There’s a new way of visiting WWI sites, just recently completed: battle sites are now linked by two 1000km trails, one for hikers and one for cyclists. They follow the line of No-Man’s Land along the Western Front. The route is the biggest single commemorative project underway on the globe.
Their inspiration: 1915. 2nd Lieutenant Alexander Douglas Gillespie of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders writes home from the front line to tell of his vision of ‘a via sacra’ (a sacred road) before being killed in action; “when peace comes, our government might combine with the French government to make one long avenue between the lines from the Vosges to the sea….I would make a fine broad road in the ‘No-Mans Land’ between the lines, with paths for pilgrims on foot and plant trees for shade and fruit trees, so that the soil should not altogether be waste. Then I would like to send every man, woman and child in Western Europe on a pilgrimage along that Via Sacra so that they might think and learn what war means from the silent witnesses on either side.”
Last year, historian Sir Anthony Seldon completed the walk in 40 days. ‘This walk’, he wrote, ‘has changed my life, and I imagine it will for others who walk any of it’. He feels it is the northern equivalent of the Camino de Santiago, and possibly more accessible. His article is here: Sir Anthony Seldon
The logo (below) comprises a poppy, a cornflower, a forget-me-not and a daisy, all flowers of remembrance – it’s on signs which mark the way along the trails.
The website has details and maps from the Swiss start-point, across France and into Belgium. App under development: https://thewesternfrontway.com/ Thanks to Carol for the article.
aixcentric 
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