Over 70 Year 7 students descended on the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley on Friday 7th March. This was a Humanities enrichment visit where the students could actually experience the effects of the industrial revolution.

We started the day by getting hard hats on and going down the mines. The pitch black scene was scary and it was interesting to see the working conditions whilst extracting the valuable material. Whilst down there, we heard typical stories from the miners and learned why the area was given the name 'The Black Country'.

We then moved on to the main street, where we went into many of the shops and hardware stores and learned about how they were pivotal to the community and families of the area. We had chance to buy some old fashioned sweets in the confectionery shop just before heading to the school for our Victorian style lesson. The teacher was strict and threatened the cane to any student who did not follow the rules. As we chanted times tables and practised our handwriting using old-fashioned slates, the teacher inspected our hands to make sure they were clean.

In the afternoon, after eating old-fashioned chips cooked in beef dripping, the students played games in the street. The weather was fantastic and we all had an excellent time.

The Humanities Department hope to see as many students on the trip next year.

Photographs of the trip are available below. Please click on an image to enlarge it.

Mrs J Rowley

Head of Humanities