Visit the battlefields of the Western Front (in particular Ypres, the border region between Laventie and Neuve Chapelle, Arras and the Somme) with me and you will be transported back in time into the world of mud, barbed wire and shells. You will find that the war comes to the surface quite literally in the form of unexploded ammunition, and everywhere is the mosaic of cemeteries and memorials which remind us so poignantly of the pain and agony of war.
By slowing down and walking, if you can, through sections of the battlefields, a sense of what the soldiers went through can be experienced. You can feel the drag as you march uphill, the sudden sense of exposure on cresting a rise, or the way certain features in the landscape derailed the advances.
Through decades of studying the individual battles, and walking these fields, I will take you to viewpoints where the wider landscape helps us unlock the ebb and flow of the conflict in a way that maps and books alone cannot. You will understand the position of the frontline trenches, and why certain places were fought over again and again.
Despite the immense efforts of all those involved in the post-war reconstruction the mark of the battles, great and small, on the landscape of West Flanders and France could not be erased fully. To this day it still shows its injuries, wounds, and scars.
On tours including this theme you will visit sites of tragedy and courage, of despair and inspiration.
Together we will catch a glimpse of the face of battle.
