STUDENTS from Ponteland High School felt humbled as they visited the First World War battlefields to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

A party of pupils from all year groups have been on a three-day tour of the battlefields.

The trip began with an evening walk from Ypres to the Lille Ramparts Cemetery.

Students described the poignant visit as “perfect”, catching their first glimpses of the graves as the sun was setting.

They visited the excavated trenches at Sanctuary Wood and Newfoundland Memorial Park, gaining an insight into what life must have been like for soldiers in the war.

Students went to Tyne Cot, the largest commonwealth cemetery in the world, and paid their respects at a ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ypres, where three school representatives laid a wreath.

Head of history and for raising achievement deputy and at the school Dave Bartlett said: “Enabling our students to stand on the Somme just three days after the anniversary of the battle captured something beyond what you could ever achieve in the classroom alone.

“Nothing can do justice to what those men must have gone through, particularly in the first hour of battle, but I hope the staff and students of Ponteland High School have in some small way paid tribute to their memory and their heroism and sacrifice are never forgotten.”