Tuesday 27th June saw the LVI Historians take a trip back in time to the Chalke Valley History Festival. Nestled amongst the rolling downland of the Wiltshire countryside was a wonderful mixture of academic lectures, historical storytelling and living history re-enactment. The students were able to attend four talks from leading historians in the field of their A Level studies.

They students learned about the complex role that amendments to the US constitution played in the development of the 1960s Civil Rights movement from Dr Nicholas Cole; the extent of the threat to the throne of Edward VI posed by the bloody rebellions of 1549 from Professor Mark Stoyle; the importance of Anne Boleyn in shaping the life and reign of Elizabeth I from Dr Tracy Borman and the impact of Nazi rule on life in an ordinary German village by Julia Boyd.

Between the talks, the students got to explore an Iron Age round house, handle weapons from the Wars of the Roses and the Second World War, visit a First World War trench, look at medical tools and techniques from the Early Modern era and talk to experts of historical periods that stretched from the neolithic to the late twentieth century. The weather was warm and a wonderful time was had by all.

Mr Adrian Stoten
History Teacher