Sunday 1 December 2013

Soil from the Belgian Battlefields



This is the Belgian Navy frigate - Louisa Marie which arrived in London on Friday and moored alongside HMS Belfast.


It was carrying 70 bags of soil from  WW1 Belgian Battlefields. During this Summer 1000 schoolchildren from the UK and Belgium helped to collect the soil and put it into bags made by the same Belgium company which supplied sand bags for the troops in the trenches almost 100 years ago.




Yesterday the bags were transported by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery through London to Wellington Barracks near Buckingham Palace. It is there that a memorial garden will be created using the soil. The garden will be open to the public next year.





26 comments:

  1. What a lovely thing to do. I hope the garden thrives.

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  2. What a fine thing to give birth to: a place where that soil will become a garden. Lovely! :-)

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  3. I saw that on TV no doubt you will be going there sometime before I ever get the chance to go and visit

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  4. Oh, a wonderful thing to do indeed!! I wish I could go there once it is opened! Thanks so much for sharing this!!

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  5. What a beautiful idea and fascinating post! I love that children gathered the soil. May their innocence remind us to strive for peaceful solutions to all conflict. I imagine the garden being rich with subliminal messages echoing that plea.

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  6. Wonderful post and photos of the ships for OWT ~ carol, xxx

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  7. What a nice story! I am sure the children were happy doing their part! Thanks for sharing, have a happy week!

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  8. What a great idea. I am sure the kids picked up some history as they did this.

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  9. That's a great story. Such a good history lesson for the kids to be involved in. Hope I can visit memorial garden someday!

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  10. What a place of unique architectural surroundings. I'd love to visit there someday - it's obviously a very magnificent place as I can see from your photos. Blessings to you. Have a great week!

    xoxo,
    Allie
    http://framedbygod.blogspot.com/

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  11. That is interesting!
    Always a great idea to involve kids in history, they will understand the present better.
    Great shots!

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  12. Great photos and very interesting post. That is such a creative use for some of the soil from the battlefields.

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  13. Kids need to know the history to value their present.

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  14. Beautiful place and photos!
    Regards
    my new post about a UNESCO World heritage site
    Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan

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  15. That's a great contribution of the school kids! Thanks for coming by earlier and have a great week!

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  16. what a great project and so nice to have kids help out.

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  17. What a huge boat! Nice shots.

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  18. Interesting! But what kind of soil is it?

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  19. Thats a good idea for a memorial activity.

    Next year will be busy with such things.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

    PS:your not wrong about the memories!

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  20. And I saw the kids digging and put the soil into the bags. On Nov 11 one bag was handed over to Prince Philip, and now they arrived at destination ! I saw it on TV !

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  21. What a great idea and so good that the children are involved.

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  22. Another meaningful memorial and beautiful garden. Another reason to wish we could come back!

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  23. Just love these beautiful photos.

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