Form 6 Trip to Portsmouth & Singleton

Date: Thursday 21 May 2009

Every year group in Upper School goes on history visits. The pupils in Form 6 escaped a stormy Canterbury to visit Portsmouth, home of the Royal Navy. There they embarked on Lord Nelson's famous flagship, HMS Victory, saw life below decks, and compared the captain's and admiral's cabins. They saw the barrel of brandy in which the admiral's body was stored for the long journey home but also learnt that it was more usual for the seamen to be stitched in their hammocks for a watery burial - only after a large needle was put through the nose to check they were really dead!

Helen & Tommy could learn a thing or two about gun safety! (above)

The battle of Trafalgar was re-enacted in the Trafalgar Experience before the two classes moved back 250 years to the time of King Henry VIII's 'Mary Rose'. Peering through the mists of wax spray preserving the timbers of the salvaged ship the pupils heard from handheld recorders how the ship had come to grief in action against the French and how the silt preserved not only the hull of the ship but priceless evidence of life on board in Tudor times - guns of bronze and guns of iron, the barber-surgeon's saws, officers' pewter plates, ratings' wooden bowls, cauldrons, and even bows and arrows.

Ahmad and King Henry VIII (above)

George and Tom with some unmoving musicians (above)

After a night's stay at Arundel Youth Hostel - great dinner and breakfast! - our helpful driver Ralph took us right to the door of Chichester Cathedral for a tour of the small but beautiful Norman and Gothic buildings and their many modern works of art. Among the antiquities seen was a chapel dedicated to St Thomas and St Edmund, the connexion with Canterbury being that Richard of Chichester was Edmund's chancellor during the latter's time as Archbishop of Canterbury. The brilliant colours of a Chagall stained glass window attracted admiration too.

The final stage of the visit was to an unusual open-air site at Singleton: the Weald and Downland Museum. This is a perfectly preserved working village made up of mediaeval, Tudor, and Stuart-period cottages; mill; and workshops, together with gardens and woodland. The large house called Bayleaf (pictured below) was the focus of a fascinating tour, where the pupils learnt the origins of phrases such as 'board and lodging', 'chairman of the board', and 'board games'.

We saw the itchy bedding and learnt how the saying 'sleep tight and mind the bedbugs don't bite' came about. We saw how Bayleaf had its kitchen in a separate building, signifying that its occupant was a person of some importance in the village community. Wood served a vital function in construction and all aspects of life, as explained by Mr Pearce (next picture).

Finally, a quick visit to the mill gave everyone a chance to see the mill-wheel in action and to learn of the mechanized lifting and grinding inside the millhouse. Charlotte and Tom were quick to associate the words 'molar' and 'mill', both to do with grinding, and received a small prize from the miller for their answers (see below).

21st century children chilling the old-fashioned way (above)

Photographs: copyright Thomas Hooley 2009