Stopfordian 2010–2011 - Stockport Grammar School

The Stopfordian 2010–2011
1917, and Tyne Cott, the largest British military cemetery in
the world. We also witnessed the poignant Last Post played
every day of the year by the Firemen of Ypres at the Menin
Gate in memory of 55,000 British and Commonwealth
soldiers who fought to save the town and have no known
grave. Faye Holleworth and Sam Haley laid a wreath on
behalf of SGS during the ceremony.
This was a truly significant experience for all pupils involved,
who finally realised that people, not much older than
themselves, gave up everything to fight for their country.
Those who took part experienced the reality and significance
of World War One and will remember much more than the
pages of a history textbook.
H. R. Ashton
FIRST YEAR TRIP TO FRANCE
The First Year trip this year was to Rue in Picardy, which is in
northern France. The trip started early, at 6.30am, to be
precise! As soon as this was announced in assembly one
morning, everyone let out a tremendous groan, but the show
must go on…
With everyone else tucked up in bed, only the brave and the
fearless showed up to bid us goodbye and with a dark grey sky
overhead everyone boarded the coaches. Starting off with a
safety video, we set off on our French adventure.
On the road, there was always a chorus of excited chatter,
singing and the parents’ old favourite, “Are we there yet?”.
Luckily we were not completely left to our own devices; there
was a TV screen, on which we watched some ‘interesting’
movies. As soon as we saw the white cliffs of Dover, everyone
brought out their phones or cameras to prove they had
actually seen the cliffs.
Once in France, after a little more driving, spotting the wind
turbines, we were in the wonderful village of Rue and what
would become our home for the trip, the Château De Broutel.
With crunchy gravel to drag our many bags through, we set off
with the Château’s staff to dump our stuff in our new rooms
and get to know our surroundings.
Teatime – and with a chocolate tart for dessert, it was hard to
resist. Evening activities involved team building games, a
scavenger hunt and building things, and then we were sent to
our rooms to enjoy chatter and laughter before finally falling
asleep. The morning was bright, early and hot as we set off
for a History lesson about the Château and Rue. After the
history had soaked in, much like the sun, it was time to buy
and bargain for nic-nacs and in Rue’s pretty market.
The afternoon began with a trip to Amiens to see the beautiful
cathedral and for more shopping along the way. The cathedral
was absolutely breathtaking, with huge walls and beautiful
stone carvings. After more fun evening activities, we went to
bed with our minds full of the things we had seen that day.
The morning was once again hot and gorgeous, as we headed
to the sea-life centre. There was plenty to see - penguins,
dolphins, multi-coloured fish, alligators, sharks and my all time
favourite, sea lions. The sea lions were visible beneath the
water, with a glass corridor to walk through; the sea lions
seemed to be teasing us from all sides and underneath our
feet! There were plenty of opportunities to take videos and
pictures, plus with the bonus view from the top, they were the
stars!
The afternoon involved a trip into caves where a whole village
of people had lived in secret, hiding from the Nazis during the
Second World War. With traps and even a miniature church,
we all thought that they were awesome. We went back to the
Château for the last time and were treated with frogs’ legs and
snails, a true French way of saying goodbye. After that it was
party time, with a disco! There was laughing, singing and
dancing to music like YMCA and We Will Rock You!
The morning was once again beautiful, with not a cloud in the
sky. We set off on the long trek home, stopping off at a bakery
en route. At the bakery we learned the ingredients to make
bread and croissants (in French) and also how to roll a
croissant. With yummy things to buy before we left, it was a
fantastic experience.
We had one more stop, at the shopping centre. With more
things to buy, most of us had nothing left to spend. Once on
British shores, it was a six hour drive until home.
All in all it was an amazing experience and I would not have
missed it for the world. I was just relieved not to have any
more early mornings for a while!
Freya Ferguson (1S)
46 Trips