NEXT TRIP .....
BATTLEFIELD TOUR TO VIMY RIDGE AND ARRAS
21st – 22nd April 2012
Following the Association’s tour of the Normandy Beaches (May 2011) following the events of D-Day in 1944, our next battlefield tour returns to WW1 and we will visit major sites around Vimy Ridge and Arras. We are delighted to offer all adult Association members (be they current or former parents, staff or alumnae) the opportunity to join us for another weekend away in Northern France.
The tour will be led by the ever popular Andy Thompson of Eye Witness Tours, a small specialist company well known to the School. Andy was highly regarded by participants on previous trips and has a wealth of experience in the area and specialist knowledge of the Great War.
The group will travel by luxury executive coach and stay in the excellent Holiday Inn Express in Arras. The price includes all travel, dinner on Saturday, bed and breakfast at the hotel, a cooked lunch (with wine) on Sunday and all museum entry fees. Cost: £190 per person (single room supplement £35)
For a detailed itinerary, please click on the link below.
THE NORMANDY BEACHES
30th April/2nd May 2011
Following the success of the Association trip to the Somme in May 2010, we were delighted to offer all adult Association members (be they current or former parents, staff or Old Girls) the opportunity to join us for a weekend tour of the Normandy Beaches.
The trip was organised in association with Eyewitness Tours, a small specialist company well known to the School. We were lucky to have the benefit of the very experienced and highly recommended tour guide, Andy Thompson, who led the Ypres Trip in 2009, Somme Trip in May 2010 and the Amiens Christmas Market trip in November 2010. Andy was highly regarded by participants on all previous trips and has a wealth of experience in the area and specialist knowledge of the Great War.
THE SOMME
1st/2nd May 2010
The latest Association weekend tour was sold out before the closing date so a double decker was required to accommodate all of this year’s ‘battlefielders’. Unforeseen volcanic chaos saw numbers dip slightly in the week before we travelled but a party of 65 set off for France in the early hours of Saturday 1st May. Many of those who travelled to the Ypres Salient with us last year had booked again and the group was the same happy mix of current and former parents, current and former staff, Old Girls and their partners. The hotel was comfortable and we enjoyed a splendid group dinner in Amiens on the Saturday evening. The noise level in the restaurant was deafening due to the great spirit of camaraderie which prevailed throughout the weekend.
We were privileged once again to be in the capable hands of Andy and Sue Thompson of Eye Witness Tours. The weekend began at Delville Wood and finished at Lutyen’s iconic Thiepval Memorial - visiting most of the major sites in between. These included Newfoundland Park, the Ulster Tower, Serre No 2 - together with some smaller cemeteries of special personal interest. Toppy Wharton (Old Girl and Head’s PA) and her mother, Lady Page, laid a wreath in memory of their uncle/great-uncle, Hugh Mott, at Gommecourt. Many were moved to tears on hearing of the heroism and tragedy which took place at Gommecourt nearly one hundred years ago. Five volunteers gave wonderful readings of war poems at intervals throughout the weekend and a wreath was laid at Thiepval to honour all the men who died and fought in the Great War with a connection to St Catherine’s. Thanks to the painstaking research of Rosemary and Richard Christophers, we are aware of 20 such men amongst the fallen. A remarkable statistic considering St Catherine’s was a school of only around 100 girls at the time.
YPRES & SALIENT
7th/8th March 2009
The St Catherine’s Association organised an inaugural trip to the First World War Battlefields earlier this year. Fifty five Association members (comprising current and former parents, Governors, staff, Old Girls and friends) travelled to the Ypres Salient in Belgium over the weekend of 7th/8th March 2009. Despite few people knowing each other prior to setting off, there was a friendly and comradely atmosphere all weekend with plenty of laughter and good spirits despite the sombre subject of our visit.
The group was very ably led by Andrew Thompson of Eyewitness Tours. As a former history teacher with over twenty years’ experience leading parties to the Battlefields, Andy was able to share his specialist knowledge of the area and the Great War with the group.
Sites visited included Essex Farm British Cemetery, Hill 62, Vancouver Corner, Langemarck German Cemetery, the Menin Gate, Bayernwald, Spanbroekmolen British Cemetery and the Pool of Peace, Varlet Farm, Poelcapelle British Cemetery and Tyne Cot British Cemetery.
A wreath was laid on behalf of the St Catherine’s Association at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres on the Saturday evening. The wreath bearers were Rosemary Christophers (Munn)(1960), Richard Christophers, Elisabeth Reed (Newnham)(1949) and Toppy Wharton (1985). Caroline Rose, Director of Staff, read the Citation at the Ceremony.
The tour gave us all a profoundly moving and informative weekend. The coach was comfortable and the hotel and all meals taken over the weekend excellent. Messages of appreciation received from party members tell the story best and many have already expressed their wish to join a follow up tour to The Somme next year.
