Paying respects to family and heroes

The grave of Wilfred Owen, Ors.

My ambition for October this year was to visit the battlefields of Belgium and northern France. I wanted to take my mother and father to visit the graves of my Great Uncle Tom Robinson, Great Great Uncle Fred Robinson and the poet Wilfred Owen.

In the end, it was a very moving experience, that included visits to cemeteries, the Menin Gate, Ypres' new In Flanders Fields museum and a set of trenches which are almost as if they were vacated yesterday.

The whole trip was eerie and rewarding and I was pleased to be able to help my parents pay their respects, too.

A wet and muddy visit to trenches just outside Ypres.

Mum and Dad at the graveside of my Great Uncle Tom.