On Thursday 17th of July 2025 the children went to Stockport Air Raid shelters for the day. Everyone had the opportunity to dress up, with the children arriving as evacuees and the staff as land girls.
The coach took us into Stockport where we were greeted by staff from the shelters, who were also dressed up as wardens to help the evacuees.
In the tunnels it was much colder than it was outside and the children were encouraged to sing songs to help feel more cheerful, as they would have done in the shelters during World War 2. We split into two groups of Reception/ Key Stage 1 and then Key stage 2. We then went to explore the shelters, travelling through part of the mile long tunnels. We saw the beds that would be available for people to sleep on but we all agreed it would not be the comfiest nights sleep. There would have been approximately 1,000 beds but there could be as many as 4,000 people, so many were left to sleep on the benches or the floor!
We got chance to look at the sick bay and the nurses area, finding the toilets on the way where many of us were less than impressed by the toilet paper!
After lunch we were able to get hands on with some of the things children would be doing during the war. Whilst dad was away at war and mum was out doing important war work, the housework was left to the children to complete. We had some very enthusiastic hoovering and washing with the dolly tub. Mrs Clayton was on hand to make sure no fingers were squashed whilst using the mangle! There were lots of cups of ‘tea’ handed out and the fancy dress was a big hit!
The day ended with the trying on of gas masks to protect you when a gas attack occurred! There was 6 seconds after the gas alarm was raised for you to get your mask on! We were very quick!
A visit to the gift shop concluded the day before returning to the coach to travel back to Hartington.
We had all had a brilliant day and it was wonderful for the children to be able to make links with their previous learning about D-Day and VE day, and the opportunity to experience history in a hands on approach.
