Many of you may not
know this but...the world's first regular, steam-hauled passenger
railway ran between Canterbury and Whitstable. It was built
by George
and Robert Stephenson and opened on 3 May 1830.
Anyway, enough of
sounding like a train spotter...
I am currently
working with our educational consultant Penny Bernard to develop
a KS2 school visits package relating to the opening of the C&W
railway, based around the line's first steam engine
Invicta (1830) which we have on display.
As well as
investigating the engine and how it works, and chatting to a
costumed interpreter playing the part of Robert Stephenson we'd like to
include a fun D&T element...
Current thinking
is around a re-usable, table-based activity where groups
of up to 6 children can have a go at 'surveying' and building the line
using a simplified 2D map or 3D topographical model, and a range
of off the shelf construction materials - possibly including a Brio
train set and track.
The idea is that the
young engineers have to plan the route from Canterbury to
Whitstable and devise means of overcoming some of the
challenges faced by early railway engineers such as crossing a river/road,
getting over a hill or valley or whether to use a locomotive, a
stationary winding engine or horses as motive power!
All in approx 30
minutes.
I wonder has this
been done anywhere else as an activity say at a science or ralway
museum?
Any ideas and advice
gratefully received
best
wishes
Martin Crowther
Education
Development Manager
Canterbury
Museums
PS For those of
you who thought first passenger railway was the Stockton and
Darlington, it did open five years earlier in 1825, but was
predominantly a goods line, and used horses as motive power during its
early years. And the Canterbury to Whitstable preceded the Liverpool to
Manchester Railway by a good few months. Hope I haven't opened a can of
worms!!
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