PREP School Year 6 pupils at Shebbear College enjoyed a fascinating trip to Bristol last week to explore SS Great Britain, Burnel’s famous steam liner, now residing back in the same dry dock where it was designed and built over 170 years ago.

The tour started with a fascinating workshop, where the children learnt about the many destinations that the SS Great Britain sailed to during its working life.

They then became history detectives; piecing together evidence from letters, diary extracts and artifacts to discover more about some of the passengers from those voyages all those years ago.

This was followed by a wonderful tour around the ship itself, where the children gained a real sense of what life was like for passengers and crew in both first class or steerage. Pupils had the chance to try out the rather cramped bunks, to take a bath in one of the ship’s original bath-tubs, to spot the rats scuttling around the ship’s galley and even meet Mr Brunel himself.

Head of Shebbear Prep School, Mike Furber, said: “The school would like to express their thanks to Mrs Kirby, Mrs Twomey and Mrs Gee for accompanying the children on the trip, their support and enthusiasm was much appreciated. It was a long journey to and from Bristol but certainly worth it, and I must commend all of the children on their outstanding behaviour throughout the day, something that was commented on by a number of the staff and other visitors.”