Parish Weekend to Belgium

On the morning of Friday October 10th a party of twenty assembled outside St George’s Church, bound for a weekend at Ostend. Among them were Tony Rice-Oxley and his wife Jane, and Tony’s redoubtable mother Ruby, due to celebrate her 101 birthday on the Sunday.

We left soon after 9.am in a small coach via the A4 and the M25 to the Medway Interchange in Kent, where we transferred to a larger coach which had come down from the north, containing among others a party of 30 or so Sikhs from Leicester, the men wearing brightly coloured turbans. One old lady was busy knitting the whole way.

We had a smooth ferry crossing from Dover to Calais and on from there across the flat land past Dunkirk and over the Belgian frontier into Flanders. No passport or customs control in these European Union days, much like crossing from Hampshire into West Sussex. The only thing was we were now in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium where the road signs were no longer in French – Brugge for instance instead of Bruges.

A sunny ride over the flat landscape with farms and cattle in the fields. On the left we passed the town of Veurne, which I intended to visit during the weekend. The hotel in Ostend was conveniently situated about two streets from the seashore, The Hotel Westminster, with an Irish Pub right next door. We were informed next day that the hotel was closing down after we had gone, to be replaced by a block of flats. An eight storey building with a rather inadequate lift, but a warm welcome and good food. From 8.30.pm to midnight drinks (other than spirits) were on the house.

Saturday morning we were taken north on excursion into Holland (same language and money) a picturesque small town Sluis with windmill and lots of shops. Rather a tourist centre but pleasant to walk around. We did not have too long here as we were going on for the afternoon into Bruge (Brugge) back in Belgium. Some people found service in the cafes and restaurants in Sluis slow and had difficulty in getting served for lunch.

At Bruges we were taken round the canal ringed old town to the coach park on the south side from where some people walked in to the centre past the moated convent of Benedictine Nuns. Others took a bus which went round past the cathedral along the Steenstraat, the main shopping street thronged with Saturday afternoon crowds to the Central Square with the Belfry. I have been to Bruges several times, and on this occasion visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood where is kept the Relic which is carried in procession round the town each year on Ascension Day.

Once again we did not have time to see everything here because we were to be taken in the evening down to Ypres to witness the last post at the Menin Gate. This memorial to the fallen of World War One has the names of 50,000 soldiers with no known grave. One of the Sikh ladies found the name of her husband’s Grandfather there. This was a rather special occasion as the British Legion were having a commemoration with a piper, beside the buglers from the local Fire Brigade. Beside veterans there were a number of young British Troops including young Guardsmen from Catterick Training Camp. I could not but wonder if any of them might be on a casualty list before long. The exhortation “For Your Tomorrow, we gave our Today” was changed significantly to “give our today”.

On Sunday some people went on an excursion to Brussels. I have been there several times, so I stayed in Ostend in the morning and went to Mass in St Peter and Paul’s Church. Outside there was a fairground with a Big Wheel. I then took the coast tram, which runs westward along the coast to get to Veurne. A day ticket on the whole local transport system only costs 5 euros. Unfortunately I just missed a bus at Koksrjde to Veurne and had to wait two hours and got there much later than had intended. A beautiful small town with fine buildings round the square, and the great Church of St Walburge with a magnificent organ which someone was playing. I had apple cake and whipped cream in a café, but was unfortunately wrongly informed as to where to get the bus back, and had to get the train into De Parme, at the end of the tramline. I was therefore about an hour later getting back to Ostend and missed dinner at the hotel though was able to be present for the festivities for Ruby’s birthday which followed. Ruby joined in the dancing!

Monday morning we had time to look around the town before leaving at 12.30.pm. We stopped at a cash and carry near Calais and got a ferry without waiting. The weather back in England was not as good as it had been over the water, but we were safely back at Waterlooville by 8.pm.

Many thanks to John Pearce who arranged the trip.

Tom Sweeney