June 2008

Form Three Activities Week Trip to France and Belgium

Bright and early, Tuesday 23rd June, the whole of Form Three together with six members of Staff boarded the coach which was to take us to Lille. After a long journey, we finally arrived at our Hotel and enjoyed a welcome dip in the pool!

Our first full day, commentated by Mr Petly, was spent in the Somme Valley, where we saw preserved World War One trenches at the Canadian cemetery of Beaumont Hamel, then the enormous Memorial at Thiepval, where you could also look up your surname on the computer database to see if anyone in your family had served at the Front.

From Theipval we went to a German Cemetery at Fricourt. Everybody was struck by the sombreness of the black crosses marking the graves, a real contrast to the white stones and red roses in the Allied cemeteries.

Our final visit was to the Devonshire Cemetery near Mametz, where the Devon`s losses during that first dreadful day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 have been marked by the establishment of this modest cemetery, where the dead of the 8th and 9th Battalions were buried in the remains of their frontline trench To this day, a memorial stone at the entrance to the cemetery bears the words: "The Devonshires held this trench. The Devonshires hold it still " An emotional moment for us all, as some of the dead came from North Devon.

Our third day struck a happier note as we enjoyed the freedom of a day at the Bellawaerde Theme Park near Lille. Amongst the many free rides and attractions were a huge rollercoaster and a rather splashy log flume! By 4pm we had had enough, so we went to the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres for a guided tour of this famous Museum. Although tired from their exertions at the Park, Form 3 agreed that this was really interesting.

On Thursday morning we did a boat tour down the canal at Lille and then visited the Zoo. After a picnic we went on to the beautiful Belgian town of Tournai, where we visited a chocolate factory. Christophe, the chocolatier, showed us the various types of chocolate he used and let us taste them all! He then demonstrated how to make yummy individual pralines followed by a white chocolate duck, which we shared out after supper that night.

Friday came around all too soon and after a visit to Cité Europe , we started the long journey back to Shebbear. A varied and successful week – here’s to next year!!