Y8 Slaving away in History

The trip to the National Maritime Museum was one to remember! Firstly, let us begin with the journey - we travelled via public transport (TfL) , on a 140-route bus and alighting at 'Hayes & Harlington Station', upon which we were separated into two groups, led by Mr. Liddell and Ms. Thomas.  We then travelled to 'Canary Wharf' via the 'Elizabeth line' train, after which we switched to a DLR (Docklands Light Railway) train, enjoying the urban city-scape and alighting the train at 'Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich', which had been approximately 5 minutes away from the National Maritime Museum, where our exciting adventure truly began.

On arrival at the museum, we were introduced to Kate, who was our primary instructor for the day, within the learning centre of the museum.  Our group was informed about the events and objects which had been utilised within the 'Transatlantic slave trade', within a theatre-hall at the museum. Afterwards, we were taken to learn about 'object-handling' with Jo, where we learnt about various fascinating items which had been related to the trade of enslaved people, across the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, in small groups, we learnt about the manuscripts and newspapers which had been archived from the 'Transatlantic slave trade', with Sophie and Kate.

Before I had realised, it had already become time for our well-earned lunch-break!

After lunch, we walked to the mesmerising galleries, which consisted of informative archives of objects which had been related to the trade of enslaved people and objects across, the Atlantic Ocean, where we analysed various historical records, amazing artefacts and interesting newly-added creations, consisting of the work of various artists, throughout many centuries!

This brought us to the end of our visit which we celebrated with a group-photo under the statue of 'King William IV' , before travelling back to Barnhill.

Overall, year 8's trip to the 'National Maritime Museum' had been a hugely-enriching and memorable experience, and one which I had certainly enjoyed!

Antarip 8F [History student]