In response to demand, I have organised a short coach trip to the Somme battlefield over the late May Bank Holiday next year.
The four day trip from east and Central Lancashire will visit all the major sites and memorials on the Somme, including the front-line trenches held by the Accrington and Chorley Pals near the village of Serre during 1916.
May I congratulate my good friend Lindsay Hoyle, the MP for Chorley, on being elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.
Lindsay and I co-founded the Chorley Pals Memorial appeal back in February 2007 and he successfully led the campaign, playing a vital role in its success and ultimate unveiling in the town earlier this year.
Following on from my books and work on the Chorley Pals Memorial, I am considering setting up a new group called ‘Chorley in the Great War’.
It is aimed at anyone interested in the role and involvement of men from the town and surrounding villages in the Great War, as well as learning more about the conflict overall.
The launch date has yet to be set but meetings will be held at venues around the area; do e-mail me to register your interest.
I am taking bookings for 2011 with one group in Bolton having already booked me for a WW1 talk in November next year.
The Secretary of Brindle Historical Society and Co-Founder of the Chorley Pals Memorial Steve Williams has been acknowledged as a ‘Community Hero’ by Prime Minster, Gordon Brown.
The Brindle-based First World War historian and author was invited to 10 Downing Street recently. He and his wife, Pam, spent time in the Prime Minister’s residence along with fifty other specially invited guests from across the country – all there because of their charity and community work.
Steve Williams said “I was absolutely shocked and delighted to be invited – my wife and I had a fabulous time”.
Whilst at No. 10, Steve invited the Prime Minister to visit Chorley and see the memorial for himself. Commenting on the invitation, Steve said “Just like a politician – he didn’t say ‘yes’, but he didn’t say ‘no’ and I hope he takes up the invitation, perhaps when he is on the election trail”.
Whilst in London they were entertained at the House of Lords by Lord Hoyle, the father of Lindsay Hoyle, the Member of Parliament for Chorley.
Of the invitation, Lindsay Hoyle said “Steve deserves to be recognised for what he does within the community and for all his hard work with the Chorley Pals Memorial over the last three years”.
I was invited on to the Sally Naden show on BBC Radio Lancashire during February.
Her two hour programme was broadcast from the Harris Museum in Preston on Tuesday, 16th February and enabled me to promote my work with the Chorley Pals Memorial.
The trip in late May and early June 2010 will be eight days, seven nights by coach from Lancashire. It will go via the overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge (cabin included) and spend three nights in Arras and two nights in Ypres.
With a “Trenches & Tunnels” theme, there will be visits to the Somme battlefield including the Thiepval Memorial and the Accrington / Chorley Pals trenches at Serre plus memorials at Vimy Ridge, Arras, Loos and the Menin Gate in Ypres. There will be guided tours around the Somme and Ypres Salient as well as visits to the tunnels at Arras, Vimy Ridge and Zonnebeke Chateau (near Passchendaele) + the trenches at Beaumont Hamel on the Somme and the Yorkshire Trench on the Ypres Salient.
Fully escorted throughout, the trip costs £499 per person in 3 * hotels on B&B basis plus cabins on the overnight ferry (both ways) and entrance to a number of museums; there are a number of single rooms available at a cost of £639.
At the start of 2010 the trip is two-thirds full with single rooms almost sold out.
For details contact Steve via the Contact Form or click here to download the brochure.
The price for the 8 day trip to Normandy and the D-Day Beaches in 2011 has now been confirmed.
The trip leaves Lancashire on Sunday, 26th June and will be based in Caen. There will day trips to Bayeux (for the famous Tapestry) and to Mont St. Michel, as well as spending two full days touring the D-Day Beaches; there is a day at leisure in Caen as well as visits to Dunkirk and Dieppe on the way down and to the Atlantic Wall near Boulogne on the way back.
Travel is via coach and the overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge (cabin included). The cost is £529 per person in a twin / double room & cabin and £689 in a single room & cabin. The trip is open to all.
For further details, the PDF brochure for the trip can be downloaded by clicking here, and for further details, please contact Steve using the Contact page.
I have been asked to write an article for the November edition of Lancashire Life, to coincide with Remembrance Day.
It will feature a number of men from the county who fought and died in the First World War.
I have added a number of new talks to my catalogue for 2010.
They include ‘Railway Walks’ highlighting walks along or parallel to railway lines in the Lake District, Lancashire, France and Belgium. My talk ‘Battlefields & Poppy Fields’ highlights the battlefields in northern France and the Low Countries – from Dunkirk to Normandy, the Somme and Ypres, to Crecy and Waterloo.
A visit to a village near Limoges in France prompted the talk ‘Death of a village – Oradour-sur-Glane, June 1944’ and chronicles the destruction of a whole village (including the killing of 642 civilians) by a German SS Panzer Regiment on their way to Normandy in 1944.
