August saw the Baldwin family take a holiday in Holland. And before you worry, given the nature of the post’s title, we all had a great time and made it home safely. But in making the round trip, some circle-of-life type observations prompted this post - AKA “the roadtrip, Reichswald and resurrection”.
The road trip
The trip to Het Heijderbos (HH) involved a car journey to Dover, a ferry crossing to Calais and an onwards drive through France, Belgium and a fair proportion of Holland too (bearing in mind that HH is very close to the border with Germany).
Beforehand, the journeying was a potential concern because the traffic into Dover had been terrible and well publicised at the beginning of the summer holidays. On the 21st August though, there were no problems on the M20 and I was relieved to arrive in Dover without any undue stress and delay.
Once off the ferry, the drive across Europe got underway and though long, was also uneventful. Perhaps bizarrely, it is the uneventfulness about the journeying that makes it worth writing about.
When on the continent, the news broke about the following:
I was expecting the problems on the M20 to have a real impact on the time taken to drive home from Dover. A few days before the end of our holiday, the road was closed for repairs…
…but by the time we came back on Bank Holiday Monday, it was running again as normal. Phew.
Though seeing half a bridge over the motorway was a little disconcerting!
With regards to the challenges in Calais, I saw the “Jungle” from the roadside but didn’t see any trees making their way on to the carriageways.
This week has seen the French getting militant over the refugee camp and blocking the roads approaching Calais with trucks and tractors. Thank God that protest didn’t take place a week or so ago instead.
One thing though that I did see on the way to Calais was an accident being cleared from the road that involved a Polish HGV and white English BMW (I think). The occupants of the car were looking decidedly shaky by the roadside and I am not surprised why – the nearside (UK that is) of the car had been crushed from end to end (their lives must have flashed before them). I really felt for these people because they were heading to Calais just like we were, no doubt to go home…but I guess that wasn’t going to happen that day.
At least nobody died.
But the subject of death, does bring me on to a cemetery.
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Given the close proximity of the border, on the 26th August we decided to take a trip into Germany. Kleve was the destination selected because it was relatively close and easy to get to.
The commonwealth war cemetery was on the main road into Kleve and so we stopped at it and went in. The cemetery was beautiful, peaceful and immaculate. The sunshine was blazing as we walked around the rows upon rows of white headstones.
Most poignantly, for me anyway, it turned out that Reichswald was the final resting place of six other Baldwins. See the attached photo from the cemetery’s directory.
Resurrection
But Kleve wasn’t just memorable for death, there was some evidence of resurrection too. In the town centre there were two businesses that were back from the dead, at least so I thought.
Woolworth and C&A were next door to each other and I was so surprised to see them that I stopped, took the photo you see below and then went into both stores. C&A still stocks the Canada brand I remember so well (but not with any affection) from my younger days.
I thought that both businesses were dead and gone but it turns out I was wrong. I was genuinely pleased to see them looking fit and well.
Some internet searching later and it turns out that C&A, always a Dutch business, only died in the UK in 2001. It carried on its operations in Europe.
Whilst Woolworths collapsed, Woolworth (without the last ‘s’), operating in Germany since 1926, carried on trading. Woolworth was originally part of Woolworths but was actually a separate company. The branding on the store looks identical and the familial ties explain it.
So by way of a conclusion to this post; on the road I had seen near death; in the cemetery I had witnessed real death; in Kleve, I saw that there can be an afterlife.
And, blimey, I didn’t expect all that philosophical reflection from a week’s vacation at Center Parcs.
The road trip
The trip to Het Heijderbos (HH) involved a car journey to Dover, a ferry crossing to Calais and an onwards drive through France, Belgium and a fair proportion of Holland too (bearing in mind that HH is very close to the border with Germany).
Beforehand, the journeying was a potential concern because the traffic into Dover had been terrible and well publicised at the beginning of the summer holidays. On the 21st August though, there were no problems on the M20 and I was relieved to arrive in Dover without any undue stress and delay.
Once off the ferry, the drive across Europe got underway and though long, was also uneventful. Perhaps bizarrely, it is the uneventfulness about the journeying that makes it worth writing about.
When on the continent, the news broke about the following:
- The M20 accident and bridge collapse
- Calais gangs disrupting ferry port traffic to aid the smuggling of migrants into the UK
I was expecting the problems on the M20 to have a real impact on the time taken to drive home from Dover. A few days before the end of our holiday, the road was closed for repairs…
…but by the time we came back on Bank Holiday Monday, it was running again as normal. Phew.
Though seeing half a bridge over the motorway was a little disconcerting!
With regards to the challenges in Calais, I saw the “Jungle” from the roadside but didn’t see any trees making their way on to the carriageways.
This week has seen the French getting militant over the refugee camp and blocking the roads approaching Calais with trucks and tractors. Thank God that protest didn’t take place a week or so ago instead.
One thing though that I did see on the way to Calais was an accident being cleared from the road that involved a Polish HGV and white English BMW (I think). The occupants of the car were looking decidedly shaky by the roadside and I am not surprised why – the nearside (UK that is) of the car had been crushed from end to end (their lives must have flashed before them). I really felt for these people because they were heading to Calais just like we were, no doubt to go home…but I guess that wasn’t going to happen that day.
At least nobody died.
But the subject of death, does bring me on to a cemetery.
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Given the close proximity of the border, on the 26th August we decided to take a trip into Germany. Kleve was the destination selected because it was relatively close and easy to get to.
The commonwealth war cemetery was on the main road into Kleve and so we stopped at it and went in. The cemetery was beautiful, peaceful and immaculate. The sunshine was blazing as we walked around the rows upon rows of white headstones.
Most poignantly, for me anyway, it turned out that Reichswald was the final resting place of six other Baldwins. See the attached photo from the cemetery’s directory.
Resurrection
But Kleve wasn’t just memorable for death, there was some evidence of resurrection too. In the town centre there were two businesses that were back from the dead, at least so I thought.
Woolworth and C&A were next door to each other and I was so surprised to see them that I stopped, took the photo you see below and then went into both stores. C&A still stocks the Canada brand I remember so well (but not with any affection) from my younger days.
I thought that both businesses were dead and gone but it turns out I was wrong. I was genuinely pleased to see them looking fit and well.
Some internet searching later and it turns out that C&A, always a Dutch business, only died in the UK in 2001. It carried on its operations in Europe.
Whilst Woolworths collapsed, Woolworth (without the last ‘s’), operating in Germany since 1926, carried on trading. Woolworth was originally part of Woolworths but was actually a separate company. The branding on the store looks identical and the familial ties explain it.
So by way of a conclusion to this post; on the road I had seen near death; in the cemetery I had witnessed real death; in Kleve, I saw that there can be an afterlife.
And, blimey, I didn’t expect all that philosophical reflection from a week’s vacation at Center Parcs.
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