Tudor Trip

Saskia is studying the Great Fire of London at school. She can tell me, without hesitation the date it happened, street where it started and who the King was at the time. All of these things I would have to think about a bit before answering.
Their class took a trip out to a Tudor house yesterday. Yes, yes, I know the Tudors were a bit before the GFofL, but the dangerously inflammable houses were still around. Timber frames and thatched roofs were an accident waiting to happen.

Saskia made a model of one of the black and white houses with Nick. It was a masterpiece of cereal-box engineering. Unfortunately, it lost its roof when Eartha sat on it, but it went to school and is on display nonetheless.

Not working has its advantages. I volunteered to be one of the parent helpers on the trip. The kids in that class know me anyway because I change their library books every couple of weeks.

The coach ride was about half an hour. When we got there the kids got to try on medieval costumes of rich people and of the poor peasants. Everyone wanted the rich clothes, of course. Much prettier.
Next they checked out how the beams are held together by pegs instead of nails. There was a short talk about it and they were actually shown how the joints worked.Then they investigated a little grate-watering pot, ideal for putting out sparks (something the victims of the GFofL should have had). They all got their hands in to try it out. You put your thumb over the top to hold the water in by suction, like putting your finger on top of a straw.

The last two activities were trying out some old toys and having a go on a loom.
Finally, we took a short walk around the town, looking for Tudor houses.