SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

Carlisle – Ayr

Our first day in wee Scotland was spent driving from Carlisle across to the west coast through Galloway Forest Park and north to Ayr.

We drove through magnificent scenery all day, particularly along the coast looking over the Atlantic Ocean towards Ailsa Craig, an imposing rock mound island, and Kintyre.  (The family may have broken out into a few choruses of the song “Mull of Kintyre”.)   

At Ayr, the magnificent 18^th century Culzean Castle, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Atlantic, was spectacular.

Not only was the history and the architecture of the castle fascinating, the herd of red deer (does, fawns and stags) feeding peacefully under the oak trees was entrancing, and the Walled Garden with its myriad of coloured garden beds and beautifully manicured lawns was perfectly tranquil.  We all loved this castle.

Glasgow - Drumnadrochit

A brief stopover in Glasgow at the Kelvingrove Art and History Museum increased our knowledge on Scottish history.  We learnt about the early Scots, the Vikings invading Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Robert Burns the poet, Mary Queen of Scots, and her son James VI of Scotland (who was also James I of England).  The children learnt that kilts were only worn originally by Highlanders, and that they only came into existence around the 1600’s.  Clans designed their tartan around what they could afford (red dye tartans signified wealth as the dye came from a rare type of beetle). 

Next a bit of family history was investigated by Sarah at Renton, just north of Glasgow.  We visited the castle of some of her paternal relatives who sold the castle in the 1930’s.

Due to the enormous upkeep of the buildings, this castellated Gothic mansion was turned into a nursing home about 25 years ago.  We made ourselves known to the nursing staff and then took a wander around the home and its simple grounds.

The open rolling hills of farmland gave way to more extreme mountainous landscape the further north we headed towards Loch Ness and Drumnadrochit.

We stopped numerous times on our travels to breathe in the fresh Highland air and to marvel at the wild mountains and the cold glacial lochs.  A wee bonnie Scotsman was playing the bagpipes at one lookout which set the perfect atmosphere for our travels.

It was interesting to learn as we drove past Ben Nevis, UK’s highest mountain, that it was only 1344 metres high.

Neptune’s Stairs on the Caledonian Canal, which helps link the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean via Loch Ness, Loch Lochy and Loch Linnhe, was a very interesting stop for the boys in the family.  We watched a boat pass through part of the lock system which raises or lowers the boats 80 feet above or down to sea level.

Nessie did not show her face and fortunately we all felt quite at ease camping beside the loch.  Ellie had reassured us that she was “really friendly and didn’t eat people”.  Georgia (the horsey one) went for an hour long ride around a horse riding farm which overlooked the ruins of Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness.

She claims that she REALLY enjoyed it.  We visited the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre and learnt about the Loch Ness monster hoaxes and how they were solved.

Drumnadrochit - Ullapool

A day ahead of schedule, the family decided to head further north-west in search of more rugged landscape   ...   and we found it.

On our travels we stopped at the Falls of Shin and had the most unexpected surprise – Atlantic salmon jumping up the falls on their way to freshwater breeding grounds.  It was a wonderful experience witnessing these seafaring fish battling their way up fast flowing streams into the middle of Scotland.

The glacial cut landscape became more desolate the further west we headed, with very little vegetation and few inhabitants.  We assumed the low population was due to the inhospitable terrain, but we were to learn later that the clan numbers were significantly reduced by the English Red Coats after the Jacobite rebellion in 1746, to avoid the possibility of another Highland resurgence. 

We stayed that night at Ullapool, which typified the Scottish fishing village:  a village in Scotland with fish.  It also sported steep pebble beaches with an endless supply of smooth skipping stones.

Ullapool – Cairngorms (Grampian Mountains)

We passed through Inverness on our travels east, but as we were too invigorated by our stay in the Highlands, we didn’t stop in the city.  Just east of the city is Culloden Moor, the site of the last battle fought on British soil.

This battle was fought in 1746 between the English Government and the rebelling Jacobites and lasted for just one hour.  It saw the end of the attempt by bonnie Prince Charlie to regain the English crown for the Stuart family from the reigning Hanover family.

This battle led to the English building the fort, Fort George, only a few kilometres down the road at Ardersier.  We wandered around the military barracks and climbed the ramparts to catch a glimpse of the magnificent views over Moray Firth and out to the North Sea.

Dolphins swam lazily in the water just off shore, which was an added bonus to our day.

Time to turn south through the Grampian Mountains and into Cairngorm National Park.  A working water mill captured our attention at Blair Atholl and we learnt about the process of stone grinding oats and wheat to make various grades of meal.

We couldn’t resist stocking the pantry with their fresh home-baked breads.  Our highlight in Blair Atholl however was finally seeing some gorgeous Highland cattle with their enormous horns, shaggy coats and their shaggy fringes completely covering their eyes.

Heading south, we visited the Scottish Crannog Centre where we inspected a reconstructed loch dwelling from the Bronze/Iron Age.  These lake dwellings, and the lives of their inhabitants, are still puzzling archaeologists today.

The Centre had fascinating hands-on exhibitions encouraging visitors to try various arts and crafts from this bygone era, including how to light a fire without matches.  Vid managed to create fire, and Tom and Georgia loved trying the simple techniques of wood turning and grinding a hole through a stone.

The countryside continued to overwhelm us with its unique beauty as we opted to drive the narrow, hair-raising, no-room-for-two-vehicles road towards Edinburgh.  The baron windswept hills with low growing purple flowering heather were magnificent.  We felt alone (Vid quite enjoyed the lack of other vehicles) to the extent that we were on another planet when we saw some “golden” sheep.

Unfortunately as we wound our way down the mountains we approached civilisation again and the busy world we live in.

Falkirk - Edinburgh

The Falkirk Wheel was Vid and Tom’s highlight for the day before driving onto Edinburgh.  The wheel is the first boat “lift” and is an enormous feat for modern day engineering.

It works on the Archimedes’ principle of water displacement, and although the concept in theory seemed simple, the practicality of developing this amazing structure was admirable.

On to Scotland’s historic capital, Edinburgh, and in particular Edinburgh Castle.  Although there is quite a variation in the architectural styles of the castle (as it was built over many centuries) the stone buildings all had their own character.  The quaint chapel of St Margaret’s is the oldest building in Edinburgh and is the only building within the castle walls not to have suffered at the hands of battle.

The castle is the home to the Scottish crown jewels – the crown being the second oldest in the world after the Hungarian crown.  It has not been worn since the 1600’s.  We also saw the “Stone of Scoone”, a sandstone piece of rock which has reputedly been used for over one thousand years as the stone where the monarchs of Scotland sit for their coronation.

We stopped on the Scottish/English border to bid Scotland a wee farewell and enjoyed the magnificent views for a final time.

It is certainly a country we would all love to visit again.

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THE LAND OF FEW VOWELS AND NORTHERN ENGLAND

Shrewsbury - Conwy

The unique natural beauty of northern Wales captured us as we drove through Snowdonia National Park.  An incredibly wild and lonely landscape battered by thousands of years of changing conditions, but none so forceful  as the glaciers during the Ice Age.

Our two hour walk into the mountains above the Ogwen Valley was magnificent.  Ellie’s little legs (combined with a bit of time on Dad’s shoulders) braved the thousands of rock steps up and down.  Vid, Georgia and Tom were a little braver as they scrambled higher up the mountain for better views of the glacial lake nestled snugly in the shadows of the mountains.

The steep sides on this mountain were used by Edmund Hillary in winter for practising ice climbing before attempting Mt Everest.

Energised by our walk, we decided to make the most of the blue sky day and visit Conwy Castle.  This imposing fortress, completed in 1287, fulfilled the perfect image of a fortress castle.

Its solid round towers and soaring stone curtain walls gave an intimidating presence that has not been diminished by the passage of time.  The views from the battlements over the town and out into the Irish Sea were breathtaking.

 

Back into England   ...

Conwy – Chester – Windermere

The Roman walled city of Chester, with its Tudor style houses, was an easy place to spend a morning.

We walked the 3 km trek around the top of the wall surrounding the city, and up and down Chester Rows with its 700 year old shops, some of which are half a level below street level.

The Lake District was another corner of Europe where we were met with “oohs” and “aahs” from the back section of the motorhome.

Green, green paddocks, black faced sheep and beautiful dense vegetation leading right down to the edge of magnificent bodies of water.

The geology of this area provides a dramatic record of nearly 500 million years with evidence of colliding continents, deep oceans, tropical seas and kilometre thick ice sheets.

In the middle of the 1800’s half of the world’s textile industry’s bobbin supply came from the Lake District.  Visiting a mill was a fascinating insight into the world of bobbins – who would have thought of their importance.

There were 64 mills in this area of England and this small mill alone used to produce 250,000 bobbins per week.

Off to MacScotland   ...

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THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

Salisbury – Bath – Cirencester

We spotted Salisbury’s majestic cathedral topped with England’s tallest spire (123 metres) kilometres from the city.  The Gothic cathedral, built in the 1200’s, is now the home of Europe’s (and questionably the world’s) oldest working clock and the finest of only four surviving Magna Cartas.  The clock, which was built in 1386, has no face and hands but rather chimes a church bell on the hour.  If it has worked continuously since it was made, it has ticked more than 5 billion times (only ticks every 5 seconds).

The Magna Carta is one of the most celebrated documents in English history – at the time, in 1215, it was a solution to a political crisis, but its importance has endured, as one of the Latin clauses protecting the rights of individuals is still law today.

Enough of medieval history   ...   we took an enormous leap back in time to the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age.  We let it soak into our veins as we visited every possible henge and Iron Age fort in the southwestern pocket of England – Old Sarum, Woodhenge, Stonehenge and Avebury Henge to name the main ones.

 The iconic archaeological site of Stonehenge was overwhelming.  One could only marvel at the prehistoric engineering feat involved in carting the enormous rocks (some over 240 km from Wales) and the erection of the lintel stones on top.  Although the real mystic of this great and ancient stone circle will never be unravelled, its connection to the sun and the seasons is fascinating - an interesting arrangement of rocks.

Georgia felt that our step back in time was not complete without sighting one of the great “hill figure” horses carved into the chalk rock.  Although many date back to the Stone Age, the one we saw was only created in 1812.

All in desperate need of a bath, the Roman Baths seemed the logical destination.  However when we arrived, there was no way we were jumping into the lead lined baths filled with green murky steaming waters.  We found the elegant town of Bath with its multiple rows of duplicate Georgian style houses eye capturing, though the narrow streets were not particularly in sync with our home on wheels.

The old Roman road, The Fosse Way, led us north into the Cotswold Hills to Cirencester.  The “Cotswolds” were beautiful, with its undulating landscape, dry stone and hedge fences, green pastures and  1,000,001 sheep.  The local history recorded in the Cirencester Museum (from prehistoric, stone, bronze and iron ages, Saxons, Vikings, Normans and through the medieval times) was fascinating for all ages, including Ellie who thrived with the activities the museum had on offer for young ones.

We stayed the night with some Green relatives, Andrew and Sally Scarth, and thoroughly enjoyed the simplicity of a warm shower, cosy beds, home cooked meals and SPACE.

Cirencester – Chaddsley Corbett

Stratford-Upon-Avon, the dainty touristy town, was the birthplace and home of William Shakespeare.

This called for some recitals, by Mum and Dad, from the many comedies and tragedies of Shakespeare’s writings, and not much conversation was understood by the rest of the family for a while.  The children may have felt their parents had gone completely off the rails.

“Green” country in the Black Country was our next destination.  Black Country was the name given in the mid 1800’s to the industrial region located in the midlands of England.  At this time it was considered the “workshop of the world” as the industrial revolution gained full momentum.  Its name is derived from the smoke of many thousands of ironworking foundries and forges, and the countryside which had been spoiled by the working of coal mines.  Sarah’s great-great grandfather, and subsequent generations, owned a tool, chain and nail manufacturing business in this area.  It is still the home of the Green family.

The Black Country Museum was a step back in time as we watched a chain maker skilfully master the hot iron into uniform links.  The tour down an underground coal mine was an unnerving insight into the dim working life of men and boys who were as young as nine, especially when we turned off our torches to feel the loneliness of the dark and cold conditions.

Staying with Sarah’s cousin near Chaddesley Corbett was fantastic (leaving aside that it was in a house).  It was also fabulous to see great Aunt Ilse again, who never tires and has the energy and spirit of a person half her age.  We relaxed, and the children played, as Mark and Maggs did their extra bit to spoil us, especially by organising a huge get together of relatives (most of whom we had not met before) with some cousins travelling hours to see us.  There was plenty of chatting and plenty of laughter. 

The laughter did not stop with the end of the dinner party.  After everyone had left, Vid was having a shower   ...   Sarah was awoken to a little “knock, knock” and Vid whispering, “Sar, I’m locked in the bathroom”.  Apparently Sarah’s response was, "Is there somewhere in there you can sleep?”  When she was greeted with a “NO”, she apparently responded by saying, “Well what do you want ME to do about it?”  Can’t imagine that Sarah would have been so heartless.  An hour later, and with Maggs and Mark on the job, the sledge hammer was brought out and Vid was rescued in the wee hours of the morning.  Fortunately Mark’s skill as a builder meant the house was not totally destroyed in the process.

Off to Wales   ...

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RED DOUBLE DECKER BUSES AND BLACK TAXIS

Dover – Greenwich

The white chalk cliffs of Dover loomed ahead of us as the ferry crossed the Strait of Dover towards England.  It was a picture perfect morning standing on the top deck, sharing the moment with the seagulls as we approached the Mother Land.

We adjusted ourselves to driving on the left again (in a LH drive vehicle) and had a quick stop in the medieval city of Canterbury to view the famous Canterbury Cathedral - the centre of the Church of England.  It was, again, another impressive facade for a building dominating the local skyline.

Everyone learnt something at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, the home of “longitude” and “Greenwich mean time”:  Ellie learnt that you could jump across a line on a pavement and be in the eastern half of the globe on one side and in the west on the other side;

Tom learnt about the beginnings of Nebulas and that in five thousand million years time “the earth will be nothing more than a frazzled rock”; Georgia learnt about the competition that resulted in the invention of the modern day clock; Vid was intrigued with the development of ship faring clocks so that they could keep accurate time on a rolling sea, necessary for longitudinal navigation; and Sarah learnt all of the above. 

London

Four days of sleeping in a house with rooms, comfortable beds and big showers   ...   don’t worry, we are mentally holding up just fine with our motorhome circumstances.  We stayed with some great friends in Fulham, London – John, Claire, Charlie & Bertie Maiden.  They spoilt us rotten, which we lapped up as we enjoyed the small comforts a home can bring.  There were plenty of laughs and plenty of late nights chatting.

We tightened the laces on our adventuring boots as we headed off to explore the sights of the big city of London.  Days could have been spent in the Natural History Museum and the British Museum – both housing incredible exhibitions and generously provided free of charge by the city of London.  The Earth Hall captured our attention for the longest as the children learnt about the effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and other geological phenomena on Earth.

Amongst the masses of displays were various interesting ponderings:  an elephant bird egg, a dodo, all sorts of creepy crawlies, and rare mammals.  The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum was fascinating – it was from this stone inscribed with three languages (hieroglyphics, Egyptian and Greek) that archaeologists were able to decipher the mystery of the ancient language of hieroglyphics.

The family later enjoyed a lazy stroll through Kensington Garden and Hyde Park playing with the local squirrels.

We walked past the Wellington Monument to Buckingham Palace - no corgis, no queen and no princes, just a couple of very stiff “buzzybee” Welsh guards who weren’t interested in engaging in a civil conversation over a cup of tea and scones.

The old City of London, with the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral made an interesting day.

The crown jewels in the Tower were incredible with the world’s two largest diamonds (530 and 317 carats) and an amazing array of emeralds, sapphires and rubies.  Let’s just say that Georgia and Sarah joined the crowds on the conveyor belt to view the crowns a few times – their favourite being the petit diamond crown worn by Queen Victoria.

St Paul’s Cathedral with its iconic dome dominating the London skyline was fascinating.  We concentrated our time on finding some old and very distant relatives buried there.

The giant revolving London Eye soared us high (135 metres) above London.  The 30 minute trip (the wheel only spins at double the rate of a minute hand on a clock face) was awesome and although the morning was overcast, patches of sun persisted so the 360 degree view was spectacular.

We departed hastily to beat the weather and ran past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the pouring rain to take shelter in Westminster Abbey.

It is a simple but elegant structure though a little cluttered inside.  The guided tour unravelled some of England’s history as we stepped over and around some 400 odd tombs.

It was a short walk then to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum at Whitehall.  The rooms are an excellent relic of wartime Britain - it was here where Churchill, his cabinet and military leaders made some heavy decisions during WWII.  The museum offered an intriguing expose of the public and private faces of Winston Churchill in very interesting displays.

The enigma machine (German code machine) was particularly fascinating and reading some of Churchill’s incredibly witty quotes were a valuable insight into the man and his dedication to the role he played in this turbulent period of history.

Our visit to London would not have been complete without a walk around the Monopoly board – Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Pall Mall, Oxford Street, Mayfair and Whitehall.  Fortunately we didn’t land on “Go directly to jail”.

A taste of London was all there was time for, but we all agreed it was FANTASTIC sampling the flavours the grand city had on offer.

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SNAILS & FROG'S LEGS

Chambord - Disneyland

Another chateau to satisfy the appetite - our next stop was Chateau Chambord in the Loire Valley.  Although it was intended as a mere hunting lodge, the 156 m long and 56 m tall building (with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms) became known as a chateau.  The mixture of Gothic and Italian Renaissance external architecture creates a surprising jumble of towers, turrets and chimneys above the roof line.

Although a seemingly complex building on the outside, it's interior was very simple.  The most interesting feature, which was attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, was the double helix staircase - those going up never meet those going down.  An "Equestrian Spectacular" held in the grounds of the chateau was great entertainment as we witnessed amazing horsemanship, spectacular jousting and engaging sword fights.

On to Beaugency, which is an interesting historical city.  It was here in 1152 that the marriage of the King of France was annulled, allowing his wife to marry the future King of England.  As a result, her huge land holdings in southwest France passed to the English crown and thus began struggles between the French and English which culminated in the Hundred Years War, from 1337 to 1453.  It was also here that Joan of Arc drove an English garrison from the city in 1429 in the height of her campaign to free France from England.  Slowly the pieces of French history are slotting into place.

On our voyage around the French countryside, motorways are being avoided as much as possible and everyone is enjoying the breath of fresh country air.  Undulating hills covered in a patchwork of ripe crops of barley and canola are highlighted against paddocks of emerald green sorghum and golden sunflowers.  As the roads lead north the headers have been witnessed in force - there is nothing like harvest time when the rewards of months of work are being fulfilled.  One morning Vid, Tom & Ellie went for a walk from our campsite to a local grain siding to view the activity and machinery.


Disneyland - Paris

What better way to spend a day in France then at Disneyland   ...   or so we thought.  If only we had known the temperature was going to be in the high 30's and every other EU citizen would be adventuring as well.  Despite the trying conditions the staying power of the children was amazing, although lining up for a ride at 8:00 PM for 45 minutes which was then cancelled due to "technical difficulties" was the last straw.  The temperature was still above 35 degrees after 9:00 PM when Mrs Tom Tom had the last laugh by taking us to our campsite which was 10 minutes away - 5 minutes up the freeway and 5 minutes back down the freeway to the front gates of Disneyland (the campsite was where we had parked all day).  Luckily giggles were heard in the back of the motorhome and not tears.

As for favourite rides:  Georgia had "heaps", Tom's favourite was the rollercoaster in darkness that flew around the solar system, Ellie enjoyed the Star Wars spaceship simulator, and Vid and Sarah just loved all the ones with the really short line ups (which obviously everyone else didn't).


Paris

Four days of PARIS.  The first day was another hot but lazy day recovering beside a pool at our campsite.  The next two days we headed into central Paris and the last day we went to the Palace of Versailles.

La Tour Eiffel did not disappoint.  The 324m high tower built for the 1889 World Fair was impressive as it looms majestically above the surrounding Parisian skyline.  We climbed the 670 steps to the second platform which offered us magical views over the city.

The Eglise du Dome holding Napolean's tomb was our next stop.  Although it is an extraordinary and extravagent tomb, his early role of uniting the French citizens and strengthening the country against imminent international threats deserves recognition.

Whilst at Les Invalides we explored the many exhibitions on offer including the Museum of Arms and Armour (plenty of arms, plenty of armour) and the museum of "Louis XIV to Napolean III", which is an extensive first class display of French artifacts and completes another piece of the complex jigsaw puzzle of European history.

Lunch on the steps of St Marie Madeleine (an impressive columned church) and we were soon entering the arch way to Musee de Louvre with its iconic 21m high glass pyramid.

The museum was vast and although we only saw a small number of the staggering 35,000 exhibits we felt culturally enriched.  The Mona Lisa was impressive - we cannot comment as art critics but there was definitely something empowering about her as she watches you move around the (very crowded) room.

Our discoveries began on the third day in Paris at Notre Dame Cathedral with its massive pipe organ (7,800 pipes) and then Musee D'Orsay to view its collection of French paintings and sculptures dating from the 1840's to the early 1900's.  The collection of Impressionist paintings by Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Van Gogh were "impressive" (ahh   ...   so that's why they are called Impressionist paintings - you can see the Heaths have no idea on art).

We stopped off at numerous points on the Hop On Hop Off' bus before stopping at the Arc de Triomphe.  The arch, inspired from Roman times, was constructed at the behest of Napolean I in honour of the Armed Guards.

From its platform roof (over 50 m high) we were able to admire one of the finest views of Paris down the Champs-Elysees and the 11 other avenues that radiate out from the arch at 30 degree angles.  It dominated this area of Paris more than we had envisaged.

Our last few stops were at the Trocadero (where Tom and Vid in particular enjoyed the Marine Museum), the Pantheon church and the Luxembourg Gardens.

Weary feet led us back to the train station and home.

The Palace of Versailles was magnificent and the enormous gardens filled with canals, pools, statues and neatly trimmed box hedges were awe inspiring.

The sheer size of it is mind boggling - the gardens alone are over three kilometres long in one direction.  Vid now knows how the garden is to look at home.  This is one of the SMALL gardens off to one side - see if you can find it on Google Earth (just search for "Palace of Versailles").  You will need to zoom IN to see this garden, but zoom OUT to see the whole package.

Once again certain members of the family (mainly female) relished in the myriad of corridors, rooms, halls and opulent bed chambers within the palace, such as this one, the Hall of Mirrors.

The travellers left Versailles just before 6pm intending to be at the next campsite near Amiens in Picardy (northern France) within two hours, however this was not to be.  It all went a little crazy when Mrs Tom Tom tried to take us onto a motorway with a height restriction entry.  Half an hour later, stuck in heavy Friday evening traffic and looking for a fuel station, we turned down a road that Vid said looked like the Champs-Elysees   ...   not quite but as we turned a corner, there, about 200 m ahead of us was the Arc de Triomphe - we laughed and laughed at our efforts of trying to LEAVE Paris.  An hour later we were getting extremely low on fuel, half an hour later we had fuel but we could still see the Eiffel Tower.


Amiens - Calais

With the rich culture and bright lights of Paris behind us we began another chapter of French history that involved us a little more personally - Vid's grandfather and Sarah's great-grandfather both fought for the British Empire (Vid's grandfather as an Australian) in World War I in the Somme Valley and further north in Flanders.  We had a wonderful couple of days visiting war museums, war memorials and driving through the picturesque countryside that nearly 100 years ago was a scene of devastation.

The children enjoyed the small war museum at Villers Bretonneux as it honoured the Australians who retook the town after a German invasion, and the underground museum at Albert, as it was set in an evacuation tunnel.

The countryside is dotted with numerous memorials and cemeteries, all beautifully maintained.  We visited the imposing white stone Australian Memorial near Villers Bretonneux which is perched on a hilltop overlooking scenic farming country.

The British Memorial, honouring over 73,000 unknown soldiers, was chilling as we learnt more about the battles of the Somme.  The Newfoundlanders, the Irish and Americans all had magnificent monuments in memory of lives lost and the battles fought.

The Lochnager Crater was also chilling and a stark reminder of the damage man can do to the landscape - this mine crater is 100 m in diameter and 30 m deep.  The detonation of this mine, and others like it, occured at 7:28 AM on 1st July 1916 (signalling the commencement of the Battle of the Somme) and was intended to cause havoc to the German front line.   Unfortunately, despite the massive explosions, the desired effect on the enemy failed, and as the British sent men over the front line they were mown down by German machine guns.  The British incurred 58,000 casualties on the first day alone, including 20,000 deaths.

Also interesting were the open trenches still on display at Beaumont Hamel.  Although now partially collapsed and grassed over, the chaotic maze of trenches gave a good indication of the battlefield madness that was experienced in "No Man's Land" between opposing frontlines.

Although these last two days have been sobering, they have also being very fulfilling and rewarding.

Tonight we are camped RIGHT beside the noisy ferry dock at Calais.  Surely ferries don't run ALL night.  We can see the land mass of England where we will continue our adventure tomorrow.

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