Trip to Hopewell Colliery

Y6 visited Hopewell Colliery and learned more about child labour in the mines!
Y6 have been learning about the Industrial Revolution in history and they found out first hand what is was like to be a child labourer by going down into one of the coal mines in the Forest of Dean.
It was a guided tour with helmets and head torches (unlike during the Industrial Revolution!) and the children had to make their way carefully down, down and further down until they reached the part where the coal was mined.
Down at the bottom, the children learnt how children as young as 5 would clamber up to the coal face and dig out the coal and then push it back to the surface using coal carts. We also were able to experience what it felt like to 'drop your candle' which meant turning off the head torches for 5 seconds - it was very dark!