Stadshal met Belfort and Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Stadshal met Belfort

   Nieuwpoort's cloth hall and belfry look medieval, and in a sense they are: they follow the design of the thirteenth-century originals. But almost everything you see was rebuilt after the First World War, when the town was reduced to rubble. Nieuwpoort lay at the northern end of the Western Front, where the River Yser reaches the sea, and in October 1914 the Belgians made a decision that changed the course of the war. By opening the sluices of the canals and the river at high tide, they flooded the low-lying land between Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, creating a barrier of water that stopped the German advance. The front line stayed there for four years, and the town was shelled into ruins. The belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France.

   Read the complete Stadshal met Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Stadshal met Belfort is where the day begins. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.

2. 2. Stadhuis met Belfort

   Diksmuide was almost wiped from the map in the First World War. The town stood right on the front line along the Yser, and from 1914 to 1918 it was pounded into rubble, along with its town hall, belfry and church. In October 1914, the Belgian army halted the German advance by opening the sluices at Nieuwpoort and flooding the low-lying plain, creating a watery barrier that held for four years. After the war, the town was rebuilt in the old style, with the town hall and belfry carefully reconstructed on the market square, and the belfry is now part of the UNESCO listing of the belfries of Belgium and France.

   Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Stadhuis met Belfort comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor.

3. 3. Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor

   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.

   Read the complete Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor. Next is back through Stadhuis met Belfort.

4. 4. back through Stadhuis met Belfort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Stadhuis met Belfort, late in the day. Next is Stadshal met Belfort.

5. 5. Stadshal met Belfort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Stadshal met Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Stadshal met Belfort. That is the ride.