Western Front sketches: 2 – The Christmas Truce sculpture, Messines
In the main square of the small town of Messines, on the high ground of a ridge that saw the prelude to the infamous Battle of Passchendaele, stands a sculpture of two officers, one British and one German, with a football. This is Andy Edwards’ Christmas Truce memorial, a poignant reminder of a moment in December 1914 when the humanity of ordinary men on both sides of the conflict was spontaneously shared, only to be suppressed in the bloody campaigns reasserted in the days that followed.
Western Front sketches: 1 – The Grieving Parents by Käthe Kollwitz
An account of the incredibly tragic story behind ‘The Grieving Parents’, the brilliant German artist Käthe Kollwitz’s memorial to her son who was killed in 1914, and my experiences of drawing of this deeply moving sculpture
Magic Rides – 3: King Alfred’s Way Part 3
My blog of a 7-day (6-night) tour of Cycling UK’s fabulous 350 km King Alfred’s Way bikepacking route, an incredibly varied adventure through stunning landscapes and thousands of years of history
