Irish Peace Park, Messines, Belgium.
- Thread starter Tommy Gunn
- Start date
Thanks for posting 
Would you have a waypoint handy ? Please & thanks
Would you have a waypoint handy ? Please & thanks
I'm really sorry, I don't even know what a 'waypoint' is let alone have 1.
What I can tell you though is that the Irish Peace Park is marked on Google maps, approximately 550m south of Messines (Mesen) on the N365.
It's also only a mile or so from where the famous cease fire & football match happened over Christmas/New Year 1914.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_Ireland_Peace_Park
We didn't even know it was there & stumbled across it by chance whilst doing a wee tour of the area in February.
There's write up of the trip here:-
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329529
What I can tell you though is that the Irish Peace Park is marked on Google maps, approximately 550m south of Messines (Mesen) on the N365.
It's also only a mile or so from where the famous cease fire & football match happened over Christmas/New Year 1914.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_Ireland_Peace_Park
We didn't even know it was there & stumbled across it by chance whilst doing a wee tour of the area in February.
There's write up of the trip here:-
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329529
Davy F
Registered user
Thanks for posting. 
LOL, you must be a user of the paper GPS
No worries, I see it on Google.
Timaloy said:
Missed that.
Have done Thiepval, the Ulster Tower & a few Normandy bits on my way home from the Alps or the Pyrenees over the last couple of years but I've lots still to do. Hopefully visit a few more this June.
Poignant stuff. The park was built with the help of volunteers from both communities / traditions in Ireland.
Oddly enough, the Messiness attack is often trumpeted as a massive success for the British army and especially compared to Paaschendael which followed hard on its heels. Mind you, you'd expect success when you dig 19 mines, fill them full of amatol and blow the top off the ridge! On your way there or back, you probably passed close to one of the mines which did NOT explode. Two failed to explode. One blew up early in the morning during a storm in the 50s, set off by a lightning bolt grounding to earth presumably. A hell of a wake up call! The other is still there. Oddly enough, no one seems keen to go looking for it!
Oddly enough, the Messiness attack is often trumpeted as a massive success for the British army and especially compared to Paaschendael which followed hard on its heels. Mind you, you'd expect success when you dig 19 mines, fill them full of amatol and blow the top off the ridge! On your way there or back, you probably passed close to one of the mines which did NOT explode. Two failed to explode. One blew up early in the morning during a storm in the 50s, set off by a lightning bolt grounding to earth presumably. A hell of a wake up call! The other is still there. Oddly enough, no one seems keen to go looking for it!
F
Aye, there's plenty to do. We may take in a few more as we head down to Italy in May/June.
Really quite a sobering experience if you think of the no. of dead and missing there are. I've been riding/driving blithely past for years in my cocooned ignorance.
LOL, you must be a user of the paper GPS
No worries, I see it on Google.
Missed that.
Have done Thiepval, the Ulster Tower & a few Normandy bits on my way home from the Alps or the Pyrenees over the last couple of years but I've lots still to do. Hopefully visit a few more this June.
Aye, there's plenty to do. We may take in a few more as we head down to Italy in May/June.
Really quite a sobering experience if you think of the no. of dead and missing there are. I've been riding/driving blithely past for years in my cocooned ignorance.
Poignant stuff. The park was built with the help of volunteers from both communities / traditions in Ireland.
Oddly enough, the Messiness attack is often trumpeted as a massive success for the British army and especially compared to Paaschendael which followed hard on its heels. Mind you, you'd expect success when you dig 19 mines, fill them full of amatol and blow the top off the ridge! On your way there or back, you probably passed close to one of the mines which did NOT explode. Two failed to explode. One blew up early in the morning during a storm in the 50s, set off by a lightning bolt grounding to earth presumably. A hell of a wake up call! The other is still there. Oddly enough, no one seems keen to go looking for it!
I hadn't realised that, as you say it is very thought provoking.
The guide we were with told us about the mines and pointed out a house that is believed to be very close to/on the remaining mine.
yes very poignant
jockser if your passing thru it is well worth doing a day trip from ypres,
jockser if your passing thru it is well worth doing a day trip from ypres,
Bayou du Mourt
Not too far from there is the "Trench of Death" at Diksmuide. If you want atmosphere, it's hard to beat.
Not too far from there is the "Trench of Death" at Diksmuide. If you want atmosphere, it's hard to beat.
Daisy Duke
Registered user
I'd really like to see that place, didn't even know it existed.
eclectic
Registered user
Humbling photos and report. I have been to a few first and second World War sites and they are locked in my memory. I abhor war and I would profess that there is a better way. But the sacrifice by real people (and the cynicism of the power brokers) still confuses me. My real problem is when I translate the easy choices of First and Second World war (less the First) into the present day. Who are we for? Who are we we against? Who cares?
I'm absolutely with you on that. Always been opposed to any form of violence but my recent trip has given me a much deeper amount of respect for those who really did give so much for us.
You see the numbers in books & magazines and on web pages but they're only numbers. It was only when I stood in places like Thiepval, Normandy American Cemetry & Dachau that the numbers 'meant' anything.
I think everyone should be made to visit at least 2 such places during their formative years to give them a proper perspective on the world today.
Thanks James, must make the effort.jockser if your passing thru it is well worth doing a day trip from ypres,
There has to be a better way.
There has to be a better way.
I'd knock the head off anyone who disagrees.
(with apologies to Timaloy)
Clare, the Ulster Tower near Thiepval is well worth a visit too.
And there's a lovely little cafe behind it
// Hijack off
(with apologies to Timaloy)
Clare, the Ulster Tower near Thiepval is well worth a visit too.
And there's a lovely little cafe behind it
// Hijack off
All cool Jockser. Just be aware, anyone who is going, that the cafe was closed when we were there in February. There was a notice saying it didn't re-open until April.
Not sure if this was a one-off, or if it closes every winter now.
Meant to post this before.
It's only down the road from the Horizons Unlimited Ireland gathering in July
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