Edinburgh

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Our last big vacation while living in Europe was a trip to Scotland.   I will divide this trip up into four sections: Edinburgh, Scottish National Museum, West Highlands, and the Borderland & Hadrian's Wall.  

In Edinburgh, we stayed in The Caledonian off Princess Street and in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.   The Caledonian used to be a train station in the hey-day of rail.  That past lends its classic look to the hotel today and was a great place to stay aside from the late night fire alarms.

I got lucky with my landscape shots of the castle.  I hit just the right light for to contrast the rocks beneath the castle.  I could not be happier with these shots.

Aside from the national museum, we did a lot of walking around the city.   We saw the castle, inside and out, walked the high street a few times, and toured Holyrood. 

On High Street we had the best pizza we had in all Europe and tried the famous deep fried mars bar.   All in all the food was much better than we had expected.

Crecy

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Crecy was the first example of English forces using force multipliers to defeat a larger force of well trained French soldiers and nobility.    Crecy also saw the first recorded use of cannons in a battle in Europe and was where the sixteen year old Edward the Black Prince proved himself as a leader and "won his spurs" as it is said.

I did not have a lot of time to take in the battle field.  I had scarcely 20 minutes of time to get the layout of the field and take some pictures when a storm from moved in with such speed and violence that staying on the hill, even my car felt like pure foolishness.  I saw what I came for so beat a hasty retreat up through Belgium and back to Amsterdam that night.

The English clearly had the high ground, but it was not steep enough to be decisive.  As with Agincourt, the English victory depended as much on poor choices by the French as their own initiative or control of the battle.

Agincourt!

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Today Agincourt is not much to look at, but in the early 15th century it was the scene of the a pivotal battle in the hundred years war and is where Henry V of the England, together with Shakespear's help in later years, assured his place in history. Visiting the site was well worth the trip.

The story is familiar to military history phials like myself. Starving, and outnumbered, the English defeat a large, well trained and overly confident (arrogant even) force of French soldiers, noblemen and mercenaries. The French had every advantage and proceeded to discard them all for defeat by choosing to drive heavy cavalry head on into prepared positions, in muddy ground, and under the range English longbows. The faintest leadership in the French ranks would have changed history in incalculable ways.

The photos show a a view of the field from the French and English side. You can get an idea for the size and layout of the field as well as the distance between the sides prior to actual engagement.

Probably the most interesting part of the visit is the still creepy French burial mounds where thousands of French soldiers and nobles where buried in mass graves that today remains and undisturbed barrow where trees mingle with clingy vines and darkness.

Somme

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In August of last year I took a short tour of Norther France with the purpose of seeing the medieval battle fields of Agincourt and Crecy.   I needed to overnight in France to visit both sites in a single day and I choose a hotel just north of Amiens in the Somme region.   I was able to spend the morning visiting a few sites around the Somme and see some of of the battle fields including the Lochnager mine crater.  

Lochnager, is a massive scar on a farm field that was created by tunneling beneath enemy lines, packing said tunnels with explosive and setting it off as a  means of breaking the bitter deadlock of trench warfare.

This country is dotted with dozens upon dozens of commonwealth cemeteries which speak the deadly nature of the "war to end all wars".  

In the evening I caught some great pictures of the Somme in the waining light and stumbled across Bray-sur-Somme which was in the throws of celebrating their liberation by American Forces on September 1 1944.  The town was covered in American flags and a couple dozen people in 1940's era clothing, along with a bunch of "American GI's" where dancing in the streets.   At midnight, there where fireworks, the a group of re-enactoers rolled into town on restored Willy's jeeps.   Strange what you stumble upon in france.  No light for photos for this, so use your imagination.

Included in the strangeness was a lone tower on the road between Amiens and Agincourt.