NAMUR AND LIEGE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IV, Issue 211, 21 August 1914, Page 2

NAMUR AND LIEGE.

The strongest Belgian fortreg#, and perhaps the largest, is at N* mur. Namur is built on both side# of the river Meuse, though it may not be surprising news that the residential portion is on the Belgian side of the river, with the fortress on the German side—its thick walls towering over the township like a giant sentinel, grim and silent, awaiting only the order to be transformed into a hive of death dealing vitality. Namur itself is a characteristic sleepy old town, typically Belgian : its streets narrow and “cobbled” lather than paved, and the residents are fond of promenading along the well-shaded bank of their chief waterway, in the cool of the summer evening. Foundries here can pro duce very excellent steel, and then’ are a number of presentable shops, but the pulse of the town beats slowly, and the residents enjoy nothing so much as to' sit in one or other of the favourite open air cafes, of which there are several in the town, some possessing a military history of plans made and campaigns schemed, that even to-day permeate the atmosphere and give relish to the Rhenish wine that is so popular in the vicinity. All along the Meuse Valley the country is undulating and pleasant. Occasionally the river flows by the side of precipitous rocks that break away suddenly. On most of these headlands forts arc either in exist cnee or in ruins, for the neighbourhood has been the scene of many a sanguinary struggle, and Namur itself. even more than Liege has been taken, and lost, ami retaken more times than any but a historical expert can think about. Years ago. the people of Namur had the reputation of being a fierce hardy, fighting race, and though in times of peacethev are as quiet and unassuming as then- confreres elsewhere, the value of a great tradition will today be calculated to help them forward in the huge defensive task that has been set before them. Liege is a fine big city, thriving and prosperous, with .a population of about 200,000. It has many important manufactories, it is the see of a bishop, has a uiiivers’ty, a cathedral, fine botanic gardens and its streets are well laid out. Namur, on tlie other hand, is but a small township of some 30,000 people, and though it had at one time many fine buildings, these have all gone before the hail of one enemy or another, and the place is now' little more than a stronghold at the confluence of the Meuse and Cambre, along whose valleys are the mahi lines of communication north and south.