Mind you it is cup final day today and I always like watching the FA Cup Final and having a few beers with my mates even though Chelsea aren't there this year (very unusual!!) I went to the semi final against Man City and was gutted we lost so will be cheering Wigan on today.
I am up at 03:30 and in the yard for 04:30. The first of my two pick-ups is at 05:45 in Alton so have a bit of time to play with. I have come in early to see if I can empty the toilet which is not the most pleasant job first thing in the morning! It is not full or smelly yet but envisage it getting a lot of use over the next couple of days so want to empty but have a problem with it being blocked! There must be some paper stuck somewhere and even a poke about up the drainage tube doesn't shift it! No problem I'll have another go when I get back. Nice!
I pick the organiser, Bill, his wife Jackie and some friends close to where they live and then go onto the railway station for the rest of them. Ray is here with his mate Bob.
We are away from here by six and after a short stop at Clackett Lane arrive in Folkestone with time for a quick breakfast before boarding our train. At the ticket office there is some confusion over our train time and we end up with the 09:36 instead of the 09:20 but this shouldn't present too many problems.
While waiting at the terminal two Truemans coaches pull in, Paul and Chris are off to Ypres and David and Steve to Bruges.
Paul has a problem with his internal lights not working and his face lights up when I tell him Ray is in the terminal tucking into his breakfast and I'm sure he will be well pleased to see you asking for help with maintenance!!! Ray is the mechanic at Truemans and Paul not the most subtle or quiet of drivers!
We are the first to be loaded onto the train and have carriage three all to ourselves with the toilets being in carriage two ahead of us. While the train is going I decide to go to the loo and join a queue for the one toilet open and then that doesn't flush! Not pleasant and a problem you expect at the end of the day not at the start.
The train departs on time and 35 minutes later are driving off towards Ypres. Our first stop is at Ljssenhoek Cemetery, the second largest cemetery in Belgium behind Tyne Cot.
I am very interested in history and hearing tales about the First World War from Phil our guide is fascinating and immensely interesting. He speaks well and at a level I can understand.
Leaving here we drive the short distance to Brandhoek Cemetery, a small cemetery but as with all of them one with a good story to tell. Here is buried an very interesting man, Captain Dr Noel Godfrey Chavasse, one of only three men to have won the Victoria Cross twice. A very brave man amongst many brave men.
Our next cemetery is Essex Farm, one of the more famous landmarks close to Ypres. It is here that in May 1915 Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrea of the Canadian Army Medical Corps wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields".
From here we drive to an industrial estate where they found some trenches when digging the footings for the industrial buildings. Known as Yorkshire Trench the industrial estate has grown all around but this little piece of the First World war sits intact surrounded by grey and concrete.
We don't stop long as the weather has really turned for the worst and it is both very windy and very wet.
We next stop alongside some fields that saw fierce fighting in the war and is particularly poignant as we have a relation on board whose Grandfather fought here for the London Regiment and was one of a very few survivors. Again the story told by Phil is engrossing and helps bring to life the utter futility of this war with extreme loss of life in return of a few yards of muddy field.
It is a short distance to Langemark and the large German cemetery that is everything a Commonwealth Cemetery isn't, dark, grey and sombre.
This cemetery was visited by Adolf Hitler during the Second World War.
Time to go to Ypres now as we drive to this most historic of towns. There are serious roadworks going on as we approach the town but manage to come in through the Lille gate and reach the hotel/hostel by 16:00. The group are staying very close to the Menin Gate and although a little basic is ideal for the one night we are staying. I was going to stay here but have since booked myself into the nearby Albion Hotel.
Once I have dropped them all off, and it doesn't take them long to alight with a recommended bar next door an incentive, I drive off towards my hotel. I have to park on the outskirts of the town and was hoping to drop my bags off and then walk back to the hotel.
As I drive past it is too narrow for a bus to stop so will have to grab a taxi back which shouldn't be a problem as the coach parking is close to the Railway station.
I reach the end of the road and come to a roundabout with three exits - one has a no coaches sign, another has a 3.5t weight limit and the other seems okay, although it turns out to be not okay!
I take the okay road and after two hundred yards the road is shut due to these roadworks! The turning left is too tight for me and I have cars behind me! Bum! What do I do?
The cars behind me back up and go a different way so I reverse back to the roundabout which is about as far as my plan goes!
At the roundabout coming from the way I came is a Belgian coach who has stopped to help me. The driver signals for me to follow him as he takes the No Coaches exit! We are soon back on the Lille Gate road so I head towards the town again to take the road back to the station. I again come to a junction and want to turn left but the signs say no vehicles over 3.5t except local buses. Bum!!
I turn right away from the roadworks and after half a mile run out of diversion/coach/any signs!!
Am not having this so I turn around and head off back towards the station pretending to be lighter than 3.5t (I am only 18t) and see another coach ahead going the same way. Good enough for me!
I'm soon parked up and walk the short distance back to the station to grab a cab. Not quite so easy as no cabs on the rank so have to go inside and the ticket man calls me one.
My hotel, the Albion, is very comfortable and close to the centre.
I quickly change and go off in search of a pub with the cup final on. I'm not having much luck before I realise I have come out an hour too early! And here's me worrying about passengers putting their watches on an hour! My phone (I don't have a watch) is on local time and still I'm confused!! What a prat!
I walk past the Old Bill pub which advertises English football but there is both a lack of football and folk, the place is empty.
I then make my way to the pub where the boys are drinking hoping to have a drink with Ray but he is not here. Over a pint I text Ray and he says he is in a pub opposite called Les Halles. I walk outside and for the life of me can't see a bar of that name!
I text him back and his opposite is opposite the museum not the bar!
I go to the bar and as well as finding Ray also have found a bar with the cup final on! Ten minutes before kick off I checked my Paddy Power account and saw the dismal amount of credit of £9.34! I put £9.00 on Wigan to win at 25-1.
I have a good drink with Ray, Bob and Stuart who nearly crushed my hand when he shakes it! A very large man is Stuart.
What a good hour spent here.
Wigan score in the last minute to win 1-0 and I win £234.00!! Happy boy!
I have really enjoyed today but am ready for bed now.
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