T E LAWRENCE
CRUSADER CASTLES CENTENARY TOUR 1908 - 2008
The 15th July 1908 was the day when Lawrence sailed from Southampton to Le Havre to begin the most challenging of all bicycle rides visiting as many medieval castles, cathedrals, churches and abbeys as he could manage in the time permitting to gather evidences on architectural design, building construction and siege warfare tactics, for the purpose of completing a thesis agreed with his tutors at Jesus College, Oxford.
He had prepared himself physically and mentally for this tour by undertaking a number of sorties into East Anglia in August 1905 with his father, Thomas Chapman; Brittany in August 1906 accompanied later by his friend C F C Beeson, better known as 'Scroggs'; then in April 1907 to Wales cycling alone, and again to Northern France in the August of 1907 accompanied once more by his father for a short period.
The purpose of this website is to celebrate the centenary of the tour by way of a travelogue along the lines of the letters Lawrence wrote home to his mother, father and friends with added comment, analysis and interpretation. These letters give an interesting insight into Lawrence's character, his dogged determination to achieve without reservation and a hunger for knowledge.
The travelogue will be published daily from 15th July - 8th September 2008 on this website with a weekly summary each Sunday. In addition, the site will be populated with photographs of the many places Lawrence visited. During this period, the author will be promoting a Limited Edition T-Shirt of 1000 units. Beyond September a second, general release T-Shirt design will also be available to purchase.
The author has undertaken his own various sorties into France between August 2006 and February 2008 completing the tour route almost in its entirety except for a few omissions.
Bernard W Andrews, July 2008
He had prepared himself physically and mentally for this tour by undertaking a number of sorties into East Anglia in August 1905 with his father, Thomas Chapman; Brittany in August 1906 accompanied later by his friend C F C Beeson, better known as 'Scroggs'; then in April 1907 to Wales cycling alone, and again to Northern France in the August of 1907 accompanied once more by his father for a short period.
The purpose of this website is to celebrate the centenary of the tour by way of a travelogue along the lines of the letters Lawrence wrote home to his mother, father and friends with added comment, analysis and interpretation. These letters give an interesting insight into Lawrence's character, his dogged determination to achieve without reservation and a hunger for knowledge.
The travelogue will be published daily from 15th July - 8th September 2008 on this website with a weekly summary each Sunday. In addition, the site will be populated with photographs of the many places Lawrence visited. During this period, the author will be promoting a Limited Edition T-Shirt of 1000 units. Beyond September a second, general release T-Shirt design will also be available to purchase.
The author has undertaken his own various sorties into France between August 2006 and February 2008 completing the tour route almost in its entirety except for a few omissions.
Bernard W Andrews, July 2008
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