Kilgraston Lower Four visit York

Kilgraston Lower Four visit York

As Sixth Form jetted off to Paris and Upper Four and Lower Fifth enjoyed a medley of activities close to home, Kilgraston Lower Four took a trip to York:

On Saturday the 12th of June 2022, a severe amount of last minute packing consumed all of us Lower fourth students. I begged my mum to drop me off extra early that morning just in case I had forgotten something. Then we were all gathered by our extremely helpful teachers who will definitely not be as willing to volunteer to take us next time! The previous few weeks prior to our exhibition the whole Lower Fourth class created uniquely coloured tie dye shirts which we wore from the morning of our departure until that same night.

Just before nine that morning we all lined up on the front lawn, in the most cluttered and disorderly fashion. We took pictures of us all together as our trip began. We travelled on the coach while watching Mamma Mia singing along to every word. We arrived at our first stop (not our destination), Vindolanda at around 1pm, searching and scoping the ancient roman fortress all whilst eating our packed lunch that the school catering kindly made for us all. Then after we had explored for a while, we all hauled ourselves back on our coach to travel the second half of our long journey. Even though our journey was long it was not a sickly one, as our very own, Mrs Bluett told us that if you normally feel carsick on a long journey, all you have to do is sit on a newspaper. As bizarre as it was it worked. For everyone it was astonishing and not even she herself could explain it.

We arrived at our youth hostel at around 5pm. Only half an hour after we arrived, we set off to the restaurant we were going to for dinner, Bella Italia. After a great dinner our first adventure in York began. Our teachers had booked a ghost tour guide to take us through York while telling true fascinating ghost stories of York’s past inhabitants, including Guy Fawkes. The next day started off with the York Minster which took over 250 intricate years to create. It was a wonder to explore and learn about. A while after we were all let loose to go shopping for just over an hour. After lunch we all arrived at the York dungeons, a programme with actors paid to scare and entertain us. After the spooky time we spent in the dungeons we headed off to the very interesting Yorvik Centre.

We were taught in a lively and interactive way to see active sculptures of Vikings in their era. After an already tiring day, we were all dying to eat our amazing Mexican food at Las Iguanas, a delicious experience. When we arrived back at the youth hostel, we all dove to our rooms either to rest after the long day or to take a nap. But about an hour later we were surprised with a quiz constructed by Mrs Bluett who probably regretted it after she heard all our yelling!

The next morning was our departure from York but it was not the end of our trip… we travelled on the coach for about and hour and a half when we were told we had to make a stop at Asda to buy our lunch as we would be too busy when lunch actually came. We all rampaged around the shop picking up anything and everything we could, obviously not realising that our eyes were bigger than our stomachs! After Asda we travelled a while longer until we got to Beamish, an amazing living museum that transported us fully into its Victorian age. We explored old fashioned homes, shops, schools, and fairs, rode on carousels and watched people making liquorice.

At around half past three we set off on the home stretch but not without stopping off at the McDonald’s right on the border between England and Scotland for dinner! We finally reached Kilgraston at eight o’clock, very much ready to sleep in our own beds. On behalf of all Lower Four, thank you to our wonderful teachers, Mrs Murphy, Mrs Bluett and most of Mrs Lyle for organising a great end of year trip.

Lucy, Lower Four