In the wake of the Great War

Meet at the parking lot of the Kompas Camping (V) on the Brugsesteenweg in Sint-Joris, borough of Nieuwpoort. Saint George was also destroyed during the First World War and then rebuilt, placing the church 700 meters closer to Nieuwpoort. For this bike ride through the Westhoek in the wake of the Great War, we mainly use the bicycle junction network. With the occasional detour to beautiful and interesting places. • The exit at the back of the campsite leads you to the towpath along the Blosowater reservoir. On this 18-hectare expanse of water at the mouth of the Yser, surfers and sailors provide colourful weeping. Here you turn left until junction 9. Now cycle on the right, over three bridges, to the imposing, circular King Albert I monument 1 with the brand new Westfront Nieuwpoort Visitor Centre at the bottom of 2 (see box). On top of the ring beam, accessible via a staircase or an elevator, is a walkway with orientation tables and you have a beautiful view over the IJzervlakte and the Ganzenpoot 2. This lock complex played an important role during the First World War. On the other side of the Kustweg and the large Langebrug in Nieuwpoort-Stad are the fishing port and the fish market in the setting. Downstream towards the sea lies the IJzermonding Nature Reserve and its three yacht clubs, together good for 2,000 berths, making this Euro marina the largest in Northern Europe. • Now cycle a little further left along the Kustweg to over the bridge over the IJzer (watch out for the coastal tram!), and then immediately turn left to junction 8 and then continue to junction 7. Now follow the sign briefly to junction 22, until just past the E40 motorway. Then keep diagonally right in the Ramskapellestraat, to view the Belgian military cemetery 3 on the left. Between the street and the Frontzate, a cycle path on the former Nieuwpoort-Diksmuide railway bed, there are 632 Belgian casualties from WWI, including 400 unknown soldiers. In the second half of October 1914, the Battle of the Yser was fought in this area. Then cycle immediately left in the Hemmestraat, with the beautiful Sint-Laurentiuskerk 4 of Ramskapelle on the right. This part of Nieuwpoort was also laid in ruins during WWI, the church was rebuilt in 1923. A new monument with orientation table commemorates the battle of Ramskapelle. Another benchmark in the landscape is the remains of the free-standing chimney of a brickyard that served as an observation post during WWI. • Then turn right and after this detour continue your route on the node network until node 22. You cycle on the Frontzate walking and cycling road, a former railway bed (line no. 74, a 16-kilometer long branch of the Ghent-De Panne line) from NieuwpoortBad to Diksmuide that was converted into a green axis by the province of West Flanders. During the Battle of the Yser – of course one of the items in the TV series In Vlaamse Velden – the railway embankment served as a buffer for the underwater settlement of the IJzervlakte, to limit the flooded area to the part between the railway embankment and the river. Along this railway line there are still numerous memories of WWI such as bunkers, observation posts and gun positions (also from the Second World War). • Cycle left towards junction 23 along the Proostdijk. Before the Schoorbakkebrug 5, in the polder wheels extra on2 village Schoorbakke, follow the quietly rippling IJzer on the right and further the Viconiastraat to junction 36. You are now in Stuivekenskerke, territory Diksmuide. Continue to junction 39, with the impressive Viconiahoeve 6 with the picturesque entrance gate on your left. This twelfth-century castle farm also had to be rebuilt after WWI and now serves as a hotel. A little further is the Flemish Nature Reserve Viconia Kleiputten (30 ha) 7 . Continue straight ahead and paddle, enjoying the vistas, to junction 5. Here you drive left towards junction 2, past Oud-Stuivekens, where you can take a look in and around the chapel and the beautiful monument of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwehoekje. You cycle here in the heart of Bachten de Kupe, the piece of territory behind the cockpit between the Yser and the North Sea that was not flooded during WWI. You follow the church road on the right over the bridge to the end and then right to junction 2, which leads you to the trenches of the Dodengang 8 (see box). Now cycle a few kilometers further along the Yser to junction 74 and stop at the peace site on the Yser (see box), with the renewed museum in the Yser Tower 9, the Paxpoort and the Crypt, well worth a visit. You start the return journey by cycling back to junction 74, on the right over the bridge to junction 75 and along the right bank of the Yser to junction 6 and on successively to junction 11, junction 37 and junction 23. Before you come back to the Schoorbakkebrug 5, you will see on the left, on the territory of Middelkerke, the white Schoorbakkehoeve 10, a rural hotel with restaurant and tea-room in a former abbey farm (twelfth century). You now continue to follow the river to the Uniebrug 11 at junction 10. In addition to the Schoorbakke bridge and the Tervate bridge, this bridge is one of the three bridges over the IJzer between Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide. During the First World War, fierce battles were fought at these bridges during the Battle of the Yser. The advancing Germans wanted to go to the French Channel ports and therefore wanted to cross the Yser in Nieuwpoort, in Diksmuide or via the three bridges in October 1914. In a short time, all three were destroyed. • You now follow the cycle path under the Uniebrug, towards junction 9, over the bridge to the other side of the IJzer. You always stay on the bike path! Now you cycle again on the towpath along the reservoir. On your left, after about 3 kilometers, you reach the back of the Kompas Camping again.