About the Author
From Marlborough College, Nigel obtained a scholarship to study Medicine at Queens’ College Cambridge graduating with a 1st Class Degree. This was followed by completion of his MBBS (Medical) Degree at The London Hospital Medical School, from where he qualified in 1980.
Following training in General Practice, Nigel obtained an MSc in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (with Distinction), a PhD in Epidemiology at London University, Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health.
Nigel then went on to pursue a career in UK-based and international public and environmental health teaching and research, including working for a number of years with the World Health Organisation developing global air quality guidelines for the control of air pollution caused by cooking on traditional fuels such as wood, charcoal and animal dung in households in developing countries.
In 2015, aged 60 years, Nigel opted to (semi-) retire from his full-time position to free up opportunities to pursue his life-long passions for travel, cycling, history, photography, and art. Asa first step, Nigel enrolled in a travel and features writing course with the London School of Journalism (2016-2019), gaining a Distinction. To strengthen his image handling skills as well as an evolving interest in video filming and editing, Nigel undertook training in Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere Pro, and Mapmaker Pro 4.0 for the maps that feature in The Road of Hope and Sorrow and some of his travel articles.
Cycling has been a big part of Nigel’s life with regular road and mountain biking (UK and Europe, especially France) and multi-day touring inclusding both road trips with panniers and off-road bike-packing activities. Recent cycling adventures include (in France) the Route des Grandes Alpes (Geneva to Nice over the big cols), the Pyrenean Route des Cols (Hendaye on the Atlantic coast to Cerbère on the Mediterranean coast), and in the UK The South Downs Way, and several of Cycling UK’s recently developed adventure trails: King Alfred’s Way (Wessex, done twice as it’s so good!), the Rebellion Way (Norfolk), the Cantii Way (Kent) and The Royal Chilterns Way. I believe passionately that cycling offers one of the best ways available to us for exploring landscape and history.
Nigel has retained his position of Emeritus Professor of Public Health at the University of Liverpool and continues to work part-time supporting efforts to secure the transition to clean, safe and sustainable household energy in low and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. His focus areas in this work include training for journalists and community health promoters, producing documentary films, and scientific journalism.
You can find out more about my work and travel activities here nigelgbruce.com
Ask Nigel a question
In short, a never-ending adventure, with striking new insights and discoveries opening up at every turn.
One cannot overemphasise the need to ensure that your bike – if you are cycling the route – is in top condition to avoid frustrating delays and missed days of site visits, not to mention the potential for injury on a poorly maintained bike. Take basic tools and spares appropriate to the type of bike and components it has fitted. For luggage, don’t skimp on high quality waterproof bags, you won’t regret that investment.
Apart from being a fairly long trip (at least 1,000 kilometres) the terrain along the Western Front is not super hilly, apart from crossing the Vosges Mountains which are big and steep, so moderate fitness should suffice.
There is no set route, so the best option is to plan an itinerary that links up the places and memorials to events along the Western Front that are of most interest to you. I used paper maps and plotted a route that did just that(and found that the 1:200,000 scale of the Regional Michelin maps I used was ideal for cycling navigation as none of my route was off-road. A slightly different route, running in the opposite direction from the Swiss Frontier to the Belgian Coast has been developed by the Western Front Way and a free-to-download GPX file is available at: https://waytrails.com/2025/05/01/western-front-way-cycling/
I took the precaution of pre-booking small hotels for the first few nights of my ride , to give myself a bit of security as the trip got underway. Thereafter, I camped except when soaked from rain the previous night, or alternatively booked small hotels as I travelled south-eastwards towards Switzerland. Although I did not use it, I met other cycle tourists who told me that Bienvenue à la Ferme (https://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/) was good option for finding camping, and other overnight accommodation, e.g. B&B, run on the principle of providing high quality, sustainable produce.
I took a good quality Abus D-lock (weighing just over 1 kg) and a strong cable, and never had my bike or luggage interfered with at any point including during overnight stays or at museums and memorial sites. The small hotels were all very accommodating, offering me secure indoor locations to leave the bike overnight.
Annex 1 in The Road of Hope and Sorrow: Cycling Stats and Ride Planning with the table My ride along the Western Front day-by-day, ‘, and the commentary entitled 'Reflections on ride stats and terrain’ sets out my route statistics day-by-day, noting the sites I visited on each of the twenty or so days of my ride and separately, those for which I had to make return visits. This information should help prospective cyclists and other travellers work out the time needed to meet their objectives for exploring the Western Front. My cycling days typically involve one major site visit lasting several hours with the rest of the day cycling onwards with occasional stops, although this pattern did vary, especially in areas with a lot to see, including Ypres and Passchendaele, Arras and Vimy, the Somme, and Verdun.
By way of background and understanding the context and consequences of the Great War on the Western Front, the major museums in each sector are definitely worth making time for. These include ‘In Flanders fields’ (Ypres) and ‘Zonnebeke’ (Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917), The Historial de la Grande Guerre (Péronne, the Somme). The Mémorial de Verdun, Champs de Bataille, and one of the great forts at Verdun (Douaumont or Vaux, although note that the latter is currently closed for renovation). The Museum of the Grande Guerre at Meaux is also excellent, but being close to the site of the First Battle of the Marne is some distance from a route that follows the line of The Western Front fairly closely. A number of other smaller museums are to be found along the way, and if time allows, are all worth visiting.
Not everyone has the luxury of travelling the full length of the Western Front, or making multiple return visits, as I have done. That said, there is so much to see along the Western Front and learn about that it is difficult and perhaps counterproductive to suggest a must-see list, and if one wishes to again a good appreciation of what this conflict was like and the impacts on the people and communities involved, it is worth making the effort and devoting the time to see as much as possible. I hope that the illustrations and information in The Road of Hope and Sorrow, will help prospective visitors make these choices.
I'll be happy to answer any other questions you might have about my Western Front ride, the book and related themes, so please use the contact form to get in touch. Thanks
What is it like cycling along the Western Front?
What preparation is needed before cycling the Western Front?
What is the best route to follow, and is navigation difficult?
What accommodation options are available along the route?
How secure are bikes and luggage along the Western Front route?
How much time is needed to travel the route and visit the main sites?
Which sites and places should visitors try not to miss on a Western Front journey?
Anything else?