WalkClickMake

Exploring the unlikely intersections of walking, photography and making

Navigating Hope: 3

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Welcome to Walkclickmake

David Firman, photographer, writer and creator of WalkClickMake. I'm usually behind the camera which makes this photo fairly rare. Thanks to my wife, Gail Perry for taking it (we were on the Camino de Santiago) and, more importantly, editing the text for every post!

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Walking to Rome: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Vaast #arras #viafrancigena #pilgrimage #stvaast #cathedral #architecturelovers #france

Walking to Rome: Arras, Saturday Market. #arras #outdoormarket #france #foodphotography #viafrancigena

Walking to Rome: Vimy As I write this, back in Winnipeg, I am aware that tomorrow is November 11, Remembrance Day. Tomorrow, Gail and I will attend, as we do every year, the Valour Road Memorial Day Service, a short walk away from our Wolseley home. Valour Road, formerly Pine Street, commemorates three recipients of the Victoria Cross for their acts of bravery during World War One. Remarkably, all three lived on Pine Street in Winnipeg before heading into battle in France and Belgium. It is a matter of good fortune that today’s entry in my day-by-day photo diary of our Via Francigena pilgrimage takes us to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, just 10 kilometres north of Arras, where we are taking a rest day. The Great War has preceded us daily as we trek across France, roughly following the Western Front. Canadian, Commonwealth and German cemeteries have dotted our path. Just yesterday, we stood on a ridge with the war-ruined towers of Mont-Saint-Éloi. And today, on September 21, 2019, a short taxi ride from Arras will deliver us to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. The Battle of Vimy Ridge, which took place from April 9 to 12, 1917 was one of many significant battles in which Canadian troops were engaged and paid dearly There are restored fragments of trenches and tunnels that once faced German trenches and tunnels as little as 25 metres away. The pockmarked landscape created by artillery fire and tunnel explosions is partially softened by a landscape of manicured lawn and trees. Off to the side are two graveyards. Canadian Cemetery No. 2 holds 3,000 Commonwealth soldiers. 370 of them are Canadians who perished on Vimy Ridge. the adjacent Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery holds 100 more Canadians. But it is a small reminder of the 3,598 Canadians killed during that four day battle on the ridge. Standing some distance from tunnels, trenches and cemeteries and perched high atop Hill 145, the memorial is intended to commemorate the 11,285 Canadians who died in France and whose final resting place was unknown in 1921. 11,285 names are inscribed in the base of this magnificent memorial to the cost of war. Rest In Peace. #vimyridge #remembranceday #worldwar1

Walking to Rome: Via Francigena Day 12 Frévin-Capelle/La Grenouillère/Anna; Abbaye de Mont-Saint-Éloi; Église catholique; Saint-Martin d’Écoivres; Le Marais de Mareoeuil; Arras Poor Mont-Saint-Éloi. Its abbey was established as far back as the 7th century. Over the next many hundreds of years, it rose to prominence as a major religious centre. That power sealed its fate in the late 1700’s with the French Revolution. The abbey was sacked and its stone walls dismantled, leaving just the west-facing porch and its two tall towers. During the First World War, it suffered yet one more humiliation. The French used the towers to spy on German troop locations on nearby Vimy Ridge. The Germans took note and promptly bombarded the towers, reducing what was left of their intact 55 metre height to a crumbling 44 metres. Perched atop a modest mound overlooking the low-slung countryside, the sad towers are reminders of centuries of conflict, visible for miles. Visible in 1917 to Canadian soldiers at Vimy. Visible yesterday on the horizon as we approached Frévin-Capelle. Ever more visible today as we walk several kilometres up to their white limestone walls. Our visit is less-than-serene. Programmers, a light and sound crew, pyrotechnicians, carpenters have all invaded this war-torn site with their ATVs and props. Models of German tanks aim at the towers. Sheet metal planes are strung up on wires ready to zip-line across the grounds. Over the next two nights, there will be a sound-and-light spectacular. But we will be gone. We will be in Arras, exploring cathedrals and grand squares. But we will not escape The War. #pilgrimage #viafrancigena #arras #france #thegreatwar #worldwarone #landscapephotography #cathedral #walking #vimy #vimyridge

Walking to Rome: Via Francigena Day 11 It’s November, 2019. Gail and I have been back in Winnipeg for six weeks. I’ve been occupied with a book project, just now completed. So it’s time to get back to our Via Francigena pilgrimage, starting where you last saw us. Back to September 29 as we leave the coal mining town of Bruay le Buissiere on a gentle 22-kilometre saunter across rolling farmland. We walk through quiet villages too small to support a grocery or a cafe. Just tall churches surrounded by small stone houses and farm complexes. Dogs bark from fenced yards. Boys and girls cycle by, curiously observing the two strangers with backpacks And we end our day in yet another tiny hamlet, Frévin-Capelle, also free of any restaurants or grocery stores or boulangeries. There is only our chambre d’hôtes, La Grenouillère. And Anna, our gracious host, who has agreed to drive us to nearby towns to collect groceries and wine so we can prepare dinner in our cottage. Who decides, while driving us to these various shops in assorted towns and villages, that she will cook our meal that evening. And, with that, our day ends with a lively dinner, in a small town, on a traditional farmstead, with Anna, her husband, their daughter and son gathered around the family table. #viafrancigena #longwalk #pilgrimage #france #france🇫🇷 #landscapephotography #northernfrance

THIS SUNDAY AT 1:00 PM: JOIN GAIL AND ME FOR OUR WALK TO THE AIRPORT! October 20, 2019 The tour starts at 1:00 PM Meet at 521 Raglan Road (in Wolseley) It looks like Sunday will be a pleasant fall day. So why not join us as we wind our way to Winnipeg’s James Richardson International Airport. Here’s our pitch: It’s a crazy idea, something you’re not supposed to do. But walking to YWG, whether for pleasure or to catch a flight, is entirely possible. We’ve done it. For the adventure of exploring places normally off the pedestrian road map. And for kick-starting a travel-light, carry-on-only vacation to Europe. Want to try it, too? Then join walkers David Firman and Gail Perry on a 3-hour round trip, starting in the Wolseley neighbourhood and winding through residential, commercial and industrial areas to James Richardson International Airport. We’ll return by way of Omand’s Creek, as it takes us by strip malls and big box stores — all those place you usually drive to — and through surprising stretches of restored prairie. En route, we’ll explore such architectural gems as St. James Church, find hidden vest-pocket parks, investigate austere industrial parks and reflect on airports lost and new. But, most importantly, we’ll take ownership of places in our city where no pedestrian was meant to tread. And, who knows? Maybe your next Hawaiian junket will start with a jaunt to the airport. This will be a longish walk of about 12 kilometres, entirely on sidewalks, paved paths or compacted gravel trails. There is an option to walk just half the distance by taking a bus or taxi back from the airport to the starting point. You’ll want good walking shoes. And it’s a good idea to bring a small backpack, water, a hat or toque and jacket. The tour is normally accessible for wheelchairs, bicycles and strollers.The path is paved along its entire length with the exception of the gravel Omand’s Creek Greenway, which generally has a smooth flat surface but maintenance of the path is not always up to scratch. This walk is sponsored by Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. @wpgarch #winnipeg #airport #walking @ywgairport #backpacking

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ARCHIVED POSTS

Here are direct links to my pre-June 2015 posts located on my former blog at firmangallery.com:

Walk
Photography
Books
Walker's Tools
Psychogeography
Dogs/Greyhounds/Styxx
Prague to Vienna on Foot
Camino de Santiago (Days 1-17)

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