January 2026  - New Year News from No.fifty6 in this 110th Anniversary Year

January brings with it the promise of new beginnings, and we certainly hope 2026 is a good one for all the No.fifty6 community. As we say in France to anyone we meet in January  - Meilleurs Voeux et surtout Bon Sante! Best wishes and above all good health.

The weather this month has been very mixed, but always wintry. We have had snow, mist, rain, winds, storms and an occasional blue-sky day. One of the things we love is that we do get all 4 seasons here and it has definitely been winter this January. The cover photo shows Gordon Dump Cemetery in our recent snow.

The January Wolf Moon hung over Mash Valley providing an eery quality to the night at the start of January.

Wolf Moon - Mash Valley.

As we have few guests in January, it is a time we have to cocoon but also to get out and walk the landscape and discover new things – and even do some training! More on that later. David says it is the best time to see the historic landscape as the contours and topography are clearly visible.

Dantzig Alley across the landscape on zoom from Mansell Copse, Mametz.

The farmers continue to work, ploughing, seeding, and already some areas have a green thin coat, new life emerging. Others have a rich deep brown of furrows of life-giving soil. The betterave (sugar beet) piles wait to be collected with their white tarpaulins making them look like exhausted dragons from a Game of Thrones set.

January Walk, Fricourt.

As we reflect on this January our thoughts can’t help but turn to how much discord there is in the world right now. How misinformation creates division. How lust for power takes us close to where we were in darker historical times. But rather than despair, we try in our own little way to bring peace and kindness where we can. And rather than a poem this month, following a very moving visit to the New Zealand Liberation Museum, these quotes spoke to us:

Seek and discover. Discover and know. Know and become enlightened.

                                                               Maori proverb  

Our common humanity is more important than the things that divide us. We discover our own humanity when we help others.

                  Fred Hollows, New Zealand eye surgeon and humanitarian.

Quotes at The New Zealand Liberation Museum

Messages of Freedom, Friendship & Future make a moving wall. 

January Visitors

We have enjoyed having some “us time” this month, preparing everything for the busy year ahead, seeing friends and of course plenty of admin! We’ve embraced some training and cultural days out too.

Our first guest of the year was Alan from Portsmouth who has been visiting the battlefields for many years and has been a returning guest of ours since we have been here. This time he traveled alone in search of his “Pompey lads” who lie in the many cemeteries of France. His visit this time took him to Gouy en Artois, St Pol, Aubigny and other places off the beaten track. Often just one or two Pompey lads in the cemeteries but he is determined to visit every Pompey headstone.

Alan, first guest this year. 

Photo courtesy Alan. A Pompey Lad in Sunken Road Cemetery, Boisleux-St-Marc.

It was lovely having you here Alan.

Wintry Walks

On a couple of walks this January, we recorded a couple of short lives which captured the weather and the sentiment. Thiepval and Gordon Dump provided something very special for our walks.

https://fb.watch/EVSsyANDhN/

https://fb.watch/EVSrfvHx4Q/

Thiepval, early January splendour.

Somme Battlefields Partnership (SBP) Training Events – Deminage

We are members of the SBP and this month we attended 2 events organized by the Partnership. First, on a cold snowy day on 5 January we attended the Somme Museum for a talk by the Deminage – the Bomb Disposal service, which was fascinating.

The Deminage are a national service, part of the French military. For our Picardie region their base is in Laon. Last year Laon dealt with 105 tons of munitions, the majority of which are WW1. France wide, 491 tons were collected and 471 tons destroyed last year alone. Since 1945 when records began, the deminage have dealt with 655,300 bombs, 14 million mines, 24.5 million shells. They deal with chemical and non-chemical weapons, suspect packages, bomb threats, terrorist threats and have diver deminage officers too who deal with munitions under water.

Deminage Training

The clear message was that the First World War will keep giving up munitions, as we see here all the time. DO NOT TOUCH was regularly reinforced. There are accidents, fatalities, burns and woundings every year from those not authorized to deal with munitions. So please follow the guidelines. If you see munitions out and about note the location and let us know and there is a procedure for us to report it to the local Mairie and then the Mairie will contact the Deminage service.  A fascinating talk with show and tell examples.

We saw these on a January walk near Fricourt. Don't touch! 

New Zealand Liberation Museum – Le Quesnoy

Our second training event was a trip to Le Quesnoy to visit the New Zealand Liberation Museum. We were welcomed by Jacob, Project Manager, a Kiwi himself who conducted the training in French. The museum is the place for New Zealand to reinforce the themes of Freedom, Friendship and Future, and is the only such place for New Zealand remembrance on the Western Front. Quesnoy was chosen due to its strong links to New Zealand which have remained since the liberation of the village on 4 November 1918.

The Old Dining Room now tells stories.

The museum opened in 2023 after the refurbishment of the old gendarmerie in Quesnoy, which in turn was the family home of the Carlier family during the War. The building has been modernized and is now a stunning modern interpretative centre but retaining its history within its walls.  Maori culture, language and traditions are used throughout. For example in the foyer is a piece of jade (pounamu) from NZ, surrounded by pebbles and water. By touching this we share in the energy and life force and the protection of the special place we enter.

The very special pounamo.

An amazing, emotive sculpture at the museum.

After a look around the Centre and explanations of the importance of each section of the museum, Jacob took us on a walk around the ramparts of Quesnoy and explained how the New Zealand Rifle Brigade succeeded in liberating the village by scaling the ramparts on ladders.

Telling the story of liberation.

It was an incredible morning of culture and history and we recommend wholeheartedly the museum. Quesnoy is a fair trip from us, not far from Valenciennes, about a 75 minute drive,  but please do try and make time for a visit.

https://nzliberationmuseum.com/visit-overview/ 

Somme Reopens

After winter closures, The Somme is slowly coming out of hibernation with both Albert Somme Museum and Thiepval Visitors Centre reopening to the public.

Staying with Us

We know we are very fortunate that we have so many loyal and lovely guests who stay with us multiple times – you are the reason we do what we do.

As we look at the diary for 2026 we see it already filling up with lovely names of those who are now friends to us, as well as new names who will discover us for the first time. 

We make a gentle reminder that if you are thinking of coming to visit The Somme this year, in this 110^thanniversary of The Battle of The Somme, please let us have your dates as soon as possible, no strings attached. We hate it when we have to disappoint as we do not have the vacancies for your chosen dates.

We are so looking forward to another year at No.fifty6.

https://www.number56.co.uk/availability/

Julie clearing snow - always ready to provide a warm welcome whatever the weather! 

Louvre Lens – The Gothics

Another cultural day out for us was a visit to the Louvre Lens and a special Gothic exhibition. Our first visit to the Lens location of the Louvre – part of a move to bring cultural offerings to the regions outside of Paris. The site is a former coalmine in Lens  and a wonderful public park, exhibition space, café etc. has been created. The gothic exhibition was superb, explaining the growth of Gothic Architecture which exploded in Northern Europe in the middle ages creating the magnificent cathedrals we see today at Amiens, Chartres, Notre Dame, Reims etc.

The Gothics Exhibition Hall.

The permanent exhibition is also brilliant. We were so taken by the tableau The Seasons by Giuseppe Arcimboldo that we bought a print to hang on our wall.

Arcimboldo's Winter.

Another place in the heart of the old battlefields which is well worth a visit.

https://www.louvrelens.fr/en/

Voeux des Maires

During January, the same words echo through thousands of French town halls and village halls. Every Maire wishes the people of his or her commune all the best, with plans for the year outlined and a chance to catch up with neighbours and share a glass of friendship

We attended two Voeux ceremonies this month. In Meaulte we attended the Voeux of Michel Wattelain who is President of the Pays du Coquelicot Community of Communes – similar to a local authority which sits alongside the 65 communes in our area and has responsibility for things like tourism, growth, infrastructure, environment, culture, the airport and waste management among others. The Tourist Tax we have to charge our guests gets passed to the Pays du Coquelicot. We were delighted to learn that evening that the lovely Celine Jesiak has been promoted to Director of the Office de Tourism in Albert.  Congratulations to Celine who is a huge advocate of Somme remembrance and a firm friend of No.fifty6. There is much in the pipeline for this year’s 110^th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme, both in terms of local and international engagement.

Pays du Coquelicot Voeux

The logo for this year's 110th Anniversary of the Somme was unveiled.

Then in La Boisselle village hall Christian, our Maire, presented his Voeux, talking about our school, road safety and speed, how important Lochanagar Crater is to The Commune and the importance of community. There are municipal elections (Mayoral) throughout France in March.

Christian and local councillors at the Voeux.

Animal Postscript

We have seen birds of prey at Lochnagar and deer in the fields. David is feeding the birds in the garden every day. Hares dart about on our walks...maybe spring is on the way...

Kalinka in the snow.

Kalinka the horse in the field behind us, is grateful for a carrot. With a headshot like that Kalinka must be Employee of The Month. 

David’s January Joke:

What do we want?

Racecar noises!

When do we want it?

Neeeeooooowwwww

We are in fine form, looking forward to the year ahead. All is well at no.fifty6. Please stay safe and well and see you soon we hope.

January Sunset over Newfoundland Park.