East Anglian Railway Museum - Last Fling of the Season and Classic Car Show

Last Sunday, my Dad and I decided to head to Chappel for a car show in a railway museum.  It sounded like a great combination of interesting enginey things.  We were also excited by the prospect of a ride on a steam engine.

We had been to the East Anglian Railway Museum before for the Chappel Beer Festival, which was great fun but it was the first time I had been there when the trains were moving.

When we arrived, the weather looked ominous and everything seemed eerily quiet.  However, once we got out into the museum itself, the atmosphere was great. 

As soon as we got in, these beauties greeted us.


 








 

As we walked around the corner, we saw an array of buses. 

These two buses were great.  We had a walk around the red one, which was put into service in the late 1930s and served until the sixties.  It is believed to be the most original example of its life.  The man we spoke to told us that the bus has probably done over a million miles in its existence.



This bus brought back memories for my Dad, of growing up in Colchester in the 60s and 70s.

I was impressed to see an old Eastern National single decker, which took me straight back to my early years, when I used to go on the bus with my Mum before she passed her driving test. I even got a bit emotional, seeing it.  I also acknowleedged that this might mean I am becoming old! 






The car show aspect of the event was also brilliant.  

I have never seen a Trabant before and I was thrilled to see three of them!  


 
Along with the Trabants was this bus from East Germany.  How old do you think it might be?  














There were lots of other interesting cars.  

These two impressed my Dad simply by the fact that they still exist.  Apparently, most of them were already rusting by the time they left the factory!





 
Here are some other cars which were on display.  The cars, which turned up for this show were different from the sorts of cars which appear at most car shows - more unusual.

 

  This Jaguar was particularly beautiful and I loved the bonnet ornament. 


 

These two tractors were both interesting and different.  I particularly liked the one on the left, which has the engine mounted to the left hand side.  Apparently these tractors were able to pull a twin furrow plough.

The owners of this Bedford Camper Van only bought it a year ago.  It was in a bit of a state but they restored it well and quickly.  It looked really comfortable and can sleep four people!

 I liked the Zebedee ornament on this kit car.

 

Here, Dad is standing next to the 'Jubilee' - one of the engines providing rides for the day.












I am standing outside the signal shed, having just been inside.  Dad and I were amazed by the complex and serious task, which the signalman undertook.  He was impressive and generous in taking the time to explain the procedures to the people inside the shed.



Next, we jumped onto the next train scheduled and had a ride.  It was exciting.  I enjoyed hearing the steam whistle being blown.  It evoked a different world.

Here we are in the brake van of the steam engine.  The shelter was much appreciated against the sideways rain which was now falling. 

The engine was from the 1920s and used to work in a cole mine. It was based on a design from around 1890.  It was great!

Below is a picture of the brave driver, exposed to the driving rain and doing a grand job!
Even though the rain came crashing down, it didn't dispirit the lovely volunteers driving and working the trains.  It didn't put the spectators off either.  They still seemed to be having a great time in spite of that oh so British liquid sunshine!  It was a lovely day out and we had a great time.  If you get the chance or have the inclination to visit the East Anglian Railway Museum, it is worth a visit.

For more information, have a look at their website www.earm.co.uk

George's Trip to Europe 2008 - Part 7

On this, our final day, Mike and I headed for home but we had a number of stops planned along the way.  

First on our list was a place near to St Omer in Northern France called La Coupole.  La Coupole is a massive underground complex, which was designed to launch V2 rockets at the UK from France.  It was never used for that purpose as the RAF did a bit of damage to it when it was close to completion.  As a result of the damage, mobile launch units were used instead.

The underground complex at La Coupole was largely dug out by hand by the people kept in concentration camps during World War 2.  It was disturbing to see the individual chisel marks in some of the tunnels.  I found it particularly upsetting, having been to Bergen Belsen earlier in the trip.  Aware of the pain and suffering people were subjected to, it was horrible to see actual physical evidence of the types of tasks those people were given.

An interesting aspect of La Coupole was seeing their many displays about the development of rocket technology.  Here, I am standing next to an example of an early rocket.  Very cool.  I was quite surprised to learn that, after the war, many of the German scientists involved in the development of rocket technology ended up in the USA working on the Space Race. 

George, having made it this far.  Not bad!

After La Coupole, our final stop off before our ferry back to Blighty was Hondschoote Military Cemetery.  Hondschoote is a village just outside of Dunkirk, which was the location of the final stand of many British soldiers whilst the famous evacuation took place.  My relative Jack Dodds and his brother William were both serving in the Duke of Wellington's Regiment at that time.  This was rather unusual, as the army tended not to put relatives together, following the tragedy of entire generations of families being wiped out in World War 1.  The story of the Dodds brothers is a tragedy which echoes this.  Jack and William were both working to hold the line to protect the troops who were being evacuated.  

On the 31st May 1940, both men were on the beach when William was shot in the head in full view of his brother.  He is now buried in Hondschoote Military Cemetery. 

The cemtery itself is located at the back of the civilian cemtery.  The troops had so little time to evacuate that they had to rely on the local people to bury the British dead and, as you can see, they did a grand job.  This is a beautiful little cemetery which is very well maintained.

William Dodds' grave

 

After that, we took the ferry home.  The view was beautiful on the crossing so I took a couple of photos.





All in all, this was a fascinating and emotional trip, which taught me a lot and changed me forever.  If you are thinking about looking into your family history and the World Wars, do it.  It is so worthwhile.  Even better, go on a field trip!  It's easier than you might think.

And ... just for the record, George made it home in one piece!  

Miles that day:  251

Total miles for entire trip: 1695

George's Trip to Europe 2008 - Part 6

George in Ypres

On this day, we spent all our time in and around Ypres itself.  We started off by visiting the museum and trenches at Hill 62.  It was interesting to see the trenches as they might have been.

 

It was an interesting place.  There were tonnes of World War 1 artefacts just lying around the place.  In a way, it was a real shame to see so much history just rotting away.

We spent a long time in Ypres itself as well. 

In the Cloth Hall, is a wonderful museum which is dedicated to World War 1.  It was strange.  In one particular location was an installation in which gas masks were hung on top of barbed wire holders within perspex tubes full of condensation.  Lit up by green and red lights, they resembled poppies.  It was really eerie when you looked closer and saw the glassy eyes of the gas masks staring out at you.  Three war poems were displayed on the walls, one of which was 'Dulce et Decorum Est' by my favourite war poet Wilfred Owen.  Recordings of the poems were being played.  There was a real ghostly presence in that installation.  We both felt it.  The entire museum was fascinating and well worth a visit.  

 After the museum, we went around Ypres, looking at various sights.

The Menin Gate in Ypres

On the town battlements

The War Memorial

At around seven thirty, Mike and I headed for the Menin Gate. 

The buglers.

 

The people of Ypres are so respectful of the sacrifices made during World War 1, that they decided to hold a ceremony of remembrance every night at 8pm.  This has been done every night since 1920.  Members of the Last Post association play the Last Post to massive crowds.  It is incredibly moving.  As this was my first experience of the ceremony, I found myself, quite literally moved to tears.  The entire journey with all its experiences was an enormous learning curve for me. 

There was a man on the other side of the gate, who sat in a wheelchair with a blanket over his knees.  As soon as the ceremony began, he stood up.  He remained standing throughout the ceremony.  He looked so sad.  I could only imagine what he had lived through. 

The Menin Gate by night

 After the Menin Gate, we went for a wonderful steak and then to bed.  It was our last night in the amazing Regina Hotel, so here is a little pictorial homage to it!

The Regina Hotel itself

The view of our room from the corridor

Mike and I in our mirrored wall

Miles that day:  10

Total Miles:  1444

George's Trip to Europe 2008 - Part 5

The map of our route for Day Five.

On the fifth day, we decided to explore the Somme.  We headed out from Ypres in the morning and made our way to Ploegsteert to find the Calvaire (Essex) Military Cemetery, where one of Mike's great, great uncles is buried. 

Mike by his great, great Uncle J Scanlan's grave near Ploegsteert.


On the way to this cemetery, George decided he needed to be naughty again.  As we drove, the tell tale aroma of burning antifreeze struck us.  I wondered what could be wrong this time.  We pulled over outside the cemetery and a cursory glance revealed that a small hole had appeared in one of the smaller coolant hoses.  Nightmare.  I couldn't believe it!  Of all the times to go wrong, George chose the time when we were in Flemish speaking Belgium!  In every other place we went, I could speak the language but not here.  I was not keen to be ripped off, so we wrapped the hose in electrical tape, topped up the coolant and headed for the border - into France.

Once in Armentieres, France, we realised we had arrived during the two hour lunchtime shutdown, which renders the whole country closed for business.  After grabbing some lunch and waiting around, we made it into a motor factors, who told us our only hope was the scrap yard around the corner.  We drove where we were told to go and we found a lovely man, who replaced the hose and topped up the antifreeze for a mere 20 Euros!  It really does pay to speak the language.

Fully functional once more, George was on his way.  Minor concerns about head gaskets and the like were flying through my head but, for now, all was well.

A while later, we arrived in Gorre Military Cemetery near Bethune, where we visited the grave of a Mr Rafferty.  He was no relation to us but we had heard of him.

Past Bethune, we headed to Thiepval - the impressive monument to the missing of the Somme.  One of Mike's great, great uncles - another J Scanlan - was killid in Guillemont and is named on the monument.

George parked at the Thiepval memoria

The Thiepval Memorial

The Thiepval Memorial itself is massive.  Photographs don't really do it justice.  There are many thousands of names upon it, all of which are easy to find through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website www.cwgc.org

After Thiepval, we headed for Guillemont.  Mike had discovered through his research that his great great uncle, who is named on the Thiepval Memorial was probably killed in the battle for Guillemont.  When we got there, we found a monument to the division Mike's great, great uncle fought in.

Whilst in the Somme area, we had a cup of tea in Tommy's Cafe and visited the Lochnagar crater, which was created when troops tunnelled under the German lines and placed explosives.  The explosives were detonated on July 1st 1916.  The explosion marked the start of the Battle of the Somme.  We also found innumerable monuments to various different regiments.  The photo below shows George next to one of them.

We headed back to our lovely hotel room after that.

Miles that day:  160

Total Miles:  1434