Ypres


The Menin Gate, memorial to those killed in the First World War*
The Menin Gate, memorial to those killed in the First World War

The town of Ypres in the south of Belgium is still surrounded by its 17th century walls and moat. The town was pretty comprehensively destroyed during the First World War and the towns people have done a splendid job of reconstructing it, including the famous cloth hall.

I had often heard of the Menin Gate, but had not realised that it was actually a gate in the city wall. This film shows the gate with its thousands of names carved on panels on every available surface, and also takes us just outside the town to the largest British military cemetery in the world.