With the much wider use of the Forest as a recreational area, it was decided in 1905 to celebrate Belgium’s 75th anniversary by planting five Bouquet Jubilaires within its boundaries, easily accessible by the public. Each of these new stands of trees was accompanied by a stèle, or commemorative stone.
Although I know the locations, having Stevens’ 1917 map to hand, it is hard to make out the original plantings. As for the five stèles, to my knowledge only two remain.
Yesterday I visited the Bouquet at the end of Verdunningsdreef. Right up against the Ring, the area is a mess. It is hard to work out which trees remain; there are a few candidate Beech of the right age but no stèle. It was meant to be easily reached from the Chaussée Mont St. Jean, but with the ‘upgrading’ of the road to become part of the Ring, it was forever cut off and lost.
Perhaps it has been buried under the road materials left behind. I feel a great sense of loss standing here. A monument to our history carelessly thrown aside, unloved, unwanted.
Note. 'Eclaircies' was the French name for today's 'Verdunning' in Dutch. The Chemin de l'Abreuvoir (watering place) is no longer.