Victorian visitors bring history lessons to life
CHILDREN stepped back in time to the Victorian era. Extraordinary Victorians Tom Powell and Wendy Cage visited pupils at St James CE Primary, Haslingden in the guise of Mr and Mrs Pemberton, woollen mill owners who were looking to recruit new child workers.
The workshops lasted all day and involved four classes as part of the Big Lamp - Shining Light on Haslingden, which is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and feeds into the 2040 Vision and Master Plan for Haslingden.
Wendy and Tom first held an all-school assembly when the pupils had to work out Victorian inventions and put them in date order of when Queen Victorian reigned from 1837 to 1901. They learnt about the introduction of stamps, libraries and police, phones being invented and education being available for all children.
Wendy said: “In the class workshops they watched a short visual clip and then we came in to recruit the children as workers and they learnt what it was like.
“They got to try on some clothes they would have worn and experience a working day.”
Tom said: “With the drama workshop, it gives pupils an idea of what life really was like for working children and it makes it much more real rather than just reading about it in a textbook.”
Worsley Coun Ann Kenyon said: “Only by understanding our past do we learn for the future. Haslingden is steeped in history and the workshops were a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn about the foundations that formed Rossendale’s industrial heritage. I am really looking forward to seeing how The National Lottery Heritage funding sympathetically enhances and transforms the town centre.”
Pupils Eneida and Ashton dressed as mill workers.
Eneida said: “The dress was white and smooth but I didn’t really like it and the shawl was itchy and I didn’t like the hat. I would not like to have to go to work in a mill and I would rather come to school.”
Ashton found the shirt comfy and liked the waistcoat and cloth cap, but said: “I don’t think it was right for children to have to work in the mill; they should be in school.” They learnt about the different jobs children, aged eight and older, would have been tasked with including piecers, fastening broken wool ends together, and scavengers, who had to rush under the machinery to pick up fluff.
Teaching assistant Karen Collinge said: “I think it has been brilliant and the children have been asking lots of questions and were very engaged.
“One little boy thought it was so real he thought that he was going to work in the mill; we made sure he realised it was only makebelieve.
“I used to work in a factory as a picker and I have also worked winding bobbins on.
“I started being in charge of three bobbins and then was responsible for 12. The Victorian visit has been excellent and very interactive.”
David Renwick, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Big Lamp project, and hearing about the exciting activities that the communities of Haslingden are able to take part in.
“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery, this project will mean that more people will be able to get involved with, protect, and learn about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep.”