_At the next fork in the road turn to the right and cross the railway (l. c.)._ On the left is another cemetery. _Turn again to the left_. Notice in passing a third cemetery, then a few yards further on the ruins of a mill. _Cross the canal at the Pont de Boesinghe_. _On reaching the crossing of the main road from Dixmude to Ypres, turn to the right._ On the left, the remains of Boesinghe Château stand in the middle of a park, the trees of which are cut to pieces. [Illustration: LANGEMARCK, WITH DESTROYED TANK. THE MOUND IN THE MIDDLE DISTANCE IS ALL THAT REMAINS OF THE CHURCH] [Illustration: LANGEMARCK CHÂTEAU BEFORE THE WAR _Now razed to the ground_ (_photo, Antony, Ypres_).] _Follow the road running along the canal._ The latter, owing to the upheaval of the ground by shell-fire, is often lost to view. 1,500 yards from Boesinghe, the site of Het Sas village, where the lock used to stand, may still be located. The fighting was very severe there, especially in 1914. [Illustration: BOESINGHE. RUINED CHÂTEAU AND DEVASTATED PARK] [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO YPRES. YPRES CANAL AT BOESINGHE, SEEN FROM RUE DE DIXMUDE, YPRES (_Compare with view below, taken before the War_.)] _Return to Boesinghe, leave the road just taken on the left, and cross the railway (l. c.)._ The road runs alongside the Yperlée river and canal for some distance. Numerous traces of footbridges are to be seen over both river and canal, the course of which can no longer be distinguished with certainty. _The road next turns sharply to the left, crosses the Lys-Yperlée Canal, then passes the dock of the Yser-Ypres Canal_ (photo above), _and enters_ =Ypres= _by the Dixmude Gate_. [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO YPRES BEFORE THE WAR (_See above--photo, Antony, Ypres_.)] [Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF YPRES, BEFORE THE WAR (_photo, Antony, Ypres_)] =YPRES= Few names awaken more memories than that of Ypres--a city of incomparable splendour in the Middle Ages, and of which nothing now remains but a heap of ruins. Of the last precious traces of this ancient prosperity, the rich and splendid buildings which filled the mind with wonder--the immense Cloth Hall, the beautiful cathedral, the churches, the sumptuous mansions, the sculptured houses--the German guns have spared nothing. History furnishes few examples of such grandeur followed by destruction so swift and so complete. Ypres is now but a memory. =Chief Historical Events= The Town of Ypres (Latin Ypra, Flemish Ieperen) grew up in the 10th century around a fortified castle, rebuilt about 958 by Baudoin, Count of Flanders. This castle had been in existence since the 8th century, but only the ruins had survived Norman invasions. The town, favourably situated in the centre of the maritime plain with its rich grassy meadows intersected by canals, prospered exceedingly. A numerous population sprang up of merchants and artisans, whose chief sources of wealth were the manufacture and sale of cloth.