Meet the Flintstones – Prep III’s Llandudno trip

Our two bus convoy to Llandudno left school reasonably promptly at 9am for our trip to Llandudno, where we would be visiting the Great Orme peninsula for a guided walk and search for fossils, and then on to the Bronze Age mines to see how copper was extracted.  Mr. Rooney was delighted that the children on his bus spent the whole journey practising their harvest songs – if you watch him next Tuesday, you’ll see that he is word perfect.

We left Bridgewater in sunshine, and were slightly perturbed that the closer we got to Llandudno the more overcast it became.  When we left the buses at the visitor centre, even Mr. Rooney put a jacket on.  We were met by Chris and Eddie, wardens for the area, and it was with them that we explored the top of Great Orme.

Chris gave us an excellent talk on the heather and gorse vegetation of the area, and the types of animals and birds we could expect to find there.  We then went on to Bishop’s Quarry, where after being told what to look for we went on a fossil search – there was great excitement as Prep III left no stone unturned.  After reviewing our findings, Prep III were especially devious in hiding their fossils again for the next school coming in that afternoon.

After a lunch reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds – we were surrounded by more and more ravens hoping for their own free lunches – and a quick play of the adventure playground (some rumours suggest Mrs. Sweeney was seen descending the slide) we moved on to the mines themselves.  In the visitor centre we saw a quick video detailing how Bronze Age man extracted and worked the copper ore, and had the chance to handle a 3000 year old axe head.  We then descended down into the mines themselves to explore the narrow dark, twisting tunnels.  Apparently young children were used to excavate some of the narrowest tunnels, but this year we could find no takers.

Emerging once again into the daylight, the highlight of the day for many was the opportunity to spend their money in the gift shop!

A fantastic day, the weather and the children behaved, and we were given an excellent insight into the lives of Bronze Age man.