Monday 8th October

Form 1 trip to Yorkshire Air Museum

Form 3 trip to Lakeland Motor Museum

We had to drive a long, long way but I knew it was going to be worth! When we stepped inside the Lakeland Motor Museum there were planes hanging from the roof, a massive collection of little toy cars, these 70 year old coin machines and lots of mannequins in the vehicles like the police cars.

After that we went on a steam train. I loved how it chugged along. When that finished we went on a ferry on Lake Windermere and as we went through the mist I felt like I was a bird flying into the abyss. Then, we were on the other side of the lake...

Freddie Fletcher

Tuesday 9th October

Form 2 trip to Wensleydale Railway

Form 4 & 5 trip to National Railway Museum

As part of book week, Forms 4 and 5 went to the National Railway Museum in York. The purpose of the trip was to find out about the running, engineering, history and the business side of trains. 

In the museum there are 3 different areas: the Great Hall, which had both modern fast trains inside, like the Eurostar and the Shinkansen (the bullet train), and old trains like the Mallard and the Duchess of Hamilton. Then, there was the Station Hall which is an old station brought back to real life with old sign posts and ticket machines. It also has Queen Victoria’s old train and the royal carriages. It also has the first ever made class-87 train! There is also the North Shed which has a viewing gallery where you can stand and look at the trains coming in and out of York station. 

My highlight of the whole day was when we went to the learning area. We had an interesting talk about building train tunnels and pressure. The presenter of this activity made us all laugh as when he got teachers to carry out an experiment. Mr Gaven and Mr Barlow volunteered and had to pump air into a water canister, and whoever’s lid flew off first was the winner. Mr Barlow won this experiment (but I think there was a bit of cheating involved in that victory as he started before the timer started…!)

Form 5 trip to RAF Leeming

On the 8th October, Form 5 went to RAF Leeming for a tour around a Hawk T-1 aircraft in 100 Squadron ending with a hands-on experience on some vehicles and guns in 33 Squadron.

In 33 Squadron, we saw Machine Guns and I got to use one of them. They are used on the ground or on top of a RAF ground vehicle when the base is under attack. This is why in RAF bases, they don’t just have aircraft, they have a lot of ground vehicles as a backup if the base was going to go under attack. I was very interested in how they worked. I considered how mechanical and how dangerous this was? Should I be holding this dangerous machinery that could fire any time?

Also in 33 Squadron, we also saw loads of vehicles. Two of the vehicles were started up so we could use the technical features inside them. In one of the vehicles, there was a gun which also had a camera next to it so then they could aim using the computer screen, controlled by a joystick. 

In another vehicle, there was a gun on top of it which was manually controlled by human hand. When the vehicle was driving in the night, it had a night vision camera so then the officers could see without turning on the lights outside in case they would be spotted. They would be able to lower a blackout sheet on the windows so then any interior lights could not be seen. 

This left me with a bigger understanding of these military vehicles. I wondered how they would drive the vehicles if they were under cover or they were under attack and they needed to move without alerting the enemy?

In 100 Squadron, we saw some Hawk T-1 aircraft in a hangar which I was given a tour on the full aircraft and the different external features before going up in groups for a tour of the cockpit. The cockpit was not what you would see in an Airbus A350 with its many computer screens, the Hawk instead had some analogue dials. I was totally fascinated by how this aircraft worked, I could not believe that I was standing a couple of feet away from a RAF aircraft. But this got me thinking. Why did the RAF still fly planes about 40 years old? What if the 1 engine that this aircraft had failed? How long would an officer be able to hold their breath for if he/she had to eject above 10,000 feet?

My conclusion of this visit was that is was an outstanding visit. I could not believe that I was standing or sitting inside or outside a military vehicle or outside an aircraft. This was a very lucky visit and I fulfilled the visit. The questions that I had thought of were given answers which were very interesting. 

My favorite thing I did at RAF Leeming was look at the vehicles as well as interacting with the different military devices. I hope that sometime soon I will be able to go back to RAF Leeming.

Oliver Marshall

Thursday 10th October

Character parade and themed lunch

Poetry recital competition

Friday 11th October

Planes, trains and automobiles' rally - a celebration of a century of motor transport 

Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th October

Book Fair provided by The Little Ripon Bookshop