Diksmuide to Ypres (Ieper)

Still a bit chilly but not as cold as yesterday, less wind and no rain.  Even some sun from time to time.

We left Diksmuide mid-morning and continued along the pretty Ijzer River.  The irises and other wild flowers are blooming now.

At the junction with the canal to Ieper (Ypres as we know it, but that's French and it's in Flanders, where they speak Flemish and it Ieper) there was a low bridge operated by a bridge keeper.  There was another boat already waiting for the bridge, which had left Diksmuide a few minutes before we did.  The bridge keeper asked us where we were going - all of us were heading for Ieper.  There were 2 locks to go up which were ready for us as we approached.  

Waiting for the lock gates to open.  Note Mummy Duck and her 9 ducklings.

They were quite small and narrow and the three boats only just fitted in together.  They were operated by a lock keeper who dangled a hook down to each of us on a rope so we could place our line into the hook and he pulled it to the top and put it over a bollard.  The rise of each lock is about 3.5m and there were almost no other bollards or rings set in the walls.  The same lock keeper operated both locks, about 2 km apart.  Once again we were asked for the vignette.  This has happened at every lock in Belgium.  Sometimes they also ask for other documents, such as insurance.

Just at this stage the camera started misbehaving.  Sometimes the lens won't open, and the battery is nowhere near flat.  It has happened before.  If we take the battery out and put it back in again, that usually works, but not today.  Now the battery is on charge, even though it is half full; it seems to like a very full battery.

Just half an hour later we arrived in Ieper where the marina is €10 per night, showers are €2 (for 8 minutes - what do you do in the shower for 8 minutes?), don't know about electricity, we're not taking any.

I went for a walk through the town to find a bank to draw some money.  It is hard to believe that the town was completely destroyed during the war.  It has been rebuilt as it was prior to 1914.  And very beautiful it is too.  I'll go back tomorrow with the camera.

We went for a ride to the Essex Farm Cemetery where some 1600 soldiers are buried.  I had not realised that they were buried there because it was a dressing station immediately behind the front line.

This evening, with camera in working order again, we went to the Last Post ceremony at the Menen Gate.  

This has been happening every evening at 8.00 since 1923, except for the WW2 years when the town was occupied by the Germans. 4 trumpeters sound the Last Post,

a regimental flag was lowered,

 someone recited the poem "We will remember them" and 3 young lads played bagpipes while over a dozen wreaths of poppies were laid down, mostly by school children.

  Menen Gate is a monument to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in 1914-18.  

Carved into the walls are the names of almost 55,000 soldiers who perished on the battlefields but they were never identified and buried in  a grave bearing their name.  This is their memorial.