Hi all,

Here’s the planned Itinerary for the Albert Ball Memorial Run 2017

Friday 5th May

Many of us are planning to be arriving at La Sapinière at around lunchtime on the Friday.

If you would like lunch there the restaurant is open from 12:00 – 13:30 but it’s more a full lunch than sandwiches/snacks. http://www.sapiniere.net/restaurant-st-omer-nord-pas-de-calais

If you want a more casual lunch then St Omer town centre is the place to head to.

For the convoy from the tunnel I suggest we plan to go straight into St Omer for lunch and then back to the hotel.

For anyone who wants to get out and about later we’ll have a run out from the hotel for a couple of hours, leaving about 15:00. The route is under construction but will probably loop around a few local sights such as the Aeroclub, Fontinettes boat lift, Aire-sur-la-Lys and St Omer Town Centre, aiming to be back by 17:30 ish.

Dinner at our leisure in the hotel restaurant (open 19:30 – 21:00)

Saturday 6th May

There’s no specific plan for the day so we can split up as the mood takes us.

Suggestions (with approx one way distance/times) are:

La Coupole (3 miles/8 mins) http://www.lacoupole-france.co.uk/
WW2 bunker and V2 site with extensive displays, 3D cinema and planetarium.

Le Touquet (40 miles/1hr:10)
“Posh” seaside town with a picturesque Saturday Market

Auchonvillers (55miles/1hr:30) http://www.avrilwilliams.com
WW1 trenches and cellar. Tea room and tour

Boat workshop and tours of the Marais (15 miles/15 mins) https://lesfaiseursdebateaux.fr/
Boat/canoe rentals and tours: http://www.bonaccueil.info/en/

For what it’s worth I’m planning on La Coupole in the morning and probably a boat trip in the afternoon. Ian & Marie will most likely be heading off to Le Touquet

For Saturday night, congregate in the bar at our leisure ready for the memorial Dinner at 19:30 – 21:00.

We have a private room booked with a 4 course regional menu. The cost of the meal is €49.50 per head, including a Kir, ½ bottle of wine per person and free selection of courses from the menu.

Please email me to confirm numbers and let me know if you would like a sample menu.

From 21:00 it’s back to the bar cheers
 
Sunday 7th May

There are extensive celebrations planned in Annoeullin for the whole day with over 100 people visiting from Nottingham, including descendants of Capt Ball and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire who will be representing HM the Queen.

The base for the day will be the Albert Ball College where Ian & Marie Parkinson together with Gerald Lawford will be setting up a MTWC stand early in the morning.

As we would like to pay our respects as a Morgan Group, plan on leaving the hotel at 9:00 for the crash site memorial (45 miles/1hr:30). Ian, Marie and Gerald will rendezvous with us there at 10:30 and we will lay our wreath with a dedication from Mark Henry.

Following this we’ll head on to the college to join the main event.

There is a buffet lunch from 12:00 and a commemoration at the Cemetery at 14:00. For those of us who went last year it’s not at all clear how so many people will fit into the Cemetery hence our plan to visit the crash site earlier. This will also allow you to leave whenever you need to for ferries/chunnel etc.

Please could you let me know if you plan to stay for the afternoon commemoration so we can let the organisers know.

For those of us staying on for Sunday night, as the hotel restaurant is shut we will sort out a trip into St Omer for the evening.
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Thank you to Rich “Motorpunk” who concocted the idea for the original Albert Ball Blat last year and without whom none of this would have happened.

This event has been put together to commemorate Captain Albert Ball, VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC an unassuming hero and an early Morgan 3 Wheeler advocate. If you would like to contribute to the support of our present day veterans then may we suggest a donation to Combat Stress, the UK's leading veterans' mental health charity.
http://www.combatstress.org.uk/

Finally, a reminder - Please could you all let me know how many of you are there for the Saturday night dinner so I can confirm back to the hotel. c.golding@paragonrouting.com

Cheers and see you all in May

Chris & Ian

Red Leader drive