Last week, our Academic Prep course went on an activity week where they explored the surrounding area and further afield to learn about British culture and heritage.
On Monday we went canoeing down the beautiful river Wye from Hay-on-Wye, known as the town of books, to Whitney-on-Wye, a journey of some three miles! Although there were plenty of sore arms at the end and one or two unplanned ‘swims’ everyone enjoyed working as a team to get us to where we had to go.
Tuesday saw us travel all the way to Cardiff – the capital of Wales – to visit St Fagans, an open air museum showing students what life was like in Wales throughout the ages. Students were able to visit replica Victorian style shops and see how goods were made before the modern technology that we take for granted today.
We stayed a little closer to home on Wednesday and visited Worcester. After a visit to the cathedral where we saw the tomb of King John and a scenic walk along the canal – where some of our students were kind enough to help the lock keeper operate the locks along the canal to let boats through. The students were also allowed some time alone to explore the historic city at their own pace. To finish off the day we visited the Commandery, the site where King Charles conducted the final battle of the English Civil war. As well as learning about the English Civil War students also had the opportunity to try on some of the clothes worn in battle at the time, including those of pikemen and musketeers.
Our final day saw us return to Cardiff and Big Pit, the museum of Welsh mining. Here students were able to experience the dangerous life of a coal miner and even descended into an actual coal mine 300 feet deep, with nothing but a dim torch to guide them!