The most important aspect of these tours is the manner in which they are arranged.

 

Choosing to travel with Skylark ensures that your tour is individually matched to the members of the group. You may be confident that throughout the tour, Andrew’s twenty five years of research expertise and knowledge, will provide you with a memorable experience.

 

Each tour group comprises a maximum of eight people. It is even possible to go ‘one to one’ for a truly special and personal experience. You can create your own bespoke tour with no limitations on location or duration. The General Tours are usually a duration of 3-5 days

The unique feature of these tours is Andrew Spooner’s ability to match a highly personalised itinerary to each participants’ individual needs. This means you need not share the experience with 40+ other people on a coach, feeling frustrated with an inflexible programme that does not answer your particular questions or meet your expectations.

 

A Skylark Battlefield Tour is entirely different!

 

There are several tour options available:

 

You can join a group on a scheduled tour or create your own special tour. With a group booking you can also select dates to suit your own travel arrangements. An essential feature of small group tours is their flexibility.

General Tours are scheduled through the year and visit either the Ypres Salient in Belgium, the Somme front line in Picardy or a combination of the two. The D-Day Invasion Beaches in Normandy is a completely separate tour.

 

Poetry Tour of the Somme. Using the published work of well known and lesser known soldier poets, this tour will appeal to anyone wishing to learn more about daily life in the trenches and the influences upon many works of poetry. The poetry is selected and read in context to the events on the front line, in field hospitals, rest areas and military cemeteries. Whether you are reading a poem in the bottom of a shell hole or beside the grave of the author, each reading will provoke deep emotion and an unforgettable experience.

Creating a Special Tour. A very unique feature of Skylark Battlefield Tours is to provide a fully researched bespoke tour of any portion of the Western Front.

 

These tours may follow in the footsteps of a family forebear, dedicating the entire tour to discovering the locations and events of family history. Alternatively a tour may follow, in incredible detail, the events of a particular battalion or unit.

 

The itinerary of a General Tour in a particular area can easily be individualised to suit additional interests.

 

A bespoke tour is not restricted to the events of the First World War or more popular areas of the Somme or Ypres; many have meandered towards Verdun, the areas of the 1918 battles and beyond the beach-heads of Normandy. Neither are they restricted to British involvement, numerous tours have followed individuals and units from America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.

The landscape continues to reveal the debris of war. British 18pdr shrapnel shells, uncovered by road repairs and safe to handle.

A family pauses before entering a military cemetery on the Somme

Skylark Battlefield Tours usually start from the UK and cross the Channel from Dover for Belgium and Northern France. The D Day landing beaches are reached via Portsmouth to Caen. Arrangements can be made to join the tour en route, at the channel ports or in France and Belgium

 

Alternatively, Andrew may be able to pick you up from your home or hotel for a really personal start to your tour.

 

Many overseas visitors on holiday in the UK and/or Europe take the opportunities offered by these uniquely tailored tours to visit sites in France and Belgium where a forebear served

 

A tour can often be arranged to fit in with your existing travel arrangements.
Text Box: We travel in an fully air conditioned, 9 seat luxury minibus, complete with an internal PA system to ensure everyone can clearly hear additional narrative on points of interest. Our approach to several sites is further enhanced with 3 video screens showing original archive film. There is even a capacious refrigerator for the picnic essentials. No smoking is permitted in the vehicle.

A reconstructed communication trench (with its original brick floor) on the Somme
Text Box: 3 or 4 star hotel accommodation is chosen to be near the touring area and usually within the major towns of Ypres (Ieper), Arras, Amiens or Bayeux (for Normandy). Tours are fully inclusive with breakfast, lunch, evening meal, museum and site entry fees included; however, if you wish, the inclusion of an evening meal at the hotel can be omitted allowing you the alternative of exploring the various cafés, bars or restaurants. In fine weather a good picnic lunch with wine maintains the sense of being ‘in the field’ and if the larks are not singing above our heads we will seek a warmer alternative. Text Box: Each tour is very much based in the field using both preserved battlefield locations as well as those which still simply exist hidden away from the normal tour route. Museums are selected for their content and relevance, not simply because they are on the ‘tourist’ route. Military cemeteries and memorials not only help recount the real cost of a particular battle but also explain the topography of the ground, the position of medical services and lines of communication.

Battlefield Tour, March 1919

Men of the South Staffs enjoying lunch near Hill 60
Text Box: All tour itineraries are fully inclusive there are no hidden extras. All tours conform to the rules on financial protection under the 1992 Package Holiday Regulations. Skylark Battlefield Tours is fully insured as a tour operator with the correct vehicle insurance for hire and reward.