Day Trips and other treats
It is not until the middle years of the nineteenth century that there is any record of the school taking the children on trips:
“10th August 1847: Mr White reported that the children had an excursion into the neighbourhood of Woodford Wells on 23rd July last and enjoyed themselves very much”
The next year the children spent a wet day in “the Forest” (Woodford Wells is near Woodford Green, so the trips may have been to the same place), but the master reported that “no inconvenience was seen to result for the children”.
Thereafter the children of the school had an annual trip to Epping Forest every summer. Sadly the minute books do not record how they got there, although it is likely they travelled by train – the new railways meant that day trips had become a possibility for Londoners.
In August 1851 the whole school (except Spurr who was left behind because of his bad behaviour) went to the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park – several of the trustees went too. This was a huge international event with stands showing the work of a huge variety of artists, scientists and craftspeople.