On Friday 13^th December the history department took 34 Year 8 pupils to visit the Tower of London.  Year 8 have been studying the Reformation and as part of their visit they were given a tour by a Tudor costumed guide who explained the religious turmoil of the 16^th century and the part that the Tower of London played in these events.  We of course also looked around parts of the Tower of London, including the infamous Bloody Tower and the White Tower.  The pupils were fascinated to see the crown jewels and they were also rather intrigued by the famous ravens.  A highlight of our visit was when one of the Yeoman Warders showed us where three executed queens were buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and the uncrowned Lady Jane Grey.  There is such a lot of history to see in the Tower of London and as you can imagine, our enthusiastic historians had lots of interesting questions.

After the Tower of London we headed across London to take a Thames River Cruise, but before we embarked there was time for some of the pupils and staff to enjoy a ride on a traditional carousel.  The river cruise took place in the dark and despite it being very cold, we enjoyed seeing the sights of London, including St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and many other buildings lit up.

We were all feeling very tired as we headed back to Cardiff but all agreed that we had had an interesting day of learning and sightseeing, and we had also had lots of fun and laughter.  The staff agreed that we had had a great day in the company of a fantastic group of young people.