Your most memorable school trip experiences?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. During one’s school years, school trips are often a staple. I’m sure that most of us went on at least a few school trips during our years in school, and often, some of these can be quite memorable for various reasons, so I’d be keen to know; what were some of your most memorable school trip experiences?

My reason behind making this thread is because when driving to Abingdon Airfield in Oxfordshire last weekend to watch my dad drive various fancy cars, we passed a road sign for one of the places I’d been on a school trip in primary school, and it brought back a series of… interesting memories.

In terms of some of my most memorable school trip experiences, some that stick out for me (including the aforementioned place we drove past) are the ones I went on in primary school. We went on a lot of historical school trips in primary school, and interestingly, my school had quite the penchant for historical accuracy… they always made us dress up in period-appropriate costumes, and do things in a period-appropriate manner! Some notable examples I can think of are:

• Gloucester Folk Museum (Gloucester, Gloucestershire) - This is one of the earliest school trips I can remember going on. We went to Gloucester Folk Museum for an authentic Victorian school experience, complete with a Victorian teacher. We had to recite the national anthem and write on blackboards, and someone in my class even received “the cane”! We all had to dress in Victorian attire, so we wandered down the streets of Gloucester looking like characters out of a Charles Dickens novel!
• Llancaiach Fawr Manor (Caerphilly, Wales) - This was when I was a bit older; if I’m remembering correctly, I think this trip was towards the end of my time in primary school. We went for a tour of a 16th century mansion in Caerphilly (in the Welsh Valleys), and we all had to dress in Tudor costumes. I remember being dressed in a Tudor writer’s costume, complete with hat and tights, so I looked something like a miniature William Shakespeare! We also had to take our lunch in paper bags for “historical accuracy”. On a side note, I later discovered that this house is reputedly among the top 10 most haunted houses in Britain… come to think of it, it did feel quite chilly in there, and the whole place smelt strongly of lavender…
• STEAM Museum (Swindon, South Gloucestershire) - This was the place I drove past a sign for on the way to Abingdon the other week, and this was also another trip that I went on towards the end of my time in primary school. Despite the STEAM museum being known as a railway museum, we actually went there for a World War 2 experience, where we sat in a fake air raid shelter and sang a very specific World War 2 folk song that we’d practiced for weeks in class! We all had to dress in WW2-era costumes, and once again, we all had to take our lunch in paper bags. If I’m remembering correctly, we even had to take one WW2-themed food item in our packed lunch, as I have this weird recollection of having some sort of honeycomb or rock cakes or something in my packed lunch that my mum had made to fulfil this particular requirement…

I left primary school close to 10 years ago now, so my memory of every aspect may not be perfect, but those are some school trips that I remember very distinctly from my time in primary!

I don’t remember the ones I did in secondary quite so distinctly, but I do remember a couple of the trips we went on; for instance, I remember going to the Big Pit Coal Museum in Blaenafon (another place in the Welsh Valleys), and I also went to Oakwood and Thorpe Park for reward trips in summers 2016 and 2018 respectively. No trip memories from secondary are quite so distinctive as the aforementioned primary trips, though…

But I’d be keen to know; what were some of your most memorable school trip experiences?

 

[pluk]

I don't recall any specific primary school trips.

Secondary school highlights include aged about 14 getting bussed up to London for a West end matinee, finding whatever it was dry and dull so bailing on the second half and finding a pub that didn't care that they were clearly serving school kids. Obviously we had too much fun and delayed the bus by about an hour when we skulked back a bit worse for wear. That's the most trouble I got myself in at school. Couldn't tell you what the show was.

Also secondary school, last year so 15 years old, was a trip to canoe around the Ardeche in France, followed by a few days at a beach camping activity resort. The canoeing was quite sensible, but once we got to the activity campsite it was utter carnage, like something out of a 90s frat film, with the teachers turning a blind eye to the liquor shop runs. It resulted in one pregnancy (not with my involvement!!) and noone being able to speak French any better.

Then into college our business studies department decided in their infinite wisdom that the best business to study as 16 year olds was Stella Artois, so off we went to Belgium to be given a free run at both the factory and the very accommodating bar keepers of Belgium (Antwerp? I can't remeber)with obvious results.

The other big college trip was Geography at the same age, where we went off by train and boat to the Isle of Aaron for some fun in some fields and rivers. That one by comparison was quite a sofisticated trip, even with the lodgings being on the side of a pub. Plenty was drunk but somehow we remained quite sensible up there. I went on to recieve an unclassified grade at Geography.

The one theme park school trip I recall clearly was the anual haloween jaunt to Chessington in the early to mid 90's. It was a wonderful place back then.

I feel like we might have had very different childhoods @Matt N !!

 

[RicketyCricket]

Went to Swanage and got stranded on a boat in the harbour. My mate Simon fell in the sea and got hypothermia, Jay set off a flare, and then Neil punched a fish to death.

 

[John_P]

My Primary and Junior school is very close to Liverpool Airport. So once we got a trip to visit the on site fire services and see them test the fire hoses.

 

[Alsty]

I've got a few that come to mind

Pottery factory

At primary school, probably aged about 6 or 7, went on day trip with some of my classmates to a pottery factory (this was when Staffordshire actually made pottery). I don't think the entire class went, so we had to do a small presentation when we got back for the rest of the class. It was pretty cool actually.

The one thing that sticks in my mind though was I remember one of the factory guys who gave us the tour was called Mr Coclough. In our presentation to the class I pronounced it Mr Cock-lift, much to everyone's amusement. (I was more innocent then and didn't know why that was funny)

Orienteering

In primary school, probably when we were around 10, we were put into small groups with a map and compass and some instructions then sent on our way.

Unsure what happened but we had a bust up with the kid with the map. He refused to let us see it.

The teachers had to find us as everybody else had long made it back.

Biology field trip

At high school, probably aged about 13, don't remember anything about the trip except most people including me wore trainers which were completely unsuitable for the muddy fields we walked through. At least once, lifted my foot to find my trainer was left behind in the mud.

Geography

This time we were about 14. We were in small groups in Hanley doing some nonsense relating to society or social issues. We had to ask the public etc and create a report on what we found.

Our group decided to look into disability access. We were given a wheelchair so we could check dropped kerbs, lifts etc.

What I do remember was one of us (not me) pushing one of the other mates really fast down the path. As fast as we could get it. I mean, you would at that age wouldn't you?

Went great until they hit a kerb and he flew out. We all thought it was hilarious. Some passerby got the arse though and said "If you don't help him back up then I'll put you in that wheelchair". I think he buggered off when our mate got up and was clearly not disabled.

Went to Swanage and got stranded on a boat in the harbour. My mate Simon fell in the sea and got hypothermia, Jay set off a flare, and then Neil punched a fish to death.

Trivia: This episode was set at Littlehampton which is about 2 miles from where I live. I've bought an ice cream from that very same window!

 

[Stuie]

The only one that I still remember was Alton Towers, 1994 - the year before I left secondary school.
If I remember correctly, we spent most of the day queuing for Nemesis and didn't ride much else.

 

[Matt.GC]

Black Country Museum, 1992, year 5. The industrial revolution is an interesting enough subject as it is, but I remember this place being awesome. I have no idea why I've not been back since? Me and the other half mentioned it yesterday when seeing signs up next to M5. We're planning on staying the night in Birmingham and visiting later in the year if we can get rid of the kids.

British Museum (I think), 1993 Year 6. I don't remember too much other than I enjoyed it. What I remember mostly is doing a piece about London Paddington station and the Great Western Railway. We were learning about Brunel (another interesting subject) and had visited his original terminus train shed at Bristol Temple Meads (now a car park but is actually reopening for train use again soon!) and travelled by train up the Great Western Mainline to Paddington. We also visited the SS Great Britain and the Clifton Suspension Bridge previously. We had to meet at Bristol Temple Meads at 7am, but my parents were busy so drove me to (the fairly newly opened) Yate station and put me on the train on my own to Temple Meads! Luckily, I found my teachers and the rest of the class when I got there.

Year 7 camp, 1995. Somewhere in Pembrokeshire. I remember an awesome zip line, camp fires and canoeing.

I was banned from the year 8 trip to watch Romeo and Juliet in the cinema because I smashed a school window accidentally with a Papier Mache ball.

Drayton Manor, 1997, Year 9. I was sick on the coach in a bag and had to sit at the front with the teachers. I remember having some chips with the most disgusting ketchup I've ever tasted and one of the less than savoury kids jumping off onto the sets on Pirate Adventure at 2 points around the circuit before getting back in the boat.

Alton Towers, 1998, Year 10. I had been every year with the family for the last 10 years (including a few weeks later) so me and a rather large group smashed tonnes of rides as I knew my way around more than most. My first ride on Oblivion and plenty of rides on Nemesis at the end of the day because we ignored the stupidly early time the coach wanted to leave. They were hardly going to go without us and they didn't bother even getting us there until gone 11am so we made sure to not head back until ride close.

 

[JAperson]

Black Country Museum, 1992, year 5. The industrial revolution is an interesting enough subject as it is, but I remember this place being awesome. I have no idea why I've not been back since? Me and the other half mentioned it yesterday when seeing signs up next to M5. We're planning on staying the night in Birmingham and visiting later in the year if we can get rid of the kids.

The BCLM is fantastic, I've been a few times recently. Worth taking the kids to be fair. It's also easy to reach via train, if you staying in central Birmingham you can get a train to Tipton (it's on the line to Wolverhampton), it's about a 10 minute walk from there. They've invested in a new entrance and they've got there new area's opening soon, so I'm planning a return later in the year too.

 

[Alix]

I don’t remember any primary school trips but I remember a hockey tour to Dublin in 5th form where we got let loose in Dublin by the teachers and got tipsy, and a German trip in year 12 where we got drunk on Kleiner Fieling (tiny bottles of fig liqueur ). The local German teens taught us to bang them on the table then neck them in one. Surprising, the figs didn’t have any negative effects that I can remember, but the pub did run out. Or that’s what they told us. Ah the 90s teachers were very relaxed back then…

 

[Jonathan]

I was banned from the year 8 trip to watch Romeo and Juliet in the cinema because I smashed a school window accidentally with a Papier Mache ball.

How on earth did you manage that?

I don't remember a huge amount of trips from the early years of primary school, though I'm pretty sure I went to a local brickworks in Year 1 (1998-1999) and also at some point either that school year or the year before, we had a pirate-themed day trip out to Wenchford in the Forest of Dean.

In Y2 (1999-2000), my class had a trip to Truro Cathedral, where we ended up singing a couple of songs (think they were 'Peace, perfect peace' and 'Make me a channel of your peace'). I've still got a small photo of us outside the cathedral on my windowsill, and I'm still in touch with the teacher our class had for that school year to this day.

Y3 (2000-2001) saw a trip to the Royal Cornwall Museum while studying Ancient Egypt, which included a re-enactment of what an 'accessing the afterlife' scenario might be like. Think I ended up taking the role of the Pharaoh.

Y4 (2001-2002) had a few local trips around St Ives to learn about the history, and I remember a camp to Tehidy Woods, which was...interesting, to say the least. Think some of us were still up talking at 3am one night - oops. We did some orienteering, which went wrong due to my team not taking notice of my instructions when I was right and they were wrong, so I might've thrown a bit of a tantrum & stayed at the post for a few minutes to make my point. Don't really recall it working, but I tried. One trip which I think was in Y4 involved us going to the Minack Theatre on the south coast of Cornwall. It was carved out of the cliffs in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and it's stunning. It absolutely poured down, but the performance still went ahead. Mum picked me up from school, as I was due to go to a Cub Scout camp near Bodmin that weekend, but there was something I had to do first. Because I was completely soaked through, I had to change everything I was wearing in the footwell of the car. Yes, even my pants were soaking wet.

Y5 (2002-2003) saw a residential trip to the Roseland Peninsula. First time in a canoe and sailing, which was a nice experience. Also got to meet a few owls brought down from the Screech Owl Sanctuary, and I still have a cuddly toy owl called Fluffy that I bought on that trip.

Y6 (2003-2004) had an 'activities week' at the end of the year instead of the traditional school camp at Porthpean, which I suspect was a decision made by the acting head (I have many stories about her, none of them being good). One day had a trip to the dry ski slopes in Plymouth, one day had a trip to an outdoor activity centre, one day had a beach trip (bit of a weird one when we lived in a coastal town anyway...), and one day ice-skating and swimming in Plymouth. It was...Fine, I guess.

Y8 (2005-2006) saw a trip to Plymouth Argyle to watch them play Leicester City. The first one in November was called off at half-time due to a waterlogged pitch, and was rescheduled for January. Argyle eventually won it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, my aunt & uncle - who are big Leicester City fans - came down as well, and ended up coming down to the bus we were on prior to the rescheduled match. Was quite nice to see them, and I enjoyed rubbing the result in. Not to mention a trip to Flambards for the top set (which I was in) at the end of the year. Really good fun.

Y9 (2006-2007) had a trip to Barcelona in the October half-term. Was absolutely brilliant. Got to tour the Camp Nou, walk down Las Ramblas, saw the Sagrada Família, had a look around the Circuit de Catalunya (including stepping onto the podium), and - of course - a day at PortAventura. Probably one of the best school trips I've done, if not the best.

Y10 (2007-2008) involved a trip to the theatre to watch 'The History Boys'. Was a bit of a chaotic day, as my younger brother ended up in hospital with concussion, and my parents needed to be there (though it's probable that Dad had a meeting that evening and Mum needed to be at the hospital). So what happened? Along with my older brother, we ended up at a friend's house near our school for a bit - we were all going on the same trip, so it made sense. This year also had a trip to Cardiff to watch the RSC's adaptation of Malorie Blackman's 'Noughts and Crosses'. Was absolutely excellent. One person in my year nearly got banned from all future school trips due to heckling at one point in the second half, but that's not all. Oh, no - shortly after we got into Wales, someone (not me) made an inappropriate reference to a common Welsh stereotype that got us all laughing.

In college, I did a combined law/business/economics trip to London two years running. The first year involved attending a law conference for A Level students, which was at least vaguely interesting, and a visit to the Supreme Court, followed by some time on Oxford Street. The second year had a tour of the Houses of Parliament, another visit to the Supreme Court, viewing a trial at the Old Bailey, and more time on Oxford Street. Was really good.

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

The day trip to Boulogne, France in year 8 is the one that springs to mind for me. We had to arrive at school to get the coach at around 10-11pm which at 12/13 years old was really exciting. I remember spending some time walking around the town with friends unsupervised, then we all went to a restaurant for lunch where they had pictures on the walls of the manager of Liverpool FC at the time, Gerard Houllier, which my head of year was really enthused by (he was from Liverpool and a big LFC fan). Then they took us to this huge shopping centre for a couple of hours then back on the coach for the long journey home. I think we actually spent more time on the coach during that trip than anywhere else! It was my first time going on the channel tunnel and I was really disappointed to find it was nothing like I imagined (i Imagined it to be like the shark tunnel at sea life).

It was a right laugh, nobody slept for any significant amount of time for the whole trip, I someone woke the teachers up on the coach by taking a photo of them whilst they were sleeping with the flash on which was hilarious as they couldn’t figure out who it was and by the end of it we were all totally delirious due to no sleep over the last 24 hours. Looking back it was totally nuts, not sure who’s bright idea it was to take a bunch of kids on a day trip to France whilst running on no sleep but it was fun if only for the social aspect - the coach journey was by far the best bit.

Second one is the year 10 trip to Alton Towers but for the wrong reasons. I had my day ruined due to someone, I assume mistakenly due to them having the exact same bag as me, picking up my bag from the bag bin on ripsaw, it had my purse with all my spending money for the day in it, my house keys with a couple of key rings I was really fond of and had sentimental value and a ride photo or two. Spent the whole afternoon traipsing to and from guest services to see if it had been handed in but it hadn’t been and I never got my stuff back.