On 14th December 2013, 44 students and 5 staff boarded the coach to head off to London. After a good hour and a half on the coach we hit the A127.
“Yay it’s the bumpy bridge”, yells Mr Newley
“I used to go over this all the time when I was a kid”.
Within seconds the whole coach was in awe as their stomachs lifted a few feet.“Wheeeeeeee”.
Heading further into London you could hear the excitement as we began to pass big London Landmarks. Within the space of 20 minutes students had seen landmarks such as Tower Bridge, Tower of London, London Bridge, The London Eye and Big Ben. On arrival at Hyde Park we could see the park was already getting busy. We headed directly through to the ice skating rink to establish a meet point. Students were allowed to go off and explore for 20 minutes before they were due to go ice skating.
At 11am the rink was opened. Students had to opportunity to venture onto the ice. Some were more confident than others. However by the end of the session all students had taken time off from the edge and had a good skate around. There was only one major incident where Mr Newley has a slight wardrobe malfunction. His nickname from thereafter was ‘Binbags’ as he had to replace his trousers with some waterproof pull overs. An hour later students were allowed to go off and enjoy the rest of Winter Wonderland which included funfair rides, a huge array of gift stalls and samples of delicious seasonal foods.
Later in the afternoon we boarded the coach and headed off to Westminster for the London Dungeons, where students took time to enjoy McDonald’s as they took in the sights. Students really enjoyed the experience in the London Dungeons. We had a few screams and tears but the venue was enjoyed by all. It gave a very real and informative experience of the life of Londoners over several decades.
By 6pm we made our way to the coach and boarded for the two hour trip home going over ‘the bumpy bridge’ once again. When students were asked to comment on their most memorable moment we received the following comments:
“Mr Newley splitting his trousers”
“The tea pots”
“Ice Skating”
“Weird tunnel in the London Dungeons”
“London Dungeons”
“Jack the Ripper”
“The whole of Winter Wonderland”
“The Food”
“Charlie Landers asking for the time whilst staring at Big Ben”
“Learning to Ice Skate”
“McDonalds”
“EVERYTHING!”
It was clear from these comments that all had a fantastic time and will take home many lasting memories.