Every evening at eight o'clock, traffic stops under the Menin Gate in Ypres, and buglers from the local fire brigade sound the Last Post in memory of the soldiers of the British Empire who died in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. The ceremony has been held almost every evening since 1928, interrupted only during the German occupation in the Second World War, and it draws crowds of all ages, many of them descendants of the fallen. The gate itself is inscribed with the names of more than fifty thousand soldiers whose bodies were never found. It is one of the sites included in the World Heritage inscription of the Funerary and Memory Sites of the First World War, inscribed in 2023.
Ypres, Ieper in Dutch, was almost completely destroyed during the war, and it was rebuilt afterwards in its medieval style, including the magnificent Cloth Hall with its belfry, which now houses the In Flanders Fields Museum, telling the story of the war in the region. Around the town, the countryside is dotted with cemeteries, memorials and bunkers. Tyne Cot, near Zonnebeke, is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, with nearly twelve thousand graves, and the German cemetery at Langemark is a sombre, dark-toned contrast.
The riding around Ypres is gentle, through the flat and rolling countryside of West Flanders. The roads link the villages and the memorials, with good surfaces, light traffic outside the towns, and plenty of cyclists. The Kemmelberg, to the south, is a short, steep hill with a cobbled road made famous by cycling races, and the view from the top over the former battlefields is wide. Poperinge, to the west, is a hop-growing town with a famous wartime rest house for soldiers, Talbot House. Wind and rain are common, and the landscape can feel bleak in winter, but spring and summer bring green fields and poppies.
Ypres has fuel, cafés, restaurants and accommodation, and the town's market square is a great place for a meal. Try Flemish dishes such as stoverij, beef stew in beer, or waterzooi, and a Belgian beer if you are finished for the day. Arrive in time for the Last Post at eight, stand under the gate, and listen. Then ride out the next morning to Tyne Cot and the other cemeteries. It is a deeply moving experience.