The East Anglia Section of the BMW Club has on a number of occasions spent the Easter Weekend at Poperinge, Belgium.
This year a group consisting of twelve people from the section, two from the Yorkshire section and one from the Northern section all arrived at the Palace Hotel on Good Friday. Parking is in a secure gated area at the rear of the hotel. (Photo 1)

The weekend program was left to individuals but some organised ride-outs were arranged. On Friday evening we all had an excellent dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Poperinge, Mark Dutton, our social secretary, skilfully negotiating a table for us all. On Saturday 11th April we all rode in to Bruges following Mark Dutton who led us to a car park by the station. It was a warm sunny day and we all walked around the town and bought some of the famed chocolate for relatives at home. (Photo 2)

Mike Davies then led some of us off to the Groendijk Motorcycle Loft where there is now located a motorcycle museum comprising some eighty motorcycles of all types and sizes. (Photo 3)

From there we continued to Ostend for tea and waffles on the sea front, finally riding back to Poperinge. After a refreshing shower and change of clothes we all met in the Palace Bar to sample some of their large selection of beers. Some of us then walked into the town and our resourceful social secretary again negotiated a superb three course meal with steak main course at another local hotel.Sunday dawned with the promise of another sunny day and later the temperature reached around 22 degrees (as shown on the computer on Mike Davies’ 1200GS!). Mike then led us to the Ijzertower at Diksmuide. (Photo 4)

This remarkable tower was first constructed in 1928, some 50 metres tall and inaugurated on 24th August 1930, the year of the Belgium Centenary. It was attacked in 1945 and completely destroyed mysteriously on 15-16 March 1946 by “unknown people”. The Gateway of Peace was built on the remains in 1950 and in 1951 the new tower and Crypt were started with completion in 1965 – this stands at 84m high.

There are 22 floors spanning history from 1830, through World War I, World War II and history of Flanders in a confederal Belgium and Flemish Emancipation and Progress. Exhibits on the lower floors show life in the First World War trenches. A lift takes you up to floor 18 and you have the option to climb up to the very top. The outside views from the top are stunning and a mural painted in a complete circle above the top windows depicts the landscape as it would have been seen during the Great War. Large areas were flooded to hinder troop movement and it featured complete devastation as far as the eye could see. To get down to ground level you take the stairs. Each step has a name plate it and each floor level is themed with all types of local and national evidence from the area having been involved directly in both world wars.

Mike then led us off to Tyne Cot Memorial, the largest Commonwealth Cemetery in Belgium, in a beautiful setting with carefully maintained gardens and effects by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It records some 34,984 servicemen who lost their lives during the 1st World War. (Photo 5)

From there he led us into Ypres where we parked on the large square by the Lallenhalle building, (Photo 6)

a huge imposing hall originally built for the wool trade many years ago and now housing a museum. It was completely demolished during the 1st World War and rebuilt later. After a refreshing cup of tea we walked to the Menin Gate, (Photo 7)

a huge arch which straddles one of the roads leading in to the centre of Ypres. This monument records the names of 54,896 soldiers who were lost in the Great War and had no graves. At 8pm we met up again here to witness the Last Post Ceremony which has been performed every night since 1927 except for the WW2 years when the Germans banned it. This year four trumpeters played the last post in complete synchronisation followed by some dedications from some organisations – a moving ceremony!

We rode back to the hotel where a superb meal was enjoyed by all just across the street in the hotel’s owner’s other restaurant (again skilfully negotiated by our ever resourceful social secretary!). (Photo 8)

On Monday, some people had there own ferry/tunnel times so left at various times for the homeward journey.

Four of us, Mark Dutton, Mike Davies, Paul Round (incidentally riding the oldest bike of the group, an early R100RT) and David Johnson were riding back together via Sealink at Calais. As we had a few hours to spare before the 15.15 ferry Mike led us off to visit the V2 site, known as La Coupole near St Omer, some 25 miles south of Calais.

This site was where Hitler had constructed an assembly and firing base for the then new V2 rockets. The site consists of a maze of tunnels dug in to the chalk hills and a huge dome made of concrete covering the main assembly area. The dome weighs 55,000 tons and is 5.5 metres thick! We watched an interesting video on the development of the V2 which started at Peenamunde in the north. Whilst this site did not actually launch any V2 rockets, many were fired from other locations and claimed many deaths in London. (Photo 9)

We four then rode back to Calais where our ever resourceful social secretary led us to the station buffet where we all had our last meal on foreign soil! The ferry left late and was held up for an hour and a half before docking in Dover – two days later the French fishermen blockaded Calais and Dunkerque preventing any ships entering or leaving.

The weekend was a very enjoyable time. Travelling abroad is always exciting, especially on a motorbike. The only downside was the state of the pound against the euro! In our group, we each covered approximately 650 miles over the weekend because we all live within a few miles of each other. As far as I am informed nobody had any mishaps or punctures!