belgium Archives - James Clay Stuff

July 20, 2025July 20, 2025

Bruges #50places2025

I had visited Bruges in the mid 1990s when I did a college trip to Amsterdam and we stopped at Bruges on the way back from Amsterdam to Bristol. It was only a quick visit, that was dampened (literally) by the heavy rain. So, much so, very little time for sightseeing as we walked from the coach park to the heart of the city, finding a restaurant and having steak and chips before heading back to the coach. As a result I was always planing to make a return visit if I was ever close by. Well thirty years later I made that return visit.

When I was planning my holiday to the Calais area, initially I didn’t even think about venturing much further from that area, did think about Paris, and other French places. Then using Google maps seeing where Bruges was I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bruges was just 76 miles (122km) away from our campsite, and as it was mainly motorway was less than ninety minutes away. Discussion with the family followed and they were all keen to go. So, in the middle of our holiday, we got in the car and headed into Belgium.

Upon arrival we parked in the underground parking garage ‘t Zand and there were charging facilities there as well, they had 65 charging stations for EVs. It took a couple of attempts to charge, but mainly because I picked the wrong charger on my first attempt. Also due to the vagaries of the mobile connection, I wasn’t sure if it was working until I was above ground. These were 22kW chargers so slower, but perfect for charging the Funky Cat whilst we spent the day in Bruges.

Bruges is the capital of West Flanders situated in northwest Belgium. The city is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings.

June 8, 2025

Brussels #50places2025

I have visited Belgium quite a few times over the years, we went to Ostend a lot when I was a child. When I did some college trips to Amsterdam in the 1990s we obviously travelled by coach through Belgium, we also stopped at Bruges, which I am planning to visit again in the future. Last year on the way back from Germany we stopped for a flying visit to Ghent. We had thought about visiting Brussels, but time was against us.

I was in Brussels for a couple of in-person meetings. I had caught the Eurostar from St Pancras, having travelled up to London from Weston to Paddington. I find it quite amazing that the train from London to Brussels takes just two hours. In between my meetings, I did have some free time for exploring and taking some photographs.

Brussels is a beautiful city with some amazing buildings and parks.

December 3, 2019November 30, 2022

Televisual Advent Calendar #03 – Secret Army

This is my 2019 Televisual Advent Calendar. I did a musical version in 2011 and a cinematic one in 2012. It is in no particular order and I make no apologies for the TV series that I am blogging about. These TV series have either made me think, I have enjoyed or have had some impact on me. These are scripted TV series, some are drama, some are comedy, some are both. I found it really hard to narrow this down to just 24.

Today is about BBC’s Secret Army.

One of the reasons I wanted to write this series of blog posts was to remember some of those series I watched in the 1970s and 1980s that I remember with nostalgia and fondness.

The series tells the story of a fictional Belgian resistance movement in German-occupied Belgium during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the Luftwaffe, to Great Britain. It was made in the UK and Belgium and three series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1977 and 1979.

Though this series was eclipsed in some respects by the comedy ‘Allo ‘Allo which was a pastiche of Secret Army, I remember this series well and many of the plots and stories. Of course one thing which is often forgotten or confused was that Secret Army wasn’t set in France, but was set in occupied Belgium.

A few years ago I borrowed a copy of the series from a relative and watched the whole series from start to finish over a few weeks. It was just as good as I remembered. I may have not watched the first season when it was first broadcast, as it seemed (and is) different to the second and third series. As with many series recorded in the 1970s there is a quite a difference as indoor scenes (shot on video tape) cut to outdoor scenes (shot on film). That different grading was quite marked and is something that of course we don’t see today with the use of the same (digital) cameras for both internal and external sets.

The stories were powerful and you started to have a very slight insight into the horrors and struggles that the people who lived through the Nazi occupation had to suffer. One story I remember well was the story based around Operation Market Garden and the impact of that assault on civilians in the background. I think that was one of the powerful aspects of the series, this was not about military forces, but was about the civilians struggling under military occupation.

I also felt that the liberation was covered well, in that it wasn’t this straightforward change of state from occupied to liberated. The confusion over who had collaborated and who hadn’t, and the vigilantism that went on.

And of course the closing credits were a classic.

Get Secret Army on DVD.

August 14, 2014

Legoland Miniland

One of the fascinating aspects of any visit to Legoland are the models in Miniland. It always impressed me how detailed and authentic the models look as well as they are made with lego bricks.

The models cover most of Europe including Belgium.

The models are very clever and must have taken hours to build and also required a fair bit of planning.

After our visit last year I write a post about how tired the models in Miniland looked, it was nice to see that Legoland has listened 😉 and there was evidence that many of the models were been refreshed or renewed. There was for example a whole new section on France including the Eiffel Tower.

See more photographs of Legoland.