All about the Year 9 Scholars’ Trip
By Evelyn (Year 8)
At the first Year 8 academic scholars’ meeting of the term, we had an exciting talk about a trip we have the chance of going on next year, presented by the current Year 9s. They had carefully created presentation slides in small groups about different places they went on the 3-day long trip to Yorkshire.
The first place they visited was the famous Yorkshire Sculpture Park, with a range of different art types from the unique bike from E.T. to Barbara Hepworth’s magnificent sculptures. From there they travelled to Malham in North Yorkshire where the group were staying.
The next day the students visited the Leeds Dock, built as an inland port in 1843 and saw, from the coach, the Bingley Five-Rise Locks, an impressive staircase lock on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
They then visited the Royal Armouries Museum, where they had a talk on the evolution of firearms, and even got to hold a gun, the AK-47 (definitely with no ammunition). They also got to see King Henry VIII’s armour! After that, it was a quick 26-minute journey to the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield. The students went through the Time Tunnel which recreated the history of coal mining over the years. Everyone got a tiny piece of coal to keep. The normal roles in a family who worked in the mines were:
1. The Miner – Usually the father, he would hold the lamp and had a double-ended pickaxe, not for aesthetics but for efficiency.
2. The Hurrier – Commonly the mother, she would hurry to move coal out, so everyone could get home quickly.
3. The Airways – Normally the child, they would open small holes to let fresh air flow to points, and sit next to a trapdoor, holding a rope to make them feel safe, because children as young as four did this job in pitch dark!
Finally on that day, the Year 9 scholars went to Saltaire. The village was designed to improve workers’ lives, with a beautiful church, scenery, stone cottages and schools. The gift shop was unique, lined with scenic paintings and interesting sculptures.
On their last day, Year 9s visited was the Brontë Parsonage Museum. The Bronte sisters were gifted authors and some of their real, original possessions remain in their house today. An interesting thing that they had was a pebble collection and the actual manuscript for Wuthering Heights. A sad fact about their family was that their brother, although a great artist, died of alcoholism, and their father outlived the entire family!
As we left the presentation room, one of the Year 9s gave me a small tip. There is a brilliant sweet shop that we should look for, selling extremely tasty old-fashioned sweets. Thank you to all the Year 9s who presented on the day!
