Year 5's Trip to Tower Bridge

Year 5 had a great day at Tower Bridge this week for a Victorian Thames workshop. The children used historical sources, including a census, photographs and old posters, to investigate the life of someone who worked on the Thames. They thought carefully about why Tower Bridge mattered so much to Victorian London, and why people at the time were so interested in how it worked.

After the workshop, we had a tour of the museum. The children learned how steam from the engine rooms was used to raise and lower the bridge up to 30 times a day, and they got to see the original machinery up close. A favourite moment was hearing the story of the number 78 bus in 1952 — the bridge started to lift while the bus was still on it, and the driver put his foot down and drove across the gap to the other side.

The children came back tired and full of facts. Thank you to our parent and carer helpers for a brilliant day.

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