Beamish and Hadrian's Wall Trip 2026

Written by members of Form 5

“Hadrian's Wall is in a place that the Romans called the Edge of the Empire. It stretches all the way across England. It was 6 metres high and had a mile castle every Roman mile but now the wall is only one to one and a half metres high because farmers have taken stones to build walls for the animals and farmhouses. At the Roman Army Museum, we learnt how to count to three in Latin it goes like this: unus, duo and tres. We also learnt about the alphabet and how to say hello and goodbye!”

“At Housesteads, when I was walking along the wall it felt amazing because I had heard so much about Hadrian's Wall and I had never actually seen it or walked along it. At some points it was quite scary because on one side there was a little hill which led to the path next to it, but on the other side there was a huge drop which you would not want to fall down. I see why it was hard for the Picts to steal cattle and money from the Romans. We learnt that only boys were allowed to be Roman soldiers.”

“The fish was soft but good and the chips were a bit salty when we arrived at Beamish. The restaurant was very posh compared to modern time restaurants. We sat with our friends. We had a chat about all the things we have now but were not invented by the 1950s.”

“I loved sleeping in the tents. It was really fun because I haven’t slept in a tent for a long time and I love going camping. It was great because we were right next to a funfair and we all got to have a go on one of the rides. In the middle of all the tents there was a big space to play and at the end of the day we all played games together like tag, hide and seek or ninja squirrels. Ottie didn’t like sleeping in the tent because all the girls were complaining about the spiders and she had to rescue them! Plus, there were hundreds of beetles. The teachers were really nice and when there wasn’t a guide, they told us everything about the old buildings.”

“I loved cooking. I think it's my hobby now and I had a long go! I only cooked sausages, but they were good. Hector did the juice and cooked some of the bacon. It was so delicious, but we had cooked too much so we just had them for lunch on Wednesday!”

“The pit village was good for the coal miners to live in because being a coal miner meant that you were paid well and you even got to have a free house. Sadly, when they were working, they got dust in their lungs and after a while they would die.”

“At Pockerley Manor House we found out that in the 1820s poachers could get caught in a big trap that was so strong and that it could break their leg. Then the master of the house would report the poacher. The punishment was to be transported for 7 years.”

“People who had a lot of money often grew beautiful plants in their garden so they could show off how much money they had. They grew their vegetables somewhere nearby but out of the way so they could not see their vegetable patches. The poorer people made candles out of animal fat. They made bread by making oat cakes and leaving them to dry in the warmest and driest place in the house!”

“We had ice-creams to cool us down on Tuesday afternoon. I had banana and toffee flavour. It was delicious. Madeleine had blue raspberry, and it made her tongue turn completely blue! Some of us went on the big spinning swings. It was very scary for the first thirty seconds, then I realised that I was not going to fly out of the seat!”

“In our Victorian Lesson, we learnt that children in the top year group, aged 11, were taught how to write in pen and were taught the twelve times table. Children all the way through the school were taught to read, write and do arithmetic. They called it the three Rs.”

“My favourite part of the trip was seeing the farmhouse because it was Georgian like my house. I also liked seeing a man whittling wood into spoons. It also had a box bed for privacy and a pretty garden. Another favourite was the sweety shop because we could choose any sweets we wanted! I chose Fairy Drops. They were great! Yet another favourite part of this trip was when we went on the tram though the museum! It was like we were in the twentieth century! Travelling in a different way than nowadays was a real treat!”

By members of Form 5