Day 30 - Albert to Home

First stop McDs for brekkie. Least that was the plan. Again, the golden arches didn't open till 10am, so we decided to eat in and as it was our last day, splash the cash!

Our first of 2 POIs was the Newfoundland Memorial Park of Beaumont-Hamel, dedicated to the commemoration of the Newfoundland Regiment members who were killed when they made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The 74-acre preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their attack and includes both British and German front line trenches. The memorial is quite striking with a huge bronze caribou on the top.

There was an area in no man's land with a clump of trees called, I think, Danger Wood. Today, most of that area is grass, trenches or craters, except for, the Danger Tree, a petrified tree, the only original tree in this location to survive the war.

A walk around the site takes you to a couple of small cemeteries and to a memorial to the 51st Highland Division, who in November 1916 broke through the German front line to capture the village of Beaumont-Hamel. Another huge statue, of a soldier in a kilt, commemorates those that fell during the battle. 

It is a sobering place to walk around, seeing the trenches (you can even walk down a stretch) with rusted metal supports still in place and even some barbed wire supports, which I'd like to think are in their original location. Looking at the green grass, being grazed by sheep and the trees that now grow around the site, it is impossible to imagine the sea of mud, craters and utter devastation that those men had to endure. Thank heavens we have photos taken at the time to show us the reality. This wasn't just a war, it was hell!

As we re-mounted, the dark clouds that had been overhead, relinquished some of their load. Not much, just enough to cover my screen. This was the first proper rain we'd seen since Mount Etna but nothing to worry about. 2 or 3 times more we had the same sprinkling but not enough to even dampen the roads.

This last trip seemed to be about wildlife. I saw a couple of pheasants in a field, maybe the first of the tour, then when we came around a corner, there were cows crossing the road. A lot of cows. Most just plodded across but one or two more inquisitive, stopped and looked at us waiting for them.

A little further on, I was faced with some little grey birds, maybe baby pheasants, crossing the road. 5 of them. 4 made it across, the fifth, rather judiciously, waited until we had passed. Later on my/our final encounter was with a young deer. I could see it in the field, it could hear me coming. It wasn't going to hang around and I could see where it was going to run to. Across the road it went and bounded off into a corn field. There was no danger, it was far enough ahead of me not to be an issue.

Our  second stop was at a monument to commemorate the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. I'm somewhat surprised the French bother, as they got their arses kicked there by Henry V. There's a stone monument and a tower to climb that allows you a view over a neighbouring field, believed to be where the battle took place.

We now just had the final run in to Calais. Our train was 16:50, so we had plenty of time. We decided to fuel up on the French side, as it is a lot cheaper than the UK, so I headed for an Auchan fuel station I use regularly. Cost per litre, £1.74. We had plenty of time to kill, so over the road we went to the supermarket and bought some beer. Then we nipped in one of the on-site restaurants for our lunch.

Eurotunnel is just 10 minutes away. On arrival, because we were early, we were offered the earlier train. No brainer, we accepted that, 16:20 departure. Grizzly wanted to do some duty free shopping, so by the time that was concluded it was time to head for passport control and departure. All very smooth, we had a short wait before being loaded. Even earlier than expected, we left at 16:00! That's got to be a first. Getting that extra time back was a bonus for Grizzly, as he had his overnight stop at Leigh Delamere to get to, 160 odd miles away.

Just before the train arrived in Folkestone, we said our usual goodbye, with a big man hug and back slap, then, off the train, we then rode the M20 together until I peeled off at Maidstone. I arrived home at 16:20, my tour was over. Grizzly arrived at Leigh Delamere at 19:00. He has one more day to go, to his ferry at Pembroke, then back to everyday life in Portlaoise.

I had covered 4,439 since leaving home. Another mammoth tour had ended. What next?