Year 5 Class News and Information

As part as our history topic we went to Wigan Pier. We went into the mines and we saw the children working in the factory They had lots of different jobs.

We went into a chemist and got to make tablets. We made the tablets by dipping the mix into paste and then putting it into a pill maker. We put the lid on and pressed hard and then we had small pills. The Victorians dipped their tablets into colour so that they tasted and looked much better. We also got to touch and smell other things as well.

Next we saw other shops, like a bakers. From the side of the bakery you could see the old fashion till. It had posh buttons and a big cash draw. They had a market on. They had lots of stalls, like fishmongers, sweets and lots, lots more.

After that we went into the schoolroom. The girls had to sit at one side of the room and the boys at the other. We sat behind some wooden desks. We got to write on slate boards and write with scratchers just like the olden days. The teacher taught us about the 3 C's of Lancashire. They were coal, cotton and canals. It was really strict and we had to be called by our last name. When the teacher entered the room we had to rise and be seated only when she asked. When we were spoken to we had to rise and say our last name. We weren't allowed to speak unless spoken to and if we did something wrong we were punished. Sometimes this meant standing in the corner on a stool and wearing a dunce's cap.

At the end of our visit we went into an old fashioned house. They had a living room that was only used for special occassions like parties, funerals, weddings and christenings. They had a kitchen which was the main room. They ate, cooked and washed themselves in the kitchen. They had two rooms upstairs. One of the rooms was for the adults and the other for the children. In one family there were about 10 children, so all the children had to share one room. It was very squashed. They didn't have a toilet indoors, it was all the way across the backyard, So if they needed the toilet in the middle of the night they had to do it in a bowl but it made the room smell. In the morning the oldest child had to carry the bowl down stairs and tip it away. They didn't have toilet roll in their toilet so they had to use newspaper. Once a week was wash day and the mothers had to wash the clothes by hand. They had a special machine, which squeezed all the water out but it was hard work.

A visit to a Hindu temple.

 

 

 

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