The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has many burial grounds in the area. This small cemetery is the only one that is within the ancient walls of Ypres.
It was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield who was also responsible for the nearby Menin Gate memorial and it contains the graves of 198 soldiers. Very sad to see the six graves belonging to troops from New Zealand who were all killed by the same shell. These are symbolically grouped together.
The
cemetery was begun in November 1914 by French troops defending the city and was used by Commonwealth troops from February 1915 until April 1918, by which time the Western Front had moved away from Ypres.
When the war ended the French graves that were here were removed and concentrated in the nearby Ypres French cemetery. Of the British and Commonwealth troops buried here, all but ten are named; in the case of five of the unidentified, the nationality could not be ascertained.
We walked around reading various headstones and taking a moment to reflect on how young some were and also how many died on the same day.
About Dean
Angela and I decided that there was more to life than working hard to keep up the payments on the mortgage, to pay the gas, electric, phone bills etc. etc.
SO............
In 2008 we sold our house, I initially took a year off (Unpaid) and Angela handed in her notice!
We bought a motorhome and set off for a year of travelling!
This was the best thing we had done in our lives (Apart from getting married) and we have no regrets.
During the year I managed to secure a redundancy package which felt very strange. Almost sad as I had worked for the same company for 19 years (BT).
It was always our plan to have a whole year off before thinking about the 'W' word.
We began applying to the Camping and Caravanning Club (CCC) for the position of Holiday site assistants in August 2009. After the interview, work experience and induction we were finally given a contract at the CCC site in Inverewe (Scotland).
Our plan is to work through the summer in the UK then head to Europe to overwinter before coming back to work the following summer season.
Hopefully these few words and our blog will inspire others to get off the hamsters wheel and see that there is more to live than having a house and material things.
A cliche I know but this is not a rehearsal, life is too short!!!
Since our first contract in Scotland we have worked a winter contract in Oxford (never again!) not Oxford but a winter contract. Hereford for two years, living in a yurt for one! And Cornwall. In between our working we have also travelled a bit.
Hopefully this website will give you an insight into our alternative lifestyle.
Get out there and live the dream!
cemetery was begun in November 1914 by French troops defending the city and was used by Commonwealth troops from February 1915 until April 1918, by which time the Western Front had moved away from Ypres.
