THE latest battlefields tour undertaken by 48 pupils and six staff from Bury Grammar School Boys took on added poignancy.

Not only did it coincide with the centenary of the outbreak of World War One, but the trip to Belgium signalled the 20th anniversary of the school's battlefield tours, one of the longest-running ventures of its kind in the country.

Each tour has a different themed itinerary and is planned and guided by Mark Hone, the school's head of history and and politics.

Mr Hone said: "This year's tour focused on the battles early in the war around the Belgian city of Ypres, with the usual emphasis on the parts played by former pupils of the school, local regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers, and relatives of people on the tour.

"The vivid first-hand account by Bury Grammar School ' old boy 'Trooper Bert Minton of 11th Hussars, describing the fighting in and around the small village of Messines in October 1914, was read out by sixth former and tour veteran Louis Lisle at some of the actual locations he mentions."

The account had originally been published in the Bury Times on November 7 1914, a week after the events it describes.

Mr Hone added: " A visit was also paid to the scene of the famous 1914 Christmas Truce at Ploegsteert Wood amongst many other places of interest, including the preserved trenches at Sanctuary Wood, which featured on the very first tour’s itinerary in 1994."

Members of the school's Combined Cadet Force (CCF) took part once again in the world-famous Last Post Ceremony, which takes place every night under the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres.

Mr Hone continued: "In front of a large and appreciative crowd, the cadets paraded, piper Freddie Bearn played the lament 'Flowers o'the Forest' and senior cadet Callum Stewart laid a wreath in remembrance of the 97 old boys who died in the Great War, two of whom are commemorated on the Menin Gate."

When he started the tour in 1994 with the then head of history, David Armsbey, as a one-off experiment, Mark Hone had no idea that he would still be running the trip two decades later.

He concluded: "The boys, as always, were a credit to the school for their interest and enthusiasm and their impeccable behaviour at the places we visited."