Kent

On Saturday we went to Kent.

In Kent we visited a few of the places our ancestors had something to do with, including the Pullens.

But before any of that we went to Canterbury Cathedral. Canterbury Cathedral is where Thomas Beckett died. Also Canterbury Cathedral is where what is called 'Murder in the Cathedral' happened to Thomas Beckett. Unfortunately we couldn't go in because there was another group inside that morning.



After that, we went to the Pullens' church which is said to be the place where Thomas Beckett is buried. We found some of the Pullens' graves, including one belonging to my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather.

St Mary's Chilham

In front of William Pullen's grave

Then we went to Dover Castle. We were there on St George's day. We had a lot of fun at Dover castle especially because of the wind. My favourite thing at Dover Castle was a play that we watched.

Then we went home in the night. We didn't get home until 9.30!

In the Castle kitchens

castle staircase

Playing an imaginary game with Bec.

Isaac Newton

We decided to learn about Isaac Newton last week, because he was a famous scientist who lived and worked in Trinity College, Cambridge. When we visited Trinity College we saw an apple tree in the garden outside his window, which was grown from part of the famous tree that legends say he was sitting under when he worked out the laws of gravity.

We learnt that he was quite a jealous person with lots of secrets. Some of them we can never unlock. We also learnt about some of the amazing things that he worked out, to do with gravity, the planets, light and colours, and a sun-clock that he made when he was a kid.

We made a game about what we learnt about him. I hope you enjoy looking at the photos.

Paddington at Large

I've been reading Paddington at Large. The book is written by Michael Bond. Paddington Bear comes from Peru in South America. Paddington is a bear that is always up to mischief. He also comes up with really good excuses.

Paddington is mischievous because once when Paddington found a cooking book he tried to make a recipe that seemed really easy but was really hard.

Paddington is very quick at coming up with excuses because in one chapter Paddington is on TV and keeps on answering questions wrong, but kept on saying what he did.

My favourite chapter is called 'Paddington Hits the Jackpot'. I like it because it's really funny and because it's got lots of excuses. (It's the same one as my demonstration.)

My favourite character is Mr Gruber. Mr Gruber is Paddington's best friend. I like him because he is very kind.

The main characters are Mr Gruber, Jonathan and Judy, Mr and Mrs Brown, and Paddington.

My London Visit

I went to London with my family the week that Margaret Thatcher died. Here are some pictures of things that we saw:

Hampton Court Palace

Platform 9 3/4!!

Tower of London

A raven at the Tower of London

St Paul's Cathedral

A fox we saw in our back garden!

Trafalgar Square

The British Museum

Kensington Palace (here I am talking to the librarian)

Queen Victoria's wedding dress

A blue whale skeleton at the Natural history museum

Buckingham Palace

Changing of the guard

Museum of London

Me and Boudicca!

Big Ben

Family history

This week Jacob, Rebecca and I have been learning a bit about our family history. Mum has found a lot of convicts in our family tree. One day this week, we wrote a list together of the convicts. We also worked out where they came from and why they were sent to Australia. You can follow the link to the list.

And another day we worked out where mum's side of the family came from and put what we found on a map. There is already a map that my grandpa did for dad's side so we looked at that too. Mum's family all came from Scotland, England and Ireland. Here is my map.

The Easter holidays

On Friday we went to church (since it was Good Friday!). In the afternoon we did a walking tour of Cambridge and learnt about some of the history.

This is a statue of William Wilberforce, who helped to stop the slave trade.

This is the Great Court at Trinity College, and the fountain where Lord Byron bathed with his clothes off. He also wanted to bring a bear into the College as his pet.

On Saturday we went to the Fitzwilliam Museum. The Fitzwilliam Museum is a really good museum. It has lots of different sections. After that we went to one of our friends' houses. They live in an apartment and come from Australia. We went to a nearby duck pond and park. It was a lot of fun!

On Easter Sunday after church we went to Wimpole Hall and did an Easter egg trail. It was really fun. (Lots of National Trust houses to Easter egg trails.)

The egg and spoon challenge

Grooming a donkey at Wimpole Hall

On Monday we went to Long Melford and a house called Melford Hall. Melford Hall is a Tudor house. Beatrix Potter visited there sometimes because her cousins lived there. They called her Cousin Beatie. The room she stayed in was the West bedroom. She had a place in her room where she kept all her animals.

This is a mutliplication table painted on the wall of the Lady Chapel in the church at Long Melford. They used to use it as a school.

This is Beatrix Potter's room at Melford Hall

We also visited Bury St Edmunds and saw the ruins of an abbey.

Here I am standing in front of the Abbey ruins.