The Western Front Way may not be a religious pilgrimage but read these lines written in 1915 by a young 2nd Lt in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Alexander Douglas Gillespie, who died at the Battle of Loos later that year.
So moved by the horrors of war that he witnessed, Gillespie wrote:
“when peace comes, our government might combine with the French government to make one long avenue between the lines from the Vosges to the sea….I would make a fine broad road in the ‘No Mans Land’ between the lines, with paths for pilgrims on foot and plant trees for shade and fruit trees, so that the soil should not altogether be waste…
we might make the most beautiful road in all the world.”
It could also be integrated to a Via Francigena pilgrimage for those with family connections to WW1.
So moved by the horrors of war that he witnessed, Gillespie wrote:
“when peace comes, our government might combine with the French government to make one long avenue between the lines from the Vosges to the sea….I would make a fine broad road in the ‘No Mans Land’ between the lines, with paths for pilgrims on foot and plant trees for shade and fruit trees, so that the soil should not altogether be waste…
we might make the most beautiful road in all the world.”
It could also be integrated to a Via Francigena pilgrimage for those with family connections to WW1.
