This is the second in the series of walks conducted by John Grimwood which study the Somme battlefields – a good follow-on if you have already taken the original tour or a fine introduction to the ridges and valleys fought over in 1916. The best way to study a battlefield is to walk across it. You get a feel for the ground, appreciate the importance of a low ridge or an apparently insignificant re-entrant and gain an understanding which the studying of maps cannot give.

On this tour we look at the situation in the winter of 1915 -16, follow the troops as they marched from the reserve camp to the front line, discuss the mines and other devices of the Royal Engineers and consider how the experience of battle moved men to write some of the most moving poetry of the Great War. We will study some of the battles of 1st July and of the later period of the battle when the battalions were already putting into effect the lessons learned in the first costly attacks.

The aim is to get you off the roads, on to some of the tracks, with time to check your maps and understand the big picture as well as the detail.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Tuesday): Depart Victoria Coach Station, London 09:00. Dover-Calais ferry. Drive south to the Somme battlefield. Walk 1 A back area walk along the old railway line from Auchonvillers to Mesnil. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel du Golf, Arras. (3 night stay)
Day 2: Walk 2 Becourt and La Boiselle to Fricourt. Picnic lunch. Walk 3 The Citadel to Carnoy and the 18th Division attack.
Day 3: Walk 4 The Battle of Thiepval Ridge – from Courcelette to the Schwaben Redoubt. Group lunch. Walk 5 The 30th Division and the French at Maricourt and the French advance from Maurepas to Combles.
Day 4: Walk 6 The battle of the Ancre from Beaumont Hamel to Ten Tree Alley. Lunch break in Arras. Calais – Dover ferry. ETA Dover 18:30 and London 20:30.