suesalter1 Posted 19 July , 2022 Share Posted 19 July , 2022 Is the Yorkshire Trench still open? Last I heard, it was flooded and therefore closed. We're in Ypres from the 5th September. Thanks, Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper D. Posted 20 July , 2022 Share Posted 20 July , 2022 According to the website, and a recent tripadvisor review, it is certainly "open". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suesalter1 Posted 20 July , 2022 Author Share Posted 20 July , 2022 Okay, Thanks. Will check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 18 August , 2022 Share Posted 18 August , 2022 I meant to have a recce when I was in Ieper on a short private visit this week, but didn't have time in the end. It is a possibility for my October school tour, as one of our old boys was blinded by a shell explosion on the canal embankment not far away, As Sapper says, it is mentioned in the current tourist literature which I was looking through at the Ariane hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper D. Posted 18 August , 2022 Share Posted 18 August , 2022 I'm in Ieper next week. For a week. Lucky me! Shall endeavour to visit said trench. Haven't been there for ages, 10 years ago I reckon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 18 August , 2022 Share Posted 18 August , 2022 I managed to visit Ieper for the first time in three years. Much was the same but there were some differences. There is a lot of renovation work going on at the Cloth Hall and around St Martin's Cathedral. Much of the centre is like a building site and of course the Menin Gate is closing next year for a big refurbishment. Some businesses in the Grote Markt have changed and there seems to be a wider variety of cuisines available there. Horror of horrors: the restaurants and cafes all seem to be serving chunky, British style chips now instead of classic Belgian fries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper D. Posted 18 August , 2022 Share Posted 18 August , 2022 Yuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Riley Posted 5 September , 2022 Share Posted 5 September , 2022 (edited) On 18/08/2022 at 10:08, Mark Hone said: I managed to visit Ieper for the first time in three years. Much was the same but there were some differences. There is a lot of renovation work going on at the Cloth Hall and around St Martin's Cathedral. Much of the centre is like a building site and of course the Menin Gate is closing next year for a big refurbishment. Some businesses in the Grote Markt have changed and there seems to be a wider variety of cuisines available there. Horror of horrors: the restaurants and cafes all seem to be serving chunky, British style chips now instead of classic Belgian fries! I noticed this (chunkier chips) at the beginning of August ... and when I complained about 'chips' IN the edge of my plate on two successive nights at a long-established and well-known eatery there was an earnest/animated discussion about how they do their cooking (despite me pointing to the offending ceramic irregularities several times) Edited 5 September , 2022 by Ian Riley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper D. Posted 12 September , 2022 Share Posted 12 September , 2022 Just back from a fantastic week at Jerry's Place, Ramparts House. Briliant!! Two things struck me... - the prices have shot up in Belgium/Ieper! Had our first (and last) dinner on the square. Average service, decent food & drinks, excellent surroundings but the cost... - Yorkshire Trench wasn't as much .... 'fun', as our first (2010??) visit. Obviously everything was very parched etc. and the floodings had left their traces but it felt a little as a forgotten and an un-loved place. Maintenance was poor (who's responsible for the upkeep?) and it didn't speak, as did the NZ memorial at Mesen, for instance. I'll try and post a few pictures to show my point. Once again a lovely and interesting stay in the Westhoek. We loved the walk around Mesen (you know, with those annoying little stones/tiles in the pavement, which often seem to be covered, partially or not, by odds-and-sods left by workmen) and the Pool of Peace. Funny that, at Mesen, WW2 and 1 touched eachother with Hitler's presence there! For a great evening out, but not cheap, I suggest "Merlijn", in Reutel. Great food, drinks (nearly all local - including the bubbles!!) and a fantastic service and, best of all, drinks in between the grapes with a direct view of the battlesite where Capt. Clement Robertson won his V.C. On the 4th of october 1917, brave man. (and let's not forget Pte. Allen - his work was good enough for a D.C.M.) Take someone along to drive, their whisk(e)y's are fantastic too!!! We had a 'Clement' menu, which made the evening much more affordable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 13 September , 2022 Share Posted 13 September , 2022 Thanks for this. To be honest, Yorkshire Trench doesn't look as bas as I'd feared. Someone told me a couple of years ago that it was in total disrepair. I took my group in June to Bayernwald. Although it was still a very interesting site, that too looked rather neglected in places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 26 October , 2022 Share Posted 26 October , 2022 Hello, I just found this article (in Dutch): https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022/10/26/loopgraaf-_yorkshire-trench-in-ieper-wordt-gerestaureerd/ It seems they will start crowdfunding to get it restored (why oh why do they in Belgium invest a lot of money in something to have it in good shape and then let it fall into ruins before they have to completely renovate it again at huge costs? Why no regular maintenance?). Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 27 October , 2022 Share Posted 27 October , 2022 Thanks for this. We didn't visit Yorkshire Trrnch in the end because of the reports about its condition. Bayernwald is in reasonable shape but after twenty years the wicker-work supports of the trenches in particular need renovation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 27 October , 2022 Share Posted 27 October , 2022 2 hours ago, Mark Hone said: Thanks for this. We didn't visit Yorkshire Trrnch in the end because of the reports about its condition. Bayernwald is in reasonable shape but after twenty years the wicker-work supports of the trenches in particular need renovation. The wattlework of Bayernwald is a disgrace. It's some kind of cheap Ersatz of what wattlework should really be, just some branches nailed to wooden beams... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper D. Posted 27 October , 2022 Share Posted 27 October , 2022 Shame really, the things most people enjoy vistiting being negleted by the local politicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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