We all met up at London Bridge Station. We got on another train to Charlton and then walked to the Thames Barrier. Wow! The barrier was huge! It was designed to look like the two ends of the Titanic while it was sinking. It was built because London had been flooded so many times already! This is caused by tidal surges. The barrier costs 6 million pounds a year to run! ££££££££ The playground next to the information centre (on the sea side of the barrier) still floods and we saw photos of it underwater.
Many different animals have been sighted in the Thames including dolphins, seals and porpoises. The Thames is the cleanest river in the whole of Europe and salmon weighing between 2 – 5 kg live in it too!
We watched an introductory film when we first arrived and then explored the museum. We read about pirates who were hung and were then put in a gibbet, (a metal cage that fitted around their bodies) until they were rotten as a warning to other pirates, just like in the film Pirates of the Caribbean! Gross! We saw some huge whale jawbones that had been made into a really cool arch! You are probably wondering where they got them from? This is a really sad bit! Whaling ships were used to spear the whales and drag them back to the docks, and parts of them were used to make things with. Aaah how sad! We also saw some Narwhale tusks that Patrick told us (and did look like) unicorn’s horns.
We really liked the reconstruction of the old docklands area. We didn’t like being told off by a woman for being more than a centimetre away from our Mums or for looking around! Ok now we’re being a bit sarcastic! We travelled part of the way back to London Bridge Station on the Docklands Light Railway. These trains have no driver! When we changed onto the Jubilee Line Megan’s brother got stuck in a train door! Henry and his Mum were stuck on the platform and we met them again at London Bridge. Henry was very brave, but a bit shocked!
We are planning another trip in June to explore the rest of the museum and to see the Thames Barrier when it’s closed for maintenance.
By Megan Claridge and Christy Low
