Visiting Broadstairs

To help introduce and celebrate our topic this term, ‘Be Beside the Seaside’, we took an inspiring trip to Broadstairs.  As part of our learning we compare life in Victorian times to today and Broadstairs is a great place to give us a taste of what was on offer at the seaside many years ago.

Our first stop was to the beach itself where many children were amazed by how soft and warm the sand was to walk on.  We had great fun playing together like collaborative cats in the sand using modern day plastic toys.

Broadstairs beach is really lucky to not just have a gorgeous sand but to also have a selection of different rides to go on.  Some rides, like the wooden boats and the merry-go-round, are Victorian inspired and some rides, like the bouncy castle, are linked more to the modern day.

We saw a mixture of elements from Victorian times through to the modern day such as a band stand, beach huts, a glass fronted lift, life guards and good old fashioned (yet still very comfortable) deck chairs.

After lunch we were lucky enough to visit an old-fashioned styled sweet shop.  From the outside we could see all of the sweet jars lining the shelves.  Once inside we were treated to an informative talk from the shop keepers who were even dressed in Victorian clothing!  Did you know that sugar was extremely expensive in Victorian times?  Did you know that sweets were often made out the back of sweet shops themselves?  They were made in little moulds before being placed into the glass jars for sale in the shop.  We also found out some more recent facts about sweets. We were told that the most popular sweet in the world in 2004 was the flying saucer… we then all got the chance to taste one. Yummy!