When I arrived, it looked like an ordinary place, there was a large car park and a modern building at the end. All around were trees and bushes, so I assumed there was countryside beyond. But when I walked through the gates, I found myself in a completely different world. The noise and bustle was different from the calm and quiet of the outside world.

The thing I noticed first was the people. There were people of all ages in modern day clothes, tourists like me exploring. But there were also ladies in long dresses, with beautiful hats and some plainer dresses but with the same swishing skirts, and tasselled shawls.
The buildings too caught my eye; there were shops with bright signs outside, products on display in the window, a grocer, a butcher, and chemists. It felt like I had gone back in time, and in a way I had, this was Blists Hill Open air museum, a reconstructed Victorian village in Shropshire that was part of the Ironbridge Gorge museum.

We first went to the bank, where we changed our money to Victorian coins, and then we explored the shops where we could spend them. They shops were fantastic, the best of course was the sweet shop, there was shelves full of jars of brightly coloured treats, liquorice, sherbet, toffee, and things I had never heard of.
We carried on down the hill, and bought some freshly baked rolls from the bakery, watched a carpenter at work, and then came to the bottom of the hill where we found my favourite part of all, the Victorian fairground. There was a magnificent carousel as well as different games to play for prizes.

My attention was caught by different things, the pub - though I found ginger beer wasn’t quite to my taste, the school, and most of all the photographers where we all had our photo taken in Victorian clothes. I had a fantastic long, black swishy skirt with a blouse, and my baby brother looked very cute in what looked to me suspiciously like a long white dress.

There really is something for everyone there, my brothers, (then 3 and 1) were particularly excited by one of the houses where they kept pigs, and they loved the carousel so much they refused to get off!

But aside from having a great time, I learnt a great deal. I watched craftsmen at work, and tried candle dipping, I saw a policemen asking a couple if they had a licence for their dog. After looking round the doctor’s house and a smaller house furnished quite plainly, I was shocked to then see the squatter’s cottage with only two rooms where the whole family slept in one bed.
The whole experience was an amazing insight into Victorian times, as well as a brilliant day out.

From Rebecca McKie (age 14).

www.ironbridge.org.uk

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