A BIKE ride with a difference will see two cycling brothers end a gruelling Cosheston to Belgium ride today in memory of their great-uncle, one of The Fallen of the First World War.

David Morgan and his brother Andrew, sons of Daphne and Graham Morgan of Style Park, Haverfordwest, began their journey last week from Cosheston to Coxyde in Belgium

to commemorate their great-uncle Frederick John Purser, of Cosheston, who died in July 1917.

This project has been on the family back-burner for a number of years now, ever since the brothers were first shown Frederick’s grave in 1985 when the family were returning home via Ostend after holidaying in Austria.

That occasion obviously struck a chord and although some years later, both brothers had left Pembrokeshire and were making their way in the world, that visit had never been forgotten and they have even shown the grave to their own families.

The original idea was to make the pilgrimage exactly 100 years after Frederick’s passing but the graduation of

David’s daughter Hannah last year meant that this was simply not possible, so the journey started on July 17 from the war memorial in Cosheston where the brothers were seen off by members of the local community council and historical society.

The journey is being undertaken in seven stages, with daily distances in excess of 50 miles being the norm, with accommodation arranged in Swansea, Chepstow, Devizes, Maidenhead, Dartford, Dover and Ypres.

They will be arriving at the graveside today, July 25, exactly 101 years to the day that Cpl Purser was killed in action.