Our Eternal Home

Six years ago I began working on a book that tried to uncover the stories behind the list of 50 names that are etched into the heavy oak commemoration board that is housed in the Library at King Edward VI School, Southampton. The Stormy Blast was published by Natula in 2013, by which time I had set up Single Step Tours. As one of several trial runs at bespoke battlefield tours, I took my colleague Mike Long to the Somme. We were on the trail of his uncle, a young artillery officer who was killed in 1918.
This morning I managed a sneak preview of Mike’s own reflection on the War, a statue finished in bronze that will stand in one of the quads in the school building. Two years in the making, the piece is an eloquent and clever statement on the war. Working with Talos Art Foundry near Andover, Mike is a specialist in working in bronze, and is keen to follow up with more large scale commissions.

Three young men (whose detailed uniforms make it clear are representative of the army, the navy and the airforce) are fused, arm in arm, an embodiment of the enthusiasm of the young recruits. They share a hymn book, and the lines from the school hymn are etched into the base - “Time, like an ever rolling stream/Bears all its sons away...”
The quote is just one detail that the eye is drawn to in this quite startling piece of art. A trench line, a propeller, flare gun, a bullet holed canteen. The detritus of war, the horrific experiences that lie in wait for these smiling young men as they belt out the hymn for the last time at their “eternal home”.
For me, there are some familiar names - O.J. Hobbs, the science teacher killed at the Ancre in November 1916. Arthur Wolfe, the school’s head boy, his prize pupil, who followed him to a Somme grave in February 1917. This statue bears witness to their sacrifice.
Zoom in further - some will pick out the cap badges, cast from original WW1 badges, including Mike’s own uncle’s. Others will see the flies on the horse’s head - astonishingly, cast from real flies that were buzzing all around his studio. This is art that will reward a careful look. Not surprisingly given the artist’s background, this is art that teaches without lecturing, and is designed to make us think about the war and about rememberance.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas

Bespoke Battlefield Tour - an example

Lots of people ask me what I do, so here's what I did in the past few days!

Last Friday (19th February) I flew out to Paris to do a couple of days' work on a French Revolution Walk in the capital. It was a productive weekend, and I covered some miles on those French boulevards. Now feel confident about a prospective route, including the crucial lunch venues and occasional patisserie stops. All this takes some in depth research, as I'm sure you appreciate...
The story of the Revolution takes you between three crucial points - from the Bastille to the east to the Place de la Concorde, the old Place de la Revolution, where Madame La Guillotine was hard at work 220 years ago. Then over the river to Les Invalides to see Napolean's tomb. Visiting here brings the story full circle, as the guns and ammunition to attack the Bastille were looted from Les Invalides. The walk back into the centre through the Latin Quarter takes you in the footsteps of the mob in 1789. Along the way are reminders of the fact that Paris has seen the worst of European violence for the past two centuries. Sharpnel holes from WW1 Zeppelin raids and plaques reminding Parisiens that WW2 heroes died at that spot in 1944 are all underlining the fact that this city has played a central role in European history.

On Sunday morning I left the Gare du Nord to make the 55 minute journey to Arras. I was meeting clients that night for a bespoke battlefield tour, a birthday gift from a husband to his Welsh wife. We would be spending Monday on the Somme, and Tuesday afternoon around Ypres. We were going to see the Last Post on Tuesday night, and go our separate ways on Wednesday as they continued their European tour.

Arras was damp and a little on the cold side on Sunday, but the downbeat weather forecasters got it wrong. Monday was overcast, but largely dry, and we started our Welsh theme with a visit to Bois Francais, near the village of Fricourt. This part of the front is described in some detail by Sassoon (who won his MC here) and Graves. Some of their young colleagues are buried at Point 110 Cemetery.

From there, the route took us to Danzig Alley Cemetery, then on to Mametz Wood and its famous dragon memorial. A group of Rotarians from Denbigh broke into hymns at this spot last year, reducing my driver to tears. A place of huge significance for the Welsh.

After a bite of lunch, we were off to Delville Wood, then on to admire the scaffolding poles on the Thiepval Memorial, then Beaumont Hamel, Serre and home - just as it started to get damp...

A conversation over a pression that night on the wartime contribution of the Empire led to a visit to the beautiful Indian Memorial at Neuve Chappelle en route to Ypres. After lunch in "Pop", we took on the Pilckem Ridge, calling in on the poet Hedd Wyn, and admiring the new Dragon on the road to Langemark. The German cemetery there, and the CWGC site at Tyne Cot, pretty much filled our afternoon. The inscription on the grave of a soldier called Aneurin Maldwyn Evans (By fyw in farw/By farw I fyw - He lived to die, he died to live) was a suitable point to stop our WW1 Welsh tour, and we headed into Ypres.

The Last Post that night was just as I like it - not too crowded, simple, and beautifully observed. Plenty to think about and talk about over a goodbye beer at the excellent Ariane Hotel.





If you have a group, big or small, who might be interested in this, or any other, itinerary give me a call on 07515 683456.
Tours are built around what you want!

www.singlesteptours.com