Wales Trip, 8-10 July 2016
Friday
On Friday we went to school as normal but all 11 of us couldn’t wait for the day to finish so we could finally head to Wales. At 4pm, we loaded our luggage onto the minibus and took a seat ahead of our 4 hour journey. Once aboard the minibus, we chatted and played card games to pass the time. After about two hours, at a place called Llangollen, Mr Jones, Mr Mohsin and Miss Hurley decided to stop at a co-operative shop to buy food for the trip. We had another stop a little later at Betws-y-Coed where we had a kickabout. When we finally arrived at Idwal Cottage Youth Hostel, we unloaded our luggage, had our evening meal and spent the rest of the evening playing pool.
Saturday
After a good night’s sleep, we woke up, had a shower, got dressed and went downstairs to fit in some more pool. We played for around 20 minutes before eating breakfast which consisted of toast, cereal, hash browns, juice and hot chocolate. After breakfast, we cleared up and played even more pool.
At around 10am we all got into the minibus again, this time on our way to the ancient Caernarfon Castle! Unfortunately, there were a VAST amount of steps; as an approximate guess, I’d say at least 1000! To make things even more challenging, the steps were slippery and narrow and we had to be very careful. My friends and I played hide and seek around the castle and it was exhausting to say the least. However, we had a great time there and we even managed to reach the very highest point of the castle!
After looking around the castle, we were all given time to go and eat and explore the town. We went to Subway and then walked around taking a deeper look at the lifestyle of Welsh people. The castle had been exciting and more excitement was to come.
One of the main aims of the trip was to visit Dinorwic Power Station which is hidden within a huge mountain! We travelled into the mountain by bus and stopped off at various places where our guide explained about the turbines and generators. The station is mainly used to provide extra electricity at times of peak demand and can reach full power after less than 12 seconds.
Another thing we did on Saturday, because of the poor weather, was to visit Llechwedd Slate Caverns. We went through many different caverns and discovered about the job of mining slate. We learnt that it wasn’t ideal and that lives and people’s health were affected by mining slate, however it was a relatively well-paid job hence many decided to do it for a living. At the very end, we met a man who was carving slate and we were lucky enough to take a look at some marvellous slate sculptures that he had made!
Sunday
On Sunday, we were planning to walk in the hills of Snowdonia but, due to the awful weather, we headed to the coastal town of Llandudno, where the sun was shining. There was an absolutely amazing view and the sight of the shimmering sea was awesome. Hussain, Daniel and I walked the length of the Victorian pier, buying some souvenirs and enjoying some amusements on the way. After meeting up back at the minibus we headed home but had time to stop at Betws-y-Coed again for a final kickabout. We were all tired after that so all of us fell asleep on the minibus and, before we knew it, we were back at school!
My thoughts overall
I have been on residentials before, but the Wales trip was one of the best. It was the excitement and thrills that made the trip what is was and it was very good value for money; I loved the fact that we were always out and about at different places and, when we weren’t outdoors, which was not often, we were all gathered around the pool table. Overall, it was a fabulous trip and I had an amazing time!
Ibrahim Zaman 7G
