History

Russia Trip 2018

We arrived at Heathrow Airport at 6:30 AM and got through security without problems. After boarding at 8:15, our flight was delayed by an hour, but we all filled the time by watching films on the plane screens. When we got off the plane in Moscow, it was already getting dark and we immediately boarded the coach to get to the suburbs of Moscow. There, we visited the house where Lenin died. On the tour, we learnt lots of interesting facts about Lenin (such as that he spoke 7 languages) and also got to see his Rolls Royce which was adapted for snowy Moscow winters by having skis attached to the tank-like wheels.

The following day we got the metro from our hotel in the suburbs to the Red Square. Although similar to the London tubes, Moscow is much prouder of its infrastructure so the stations and platforms are spacious and ornately decorated, putting the grotty London Underground to shame. After a brief tour of Moscow, we queued in the rain for over an hour to see the embalmed body of Lenin. Seeing the body was a surreal experience, not least because of the guards on all four corners of the room and the red glow highlighting Lenin’s waxy appearance. We were quickly ushered out and took the opportunity to take pictures in front of the iconic St Basil’s Cathedral.

Later that day, we visited the Cosmonaut museum, and it was interesting to have an insight into the Soviet perspective of the Space Race, in comparison to the usual American view. The next day, we visited the Flea Market in Moscow. The market itself was full of Russian dolls, music boxes and FIFA World Cup merchandise and we haggled with the merchants for better prices (some more successfully than others).

After an exciting final day in Moscow, we ended the evening by eating in the Hard Rock Café and then traveling to the train station where we caught the overnight train to St Petersburg. Travelling on the overnight train was an interesting experience; we did not get much sleep but generally enjoyed the journey. We arrived in St Petersburg at 8:00 AM the next morning and met our new guide, Victoria. We dropped off our bags at our hotel and ate a delicious breakfast before setting off in our coach to have a quick tour of the city. After this, we had a guided tour of the Peter and Paul Fortress, visiting the prison and seeing the cathedral where the last Tsar, his wife and children (except Alexei and Maria) had been laid to rest.

We had a lovely lunch at the Marketplace and then went to visit the amazing Yusapov Palace which, whilst also being incredibly beautiful, was where the murder of Rasputin was plotted. After a good night’s rest, the next day we visited both Catherine’s Summer Palace and the Winter Palace, which also included the Hermitage Gallery. In the afternoon we were given some free time to wander around the gallery, giving us the chance to gain some knowledge about Russian culture. That evening we were fortunate enough to be able to attend an evening of traditional Russian folk dancing and singing at the Nikolaevsky Palace. It was a wonderful evening as we were in awe of the amazing skills displayed by the dancers and singers. The next day was our final morning in St Petersburg. We started the day with a final brisk walk down the Nevsky Prospect and found the original shop where the Russian dolls for the Nutcracker were made. As well as this, we were given the opportunity to buy some more souvenirs before we got back on the coach to return to the airport. We landed back to greet the warmth of London at around 5:00 PM, tired but having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We would like to say a big thank you to Mr Pepper and Ms Critcher for making this trip happen. We all had a wonderful time.

Bethan Davies-Asmar, Charlotte Grimwade and Sapna Joshi, Year 12

History Masterclass has been so much fun to attend this year! Whether it’s been hearing about 18th century fashion or Lincoln’s role in the American Civil War, all of the talks delivered have been extremely interesting. This year, I have also had the opportunity to present two masterclasses myself. It was really beneficial to talk about two historical topics that fascinate me: the Spanish Civil War and the Mexican Revolution. Overall, History Masterclass is great if you want to learn more about unusual periods of history, have interesting historical discussions and talk about topics that fascinate you!

Charlotte Grimwade, Year 12 Very busy, everyone is very welcoming and friendly. The school lunches are also really nice!

I love history and wanted to do something that involved history every day.

I used to want to be a dentist but changed my mind at 17. If I wasn’t a teacher, I might have wanted to be a book publisher (but I think that would be too quiet!) or do a job that involves reading.

I am particularly interested in 19th century women’s history, so much so that I wrote my university dissertation on it. I also find Stalin particularly interesting, I really enjoyed studying him at A-Level.

Quite a few actually including noisy eating, people talking with their mouth full and slow walking.

A very good book (I’m not sure which one), maybe Jeeves and Wooster, and (even though it’s a bit pretentious) a record player.

Stephen Fry, Bear Grylls (he might be able to fix the lift!) and Lucy Worsley.

Horrible Histories Club!

If I tell you to think of Horrible Histories, what do you think of? I think that Horrible Histories gives you a completely new perspective on an aspect of history that you had previously thought of differently.

Throughout our various sessions, we have explored many different periods of history by means of fun activities and crafts! One of my favourite sessions was when we ‘celtified’ Barbie dolls. For the famous woad-blue paint that they put on themselves to look intimidating when running into battle, we covered our Celtic dolls in blue felt-tip pens. There was a competition for the most elaborate and extreme woad designs. We also cut and plaited the Barbie dolls’ hair to make them look more menacing. When we had a 1980s themed session, we played a Horrible Histories Club version of Tetris. Charlotte and Ella (the amazing History Reps) had cut out lots of Tetris shapes and we each had a grid on which to move them across. It was a two-player game with somebody sliding the shapes over to you. However, this did turn into throwing if someone was doing particularly well! During our session about the Egyptians, mummifying Charlotte and Ella proved to be really fun. We had to wrap them in as much toilet roll as we could for the duration of the Horrible Histories Cleopatra song. We have also built the Parthenon out of paper, made Suffragette rosettes and Georgian wigs, all accompanied by the infamous Horrible Histories soundtrack.

If any of that sounds fun to you (insert enthusiastic nodding here) then please come to Room 10 on a Wednesday lunchtime to see what the History Reps have cooked up for each new session. I’ll see you there!

Charlotte Coningsby, Year 7