'?

 

I jest, of course, and appreciate too your amusing comments regarding corporate shoots here in the UK.

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