Year 6 visit The King’s Troop
As part of their English study on War Horse by Michael Morpurgo and World War One, pupils in Year 6 were very privileged to receive an invitation from Major Robinson to see The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in action in London. So, on a bright day in February, the pupils set off for the Royal Mews by coach with Mrs Finnigan, Mrs Sheppard and Mr Williams.
On our arrival we were met by Mark Sargeant who very kindly agreed to be our guide for the day. The children were given a history of the yard and were shown the royal carriages and cars on display. The carriage used for the Queen’s coronation was incredible and we could hardly believe that they have to hoist it up and remove walls in order to get it out of the room for use.
We then walked past Buckingham Palace to Green Park to see the gun salute which was for the anniversary of Her Majesty’s accession. There are usually 21 rounds in a salute but because Green Park is a Royal Park, an extra 20 rounds are fired, making a total of 41. Major Robinson had given us front row passes and the noise was spectacular! It was a very cold day which added to the drama as this made the smoke from the guns much more visible. There were a huge number of horses and, with the band playing, their entrance was particularly dramatic. There was extra drama too when one of the soldiers was thrown from his horse and it bolted. Thankfully, horse and rider were eventually reunited.
After the salute we were invited back to watch the dismount at Wellington Barracks. We could not believe how quickly all were dismounted and untacked and back in the stables. We were then shown one of the guns up close and were shown how it worked before having a look around the stables there too. From here we walked back to the Royal Mews and ate our lunch while Mark showed us his livery. The royal uniforms are all hand-stitched and seriously expensive, as well as being really heavy.
Once we had finished our private tour of the Royal Mews it was time to depart for School after thanking Mark for such a fabulous opportunity. The pupils learned an astonishing amount during their day and have some amazing new memories to look back on.
Mrs Michelle Finnigan