Today, the children learnt about London in the present day using Google Earth and aerial photographs. We used these tools to help us to identify key landmarks some of which have been there for hundreds of years.
We then went back in time to 1666 and, using interactive clips, explored what London would have looked and felt like at the time. We discussed how London at the time of ‘The Great Fire’ was a very different place to the London we know today. We worked in small groups to identify what we could see – narrow streets, houses close together, houses that were made of wood and cobbled streets. We also discussed how there was no sewerage system at the time and that this was thrown into the streets. This, alongside animal droppings and food waste would have made the streets very slippy and smelly! The children enjoyed the experience of imagining they were there and of what they could see, hear and smell!
The children have gone on to look at the key events of ‘The Great Fire of London,’ placing these on a timeline. We look forward to our visitor coming next week to teach us more about Samuel Pepys and what he witnessed and wrote about at the time.
