First stop on the 2nd day was the South African memorial and museum at Longueval. We were the only people there which made it all the better. The memorial site is well kept and very interesting reading the story of the South Africans during WW1. Many are still buried in nearby Delville wood along with their German opponents. The wood is at the back of the memorial and seems very peaceful today. There are good toilets at the visitor centre.
Next we drove to the British "Memorial to The Missing" at Thiepval. Although very large I didn't find it as moving as some of the other places we went. We were also the only visitors here, but there is no visitor centre with information, no guides, no toilets.
On to the Ulster Tower memorial which is a replica of a tower in Ireland. We had missed the guided tour of the woods ( you cannot go alone) at 11, so we sat in the tearooms behind the tower and had a coffee and a chat with the friendly Irish lady there. Toilets here as well. A school party was doing the tour of the woods, so we made a swift exit when they came back!
Last stop before lunch was at the Lochnagar crater at La Boiselle. It is absolutely huge, the biggest I have seen. Plenty of people here having a look, I should imagine parking is a problem high season.
We had lunch at a village called Curlu, excellent value and very tasty.
We spent most of the afternoon at Beaumont Hamel, which is another Canadian site, good photo opportunity with the Caribou statue as the weather was beautiful, saw the "danger tree" past which men knew they were within range of the enemy's guns. There are many trenches and craters now grassed over, you cannot walk amongst them as it is still too dangerous,as there are lots of unexploded shells still buried. Whilst passing a field earlier in the day we had passed a live shell at the side, waiting collection by the bomb disposal team. This is apparently a common occurrence in the area.
Last stop before heading back to Calais was the Australian Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. We climbed up to the viewing platform and had a great view all round. We realised that we were too late for the school museum in the town, which I really wanted to see, but it will have to wait for next time. We also seem to have missed out Pozieres completely somehow, amongst other places.
All in all a great way to spend a couple of days, it has given us a better understanding of what those soldiers of all nationalities went through 90 years ago.
It's funny what sticks in your mind from a trip, when I look back, just a week ago, the image that springs to mind is the Jewish grave between the 2 Germans at Fricourt cemetery.