Ypres Trip

Year 9 visited the Ypres Salient this week to enhance their understanding of WW1. After an early start we arrived at our first visit just after lunch on Monday. The first visit was to the Trench of Death, which is a preserved area of trenches used by the Belgian forces. The pupils were able to explore the kilometre network of trenches and dug outs and could see where the German frontline was- a mere 50 metres away on the other side of the canal. 

The next visit was to a hospital cemetery at Lijssenthoek which has a diverse range of burials, including Chinese labourers, French, Canadian, British, Indian and even a British nurse called Nellie who was killed by shrapnel. Our final visit of the afternoon was to the German trenches at Bayernwald which housed many machine guns and prevented the British advance for many months.

After a quick pit stop at our hostel and an evening meal we headed to the Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony. The last post ceremony has taken place every night since the end of WW1- over 34,000 so far. During the ceremony their was a performance from a bagpipe band and four of our pupils took part laying a wreath.

Pupils slept well and the second day went as smoothly as the first. The groups visited Essex Farm cemetery, which was a casualty clearing station and was where John Mccrae wrote the famous poem, 'In Flander's Fields'. Essex Farm is also particularly poignant as it contains the grave of 15 year old Valentine Strudwick, who had lied about his age in order to join up as he didn't want to miss an adventure. The groups also visited the German cemetery of Langemark, where 24,000 German soldiers were buried in a mass grave. The final cemetery visit was to Tyne Cot, the biggest British cemetery in Ypres.  The groups then visited the fascinating Passchendaele Museum which contains a huge collection of artefacts and interactive exhibits.

The final stop of the day was into Ypres town square where pupils were able spend some time exploring the chocolate shops and cafes before heading back to Calais.

The group were incredibly well behaved and really exemplified the Ramsey values of mutual respect and resilience. They were a real pleasure to take and this was echoed by the coach company who were incredibly complimentary about them. 

Some student reviews-

'The trip was fun, my favourite part was probably seeing the difference between the British and German trenches.'- Leo N

'The trip was very interesting and i felt as though i learnt a lot from seeing the war sites. I also felt the tragedy and impact of the war, seeing the cemeteries in real life. The trenches also showed the terrible conditions.' Maya H

'The trip was so fun and interesting. I enjoyed spending time with my friends and seeing the things we had learnt about in real life, one of my favourite parts was the Last Post Ceremony.' Ruby F

'The trip was fun and interesting. We visited so many museums and memorials in quite a short amount of time. It was fun to spend time in Ypres. My favourite place we visited was Lijssenthoek because it was really impactful to see all of the graves of the people who fought. I'd definitely go on the trip again.' Alice E

Ypres Trip