It is a little known fact that if you think long and hard enough there will always be a suitable anniversary event for a Tonsley Time Team extravaganza! This year we are spoilt for choice. The 800th anniversary of Magna Carta? The 600th anniversary of Agincourt? Or 100 years since Ypres?
OR how about a battlefield within a daytrip of that Belgium gem Bruges, throw in a 200th anniversary celebratory battle re-enactment weekend and give yourself an excuse to blast out a popular Abba song for the next four months (Ness!) and you’ve got the perfect Tonsley Time Team weekend.
The Plan: To visit The Battle of Waterloo on the 200th anniversary weekend celebrations, including a battle re-enactment, and stay in charming Bruges.
Date: Friday 19th to Sunday 21st June
Itinerary: Take cars / minibus (TBC) to the Channel Tunnel for shuttle crossing mid-morning on Friday, allowing good time for folk to gather. Drive on to Waterloo (c.2 hours) for arrival mid-afternoon. We will have until mid-afternoon Saturday at Waterloo, staying nearby, with tickets for the battle re-enactment on Friday evening and a with a Waterloo tour guide in tow.
An internet group tour guide describes the weekend:
“Over the weekend of 19 & 20 June, thousands of re-enactors will congregate on the battlefield of Waterloo each evening to recreate the ultimate battle of the Napoleonic Wars. During the day-time the camps of those armies will be open to the public to explore, listen to soldiers’ tales, understand campaign life and see their preparations for battle. During the last year significant work has been carried out on the battlefield itself: a new Interpretation Centre has been built along with a newly commissioned €3 million film and presentation; benefitting from generous private donations and funding from the British government, the chateau of Hougoumont has undergone a complete refurbishment. Both of which will be open in time for the anniversary weekend. View the splendid 360° panorama, enjoy a magnificent vista of the battlefield from atop the Lion Mound, walk along the Allied Ridge to Hougoumont farmhouse where you can meet many of the Allied re-enactors in their bivouacs, walk across the battlefield to La Belle Alliance and to Napoleon’s last headquarters at Le Caillou where you will find the French re-enactor camps and then return via the French Grand Battery, La Haye Sainte and the sandpit to the centre of the Allied position at Picton’s cross-roads.”
A carnival atmosphere, all in brilliant June sunshine!
Giles Tebbitts
