Lochnagar Memorial

On the way home from France we took the scenic route, making stops at several war memorials. The first of these was the Lochnagar Crater Memorial, set to the side of the road next to a large wheat field. The crater itself was absolutely monstrous and it is miraculous to me that anything has been able to grow back since the disaster, but there was wheat as well as new trees, flowers, and grass covering the ground. The Lochnagar Mine, containing 24 tons of explosives, was detonated at 7:28am on July 1, 1916, marking the first day of the horrific Battle of the Somme.

The crater itself:

and of course the caterpillar friend I made while visiting:

The new greenery growing back to cover the damaged landscape

The totally awesome wheat field in the middle of nowhere:

I have a strange fetish for thistles by the way.