Winnacunnet High School - Sachem Yearbook (Hampton, NH)

Page 17 text:

pled his salmon and cucumber sandwich. We were all very polite. Wednesday, we traveled through the Mendip Hills. Our first stop was Glaston- bury, where Joseph of Arimathea is said to have built the first English church. Next we visited Wells and its magnificent cathedral. We watched the 1390 clock that is housed there strike 12:00; figures of armed horsemen rotate, and at each circuit one knight is beaten down. Then we were off to the Wookey Hole Caves and paper mill. The caves contain many chambers some of which can only be reached by swimming through underground passages. We visited those that were accessible by foot. It was fun to think about the witch who was supposed to have lived there, and of other cave dwellers who had made this their home since 50,000 B.C. Our return drive to Downend took us through Cheddar Gorge. The gorge was carved by a river and runs through the Mendips for more than a mile. Sheer limestone cliffs tower 450 feet above the road that leads to Cheddar Village, where Cheddar cheese is made. Thursday morning we cooked English food under the supervision of Downend’s home economics department. We made minty lamb stew and Gooseberry Fool. The teachers joined us for dinner and thought we were excellent cooks. We thought the Gooseberry Fool needed more sugar. On Thursday evening, July 10, 12 American and 35 British teen-agers and 6 supervising teachers traveled from Dow- nend to Portsmouth to catch a ferry to LeHavre, France. The ride was longer than anyone expected and sleep on the English Channel was impossible. The ferry arrived in France at 6 a.m. Friday, making the journey a total of 11 hours. We spent the day traveling on a coach throughout northern France. Our first stop was the Bayeux Cathedral and the Bayeux Tapestry. The Bayeux Tapestry is 231 feet long and 19.5 inches deep and is an em- broidery of colored wool on linen depicting events which led to and occurred during the Norman Conquest. After Bayeux, we traveled to the military cemetery at Omaha Beach where 9,386 Americans who were killed during D-Day landings are buried. To see all of the white crosses against the green grass background is incredible; this was one of the most moving stops of the day. It made us proud to be Americans. At lunch time we stopped at a small typical French town on the coast. After adventures in speaking French, we spent the rest of the day in Arromanches visiting the Invasion Museum and seeing the re- mains of Mulberry, the artificial port whose parts were built all over England, floated across the English Channel and then put in position and sunk into the sea bed. This port enabled allied troops to land and begin liberating France from the Germans. After an early evening stop at a hyper- market we went back to the docks to begin the long return journey to England. Chapter Four The fourth and final week of the ex- change promised to be the best, with two days in London, a visit to Bristol Zoo and Alton Towers (an amusement park) and grass skiing. Sadly, too, it would include our farewell party and departure. Tuesday morning we piled into our yellow minibus — our destination, Lon- don. The ride went quickly and we were soon at Harrods, the largest department store in England. It has an amazing food section and an incredibly large toy depart- ment, not to mention the clothing, sports or silver departments. Its four floors seem to go on forever. Having “toured Harrods, we had to find our way to Trafalgar Square where we would reunite and have lunch. Most of us ended up asking five or six bobbies for directions. It took us awhile to discover that road names are located on the side of buildings, well above eye level. Once we had fed ourselves and the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, we walked to Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Ab- bey. A boat ride on the Thames brought us to the Tower of London, where we saw the Crown Jewels and thought about Henry VIII. We caught the tube to the youth hostel where we would spend the night. After dinner we prepared for a night on the town at the Hard Rock Cafe. I think all of us had been waiting for this night since our arrival in England. We bought Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts and pins and then we spotted Craig T. Nelson (movie star of “Poltergeist ,“The Right Stuff” and “The Right Moves”). Meeting him and getting his autograph on our Hard Rock Cafe bags was a highlight. After our late night in London, we returned to the hostel for bed and an early rise. We awoke to a beautiful sunny, hot day, which is unusual for London. We breakfasted English style, with bacon, eggs, and baked beans, and then we were off to Buckingham Palace. We watched the changing of the guard. It was colorful and formal, and, at high noon, the hottest day London had seen this year. We recuperated on the green grass under the trees of Hyde Park while we ate our lunch and drank cans of soda. The rest of the afternoon we explored Oxford Street and Regent Street. Everything was expensive so the “shopp- ing spree” became a “browsing spree” for most of us. Thursday we were back at Downend. Mr. Mai Jones and Mr. Dick Cawley of the physical education department showed us how to play cricket. We were taught to de- fend our wickets, to bat, pitch, play out- field and run and run and run. It was great fun. After cricket, we visited the Bristol Zoo. It was a relaxing afternoon, we didn’t have to walk far and could do it leisurely. A highlight was seeing a baby gorilla being carried in the palm of his mother’s hand. The mother gorilla managed to transport her baby and pat his back at the same time. Next — grass skiing. This was a totally new experience for all of us, even our “pro” skiers. The boots are similar to those worn for snow skiing but the skis are very different. They are about three feet in length and consist of a three-inch leather strap which extends around a series of rollers. As you ski down the hill, the rollers revolve and the strap rotates. The greater your momentum, the less your control. We just “tucked in” and went with our skis. On our last Friday in England, we went to Alton Towers, the Disney World of England. The weather was cool but that didn’t stop us from going on all of the water rides. It was a lot of fun and by the end of the day everyone was tired but hap- py to have survived The Black Hole”. In the evening the US UK exchange students had “tea” (dinner) and a sleepover at Lynne Elrin’s home. Saturday and Sunday we spent with our host families. Sunday afternoon all of us and our British families met at the Llan- doger Trow Pub in Bristol. While we were eating a delicious meal, a jazz band per- formed outside the pub. Later on that afternoon a group of us went to the Downs Park and enjoyed playing soccer and rounders, a form of baseball. Monday we could go to school with our hosts, go shopping in Bristol or do anything else we wanted. After all, it was our last full day in England. Monday night the Pearces held a wonderful farewell par- ty for us. We ate fish and chips and looked back on all the events of our trip. Tuesday morning, July 22, we met at Bristol’s Temple Meads Train Station to begin our long journey home. Many tears were shed as we said our last goodbyes and got on the train. We had come to love our host families and friends at Downend and were sad to leave. Those feelings and the memories we have of our trip will stay with us forever. 13

Page 16 text:

STORIES FROM ENGLAND Jennifer Bosketti, Blake Buckingham, Kristen Pollard, John Simmons, Peggy Sipple, Cathleen Tagupa, Amy Gonthier, Lee Raleigh, Chris Walsh, Jill Gehrke, Bronwyn Knight, Susan Thompson. Chapter One The British Exchange Group of Win- nacunnet High School departed for Gat- wick Airport, London, at 8:30 p.m. Mon- day, June 23. During the six-hour Northeast Orient flight, nobody slept; everyone was too ex- cited. We were served lasagna or roast beef and watched the film “Young Sherlock Holmes.” Once we reached Gatwick, we were met by a School Exchange Service represen- tative and transported to Paddington Sta- tion where we boarded a train to Meads Station, Bristol. We arrived about 8:30 a.m. American Eastern Daylight Savings Time and were met by our British friends ane host families. Most of us had not slept for more than 25 hours, so our first after- noon in England was spent sleeping. Our second day, we walked to school — no school buses. We had an assembly in the morning where we were introduced by our hosts to the fourth-years (freshman). Our group leader, Mrs. Janice Belski, presented the head mistress (principal) of Downend School, Miss C.F. Coe, with a plaque engraved with the names of this year’s American participants. We then toured the Downend and Bristol areas. That night we attended an excellent welcoming party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pegler, one of the host families. Friday we visited Longleat, the home of the Marquess of Bath in the Wiltshire countryside. This mansion is more than 400 years old and is elegantly decorated and richly furnished with period pieces. The land surrounding the mansion in- cludes a maze made of hedges, which some of us tackled, and a safari ride through free-roaming wild animals, in- cluding wolves, lions, and tigers. Our favorite animals were the monkeys. They climbed all over our minibus and drank the water our windshiled-washer spayed their way. Monday, we went to Wimbledon. Highlights of the day included 102-degree sunny weather in center court and glimp- ses and pictures of Martina Navratilova, Pat Cash, Chris Evert Lloyd, and the lovely Lady Di! We enjoyed traditional strawber- ries and cream. Thus our first week end- ed, finding us tired, tanned — in England? An entire week of sunshine! — and happy. Chapter Two During our second week in England, we have participated in many activities and gone on many trips. We experienced our first day in school with our hosts and visited Stratford-upon-Avon, Stonehenge, and Wales. The week began with a trip through the Cotswolds to Stratford-upon-Avon, bir- thplace of William Shakespeare. We toured the playwright’s home and burial place and visited the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, where we dressed in costumes appropriate for Shakespeare’s plays. Wednesday we went to school. School begins at 8:50 a.m. and ends at 3:45 p.m. During the day, students have four double periods; each double period lasts 70 minutes. Thursday we visited Stonehenge. Peo- ple are still not sure what the purpose of the prehistoric monument was. The mood of mystery that surrounds it is one of its most attractive qualities. We also enjoyed visiting Castle Coombs — one of the most beautiful villages in England and the site of the film “Doctor Doolittle”. We climbed a steep Wiltshire Downs hill to get a close view of the Whitehorse. The Whitehorse is a beautiful, huge horse carved in the side of a moun- tain that consists of chalk. We climbed to the top of the hill and were greeted by spectacular views. The weekend was spent in Wales. We visited Cardiff, the Welch capitol, and the National Museum of Wales at St. Fagans. The museum contains early Welsh farm- ing tools and equipment. We walked its grounds, stopping at re-erected farm- houses, barns and other early Welch buildings. Our home base during this weekend’s stay was Fedw, a youth center located in the highlands of the Brecon Beacons Na- tional Park. Fedw is a 150 year old farm- house and it was ours for the weekend. We made a midnight walk to “The Lonely Shepherd”, a large, solitary rock overlook- ing Crickhowell. Saturday we hiked five miles through the Brecon Beacons, viewing waterfalls, and having a lunchtime swim in the river. Later in the day, we went horseback riding, getting yet another view of the Welch countryside. Sunday we explored the Big Pit, a coal mine that was in operation until 1976. We really saw Wales from top to bottom. The Monday following our trip to Wales, we had a tour of the Bristol docks. We took a boat ride through these floating docks and visited the S.S. Great Britain, I.K. Brunell's iron ship which is now being restored to its original condition. Chapter Three On Tuesday, July 8, under the direction of Graham Brewster, the head of the Dow- nend social studies department, we visited the city of Bath. Bath is a Georgian city and contains buildings made of Cotswald stone. We saw this stone wherever we looked. The day started with a trip to the Royal Crescent, which is a curve of 30 stone houses joined in a symmetrical design. Next we walked to town and visited the Roman baths. The baths are fed by underground hot springs and were thought by the Romans to be capable of healing disease. Until just a few years ago, people were occasionally allowed to swim in these baths; now, it is not permitted. Our guide did allow us to put our hands in the greenish-colored water, but advised us not to put our fingers in our mouths afterwards. After leaving the baths, we walked to a nearby park to eat lunch. Mr. Brewster tried one of our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — his first — and we sam- 12

Page 18 text:

At Green Park in London the students take a break in the shade. Jill, Lee, and Sue pose in front of this beautiful sight in Wales. Jill and Lee ham it up for the camera while attending a tennis match at Everyone is holding on for dear life, but Jill looks confident. Wimbledon. 14 Views From England At the end of March the people at WHS may notice some new faces in the hallways. These are the British Exchange Students who visit us from Downend School in England. They are here to find out what the U.S. is all about. During their stay, they explore such places as Washington, D.C., historic New England, and the White Mountains. In quieter moments they visit WHS, shop in the malls, go to the movies, and spend time with American families. In June the roles are reversed and students from WHS go to live with their British hosts. From visiting ancient cathedrals and going grass skiing to meeting Craig T. Nelson, a star in the film Poltergeist”, at the Hard Rock Cafe, the month was full of excitement and action. At Brecon Beacons, also known as Fedu, our students met the ghost of Aggie” at an old haunted cottage in the walls and then fought with stubborn horses as the during an attempted horse back ride. The Americans also stayed at a youth hostel camp, the Roman Baths, and Stonehenge. In London our students allowed the pigeons from Trafalgar Square to sit on their heads, and they spent their money in Harrod’s, the world’s largest department store. Our British Exchange creates friendships between Americans and Brits which will last a lifetime. It is part of the best of our education at WHS. Everyone dressed in their rain gear for this outing in Wales.