Climbing 234 Stairs With A Digital Camera - Montfaucon American Memorial

[Fattyowls]

Has anyone climbed the 234 stairs to the top of the Butte de Montfaucon memorial and taken a digital photo looking ENE towards Consnevoye and Damvillers? A superb reverse view from the American Memorial on Cornouiller Hill by Nigel (@nigelcave) is contained in this thread. Ryan (@RyanN) is looking for a photo and I would be fascinated myself. All of mine are on 35mm film from 20 years ago without the technology to convert them. Knowing my track record of pointing the camera in the wrong direction I suspect that mine would be too far to the east anyway.

 

I hope to get back there in the not too distant future while my knees are still up to the climb......

 

Pete.

[Marilyne]

Just re-checked my pics from the Tour in 2013, but I did not go up that thing... seem to remember it was closed the day I was there with Thierry... 

 

But I'll keep it in mind if I go back there... 

 

M.

[Fattyowls]

3 minutes ago, Marilyne said:

Just re-checked my pics from the Tour in 2013, but I did not go up that thing... seem to remember it was closed the day I was there with Thierry... 

 

But I'll keep it in mind if I go back there... 

 

M.

 

Thanks MM, the view is worth every step, but I'd need to get into some serious training for going back there. I think I've been up three times, but not during the digital photography era unfortunately.

 

Pete.

[nigelcave]

I shall check with Maarten Otte, who recently wrote Montfaucon in the Battleground series. He is working on a further addition to his Meuse-Argonne Offensives, this one on the Right Bank to the Armistice, and he is very likely to have one.

[Fattyowls]

2 minutes ago, nigelcave said:

I shall check with Maarten Otte, who recently wrote Montfaucon in the Battleground series. He is working on a further addition to his Meuse-Argonne Offensives, this one on the Right Bank to the Armistice, and he is very likely to have one.

 

Thanks Nigel, as my old mum used to say "it's not what you know, it's who you know". I'll look out for Maarten's Montfaucon and put it on the must buy list. A Top tip.

 

Pete.

[healdav]

1 hour ago, Marilyne said:

Just re-checked my pics from the Tour in 2013, but I did not go up that thing... seem to remember it was closed the day I was there with Thierry... 

 

But I'll keep it in mind if I go back there... 

 

M.

I haven't been there for a year or so, but before that, I was there quite frequently and for several years it was always closed.  The story I heard was that the man who had previously been responsible for opening it up, and keeping the place clean, had died, and no one suitable had come forward to take over the job.

They may have found someone by now, of course.

[nigelcave]

They got a very reliable chap in the village to open and close it and keep the interior clean. However, as I understand it, he has very recently been 'let go' and of course it is shut at the moment in any case because of the CV thing. It will be interesting to see what happens when things revert to a more normal situation. Given that the ABMC have a substantial staff at the nearby Romagne Cemetery it should not be beyond the wit of man (person?) to organise a rota to open and close it every day.

[healdav]

2 hours ago, nigelcave said:

Given that the ABMC have a substantial staff at the nearby Romagne Cemetery it should not be beyond the wit of man (person?) to organise a rota to open and close it every day.

I agree. They employ 28 people full time gardening. Not much office staff, though.

[Frank_East]

We visited the Montfaucon memorial on the Butte de Montfacon (Hill 336) and the Meuse Argonne (Romagne)  cemetery in August 2001.I ventured to the top and took photographs from there of the surrounding area .I also took a photograph from the top of the stairs down the gleaming brass staircase........photographs pre digital and are in a box somewhere

 

If I remember correctly I posted the stairs on the forum....a search now gives no return.However Silent Knight on 3 January 2007 posted a similar photograph as below

 

 

[nigelcave]

Below the views from Montfaucon looking east towards the Meuse Heights - one contemporary to the war, the other a few years ago from the top of the AEF memorial  (courtesy of Maarten Otte).

 

Edit: Hmm - made the text so unobtrusive for the 316th Memorial that it is illegible - will add another, improved version, in due course.

 

 

Edited 28 April , 2020 by nigelcave

[nigelcave]

Trying again: you can see I don't do this attaching pix thing very often! The larger, very clear red circle includes the 'giveaway' stand of trees that are either side of most of the approach avenue; the barely visible red circle surrounds the memorial itself. The trees+the memorial make a very useful marker when touring the battlefield. 

 

The distance between the two memorials is about fourteen or so kilometres as the crow flies.

[Fattyowls]

Nigel those are wonderful, thank you and thanks to Maarten too. As for any uploading issues I am in no position to carp given some of my laughable attempts. I often don't know what is worse, not being able to post them or them being badly exposed and/or sloping where no slope actually exists. And that is just the ponds around Messines.

 

Pete.