School Trips

[scottsdad]

Did you go on a school trip when you were a kid? And if so, where?

I'll start. In 1994 we went on a tour of world war 1 battlefields across Holland and Belgium. Not just these but memorials, cemeteries, etc. We took a bus to Hull, then overnight ferry to Zebrugge, then travelled around visiting these places. We went to the Menin Gate where they played the Last Post and I kid you not, the whole class was in tears afterwards. 

In 1996 the school reran the trip and a few senior pupils were asked along - including me. It wasn't near as much fun second time around as I wasn't with all my classmates and instead was babysitting some utter runts. 

There was a EuroDisney (as was) trip bit I didn't fancy that and didn't go.

[Guest TheJTS98]

Went on one when I was at primary school that was a bit of a disaster.

Our plane crashed somewhere in the Pacific and we ended up on a desert island.

Started out alright. We organised ourselves and got stuff done. Made the best of it. I was even getting a tan. But gradually things fell apart. Folk started taking the piss and slacking off on the work to be done. It got messy. Cliques formed, arguments etc. You know what kids are like.

Eventually there was this fuss because some of the lads thought there was some kind of monster on the island, but I was never convinced about that. Long and short of it, it all got out of hand and blood got spilled.

Eventually we got picked up by a passing ship and taken home.

The following year we went to the Transport Museum in Glasgow. Fucking loved it.

[Bob in Denny]

Day trip to Loch Katrine circa 1964..

Whilst waiting to get into some tearoom for a scone and most likely lemonade, some enterprising lad saw money lying in the water, obviously flung in for luck for visitors, cue 20 odd Greenock weans, shoes etc off in paddling lifting every brown penny etc within reach, Mrs Campbell came back and made us all throw what we had gathered back in.. well some of it.

Other school trips never reached that high...

[Tight minge]

Our primary school went a trip to London in 1981. Only two things stick in my mind. We stayed not too far from the Iranian Embassy, which was still boarded up and the smoke damage still visible. Having watched the siege play out on TV the year before and coming from such a small village we felt like we were at the centre of the world.

This was further emphasised as the hotel we stayed in had a PAC-MAN machine* in the lobby (which was the biggest thing for nearly every kid on the trip). We had never seen such a thing before.

Amazing stuff.

 

 

[ICTChris]

I went on an art trip to Barcelona.  We went by coach which is pretty mental.  We stayed in Lorret del Mar and drove into Barcelona every day, then visited art galleries and various other attractions - we went to the Nou Camp and did the tour one day.  It was the first time I'd ever got drunk, we all piled into the bar at the hotel and were served alcohol with no questions asked most nights.  The teachers didn't seem to mind unless anyone got too pished. I doubt they'd get away with that now, they'd probably all be fired after we all filmed it on our phones.  

It's not a trip but in sixth year I went on an overnight trip to Glasgow to do our Uni visits.  Everyone went out to the pub and got pished and then went back to the halls we were staying in and smoked loads of dope, at the time I thought it was the most mental thing I'd ever done in my life but looking back we were a load of complete idiots.  It was fun though.  On the bus journey home one of my friends got in a fight and punched someone and then refused to ever speak to me again because I didn't join him in beating someone up.  

Edited May 31, 2021 by ICTChris

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Our P7 school trip was a week to Iona.

And I have to say, it remains in the top 3 weeks in my life. 

Absolutely brilliant wee place for a bunch of P7s to be dumped on with a couple fo alky teachers who didnt give a shit and after about half an hour of education shit, let us run daft, go into the sea, up Dun I, etc.  

 

[Moomintroll]

Went to Switzerland in 2nd Year during the Easter Holidays, went to the revolving restaurant that was in Bond & was involved in a sledging accident that resulted in 2 broken ankles, thankfully neither mine. The mountains there made Goat Fell a bit shit in comparison.

[Paul Kersey]

I went on two skiing holidays with the school in 1989 and 1990. First was to Andalo in Italy and the second was Brixen im Thale, Austria. 

Both journeys were by bus. The second trip was during the same hurricane that nearly killed the guy who played Renè in 'Allo 'Allo. We were on a ferry between Ramsgate and Dunkirk during the storm. I don't think that there was anybody on that boat who didn't spew their ringpiece up.

I'm shite at skiing so I spend most of the trips on my arse. I was too young to appreciate the Alpine scenery at the time, which I kinda regret. 

Fantastic experiences though.

[Northboy]

In my last year at primary school we went on a school trip to Wales, somewhere near Aberystwyth. One day we were to go on steam train which seemed an exciting prospect. It started well, a lovely day and gorgeous scenery. However, the carriage windows couldn't open and as we progressed it got hotter and hotter until it was like being in a greenhouse and some kids looked close to fainting. As the train climbed the mountain it got progressively slower to the extent that there were people walking past it.  I've never had any inclination to go on a steam train again.

[hk blues]

On 31/05/2021 at 18:33, TheJTS98 said:

Went on one when I was at primary school that was a bit of a disaster.

Our plane crashed somewhere in the Pacific and we ended up on a desert island.

Started out alright. We organised ourselves and got stuff done. Made the best of it. I was even getting a tan. But gradually things fell apart. Folk started taking the piss and slacking off on the work to be done. It got messy. Cliques formed, arguments etc. You know what kids are like.

Eventually there was this fuss because some of the lads thought there was some kind of monster on the island, but I was never convinced about that. Long and short of it, it all got out of hand and blood got spilled.

Eventually we got picked up by a passing ship and taken home.

The following year we went to the Transport Museum in Glasgow. Fucking loved it.

You should write a book about that mate.

We went to Lunan Bay, Auchmithie and Pleasure Land in Arbroath.  On the way there we saw a glazier's van and a piece of glass had fallen off onto the road - that was the highlight of the trip.

[Billy Jean King]

Glaisnock in deepest East Ayrshire....from North Ayrshire. 35m on the bus basically !

[scottsdad]

Quick question for some of the older folks here - did you go to the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988? I did with the school - we had the big tower that ended up in Rhyl. It was great. A classmate of mine was violently sick in the bus on the way there. We were glad to arrive and get out of the stench. 

If you're too young to know what this was like, there is a Taggart episode you can stream when there had been a murder at the festival.

[Paul Kersey]

38 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

Quick question for some of the older folks here - did you go to the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988? I did with the school - we had the big tower that ended up in Rhyl. It was great. A classmate of mine was violently sick in the bus on the way there. We were glad to arrive and get out of the stench. 

If you're too young to know what this was like, there is a Taggart episode you can stream when there had been a murder at the festival.

I did, but not with the school.

I went up the tower, it revolved at the top. I'm pretty sure that we had to queue for about an hour.

The was a rollercoaster too iirc.  

[Stu]

2 hours ago, scottsdad said:

Quick question for some of the older folks here - did you go to the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988? I did with the school - we had the big tower that ended up in Rhyl. It was great. A classmate of mine was violently sick in the bus on the way there. We were glad to arrive and get out of the stench. 

If you're too young to know what this was like, there is a Taggart episode you can stream when there had been a murder at the festival.

Yeah, seem to recall going several times (including the final night). Parents must have had a season pass or equivalent for us to go as often as we did - although maybe it was only three times and felt like loads as I was four.

We also went to the one in Gateshead a year or so later.

[I'm Brian]

P1 and P2 at my primary school were always sent packing to Broughty Ferry Beach for one day towards the end of the school year. 

My P6 teacher was the wife of a wee free minister. We went on trips to local churches

 

Halcyon Days

 

[GordonS]

There weren't many trips at my school, probably partly because of the aftermath of the teachers' strike, but I was lucky enough to go to Poland for two weeks at the end of fifth year. This was in 1991, not long after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

It was the formative experience of my life, first time I had been anywhere without parents and I worked out a lot about who I was and who I wanted to be. I also learned that people everywhere are basically the same, or they would be if khunts didn't keep getting in the road. Visiting Auschwitz was something that left a big mark on me, as it does with almost everyone that visits. I took the school video camera with me and recorded it all, so I went round on my own. That shit never leaves you, and nor should it.

I feel really sorry for kids that don't get the chance to go places like this, and it boils my piss that it's worse now than it was then. My big kid had his last day at school today and he never got a single overnight trip in his whole time at secondary school. Aren't things supposed to get better? Doesn't our country have more money than it did then?

[Guest TheJTS98]

3 hours ago, GordonS said:

There weren't many trips at my school, probably partly because of the aftermath of the teachers' strike, but I was lucky enough to go to Poland for two weeks at the end of fifth year. This was in 1991, not long after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

It was the formative experience of my life, first time I had been anywhere without parents and I worked out a lot about who I was and who I wanted to be. I also learned that people everywhere are basically the same, or they would be if khunts didn't keep getting in the road. Visiting Auschwitz was something that left a big mark on me, as it does with almost everyone that visits. I took the school video camera with me and recorded it all, so I went round on my own. That shit never leaves you, and nor should it.

I feel really sorry for kids that don't get the chance to go places like this, and it boils my piss that it's worse now than it was then. My big kid had his last day at school today and he never got a single overnight trip in his whole time at secondary school. Aren't things supposed to get better? Doesn't our country have more money than it did then?

Where else did you get to go in Poland? I did five years there. Fantastic place.

[GordonS]

3 hours ago, TheJTS98 said:

Where else did you get to go in Poland? I did five years there. Fantastic place.

I liked it but I've never had an urge to go back tbh, apart from the Tatra right down in the south the scenery is really boring. We stayed in Łódź (though I was living with a family miles away in Koluszki) and as well as Auschwitz we went to Warsaw, Krakow, Częstochowa (saw the Black Madonna, was too young to care) and Chopin's birthplace (how well they knew the interests of 16 year old Glaswegians). In the middle weekend we went to a youth hostel by a beach on a lake somewhere, which was fun.

That reminds me - I was filming everything and editing it into a video to show to parents in the new term. Editing in those days meant using two VHS video recorders, a black and white TV and a ZX Spectrum+ for graphics. On the Saturday evening at the youth hostel we had a big bonfire and a ceilidh on the beach. We'd had a ceilidh when the Poles were staying with us the previous year and they loved it. One of the guys had a tape of folk songs so we stuck that on. As night was falling I saw the opportunity for an arty shot and stood off to the side of the action, slowly zooming in on the bonfire as silhouetted figures danced past. Lovely shot, straight in the edit for the parents.

Only I didn't pay enough attention to the music that was playing at the time, which is how the parents got to watch their kids dancing to "...And I'm off to join the IRA and I'm off tomorrow morn, and we'll be off to Dublin in the green, f**k the Queen..."

[LondonHMFC]

7 hours ago, GordonS said:

I feel really sorry for kids that don't get the chance to go places like this, and it boils my piss that it's worse now than it was then. My big kid had his last day at school today and he never got a single overnight trip in his whole time at secondary school. Aren't things supposed to get better? Doesn't our country have more money than it did then?

A lot more things to factor in now, health and safety for one. Kids being utter arseholes giving untold grief to their teachers another. 

The first school trip I can remember was when I was 7 and we went to the local distillery. We were all given an empty bottle, and most of us filled it with grains of malt that were in large bags. 

We did Lagganlia in P7, and met a school from Bathgate which in turn led to a few days of chaos. After we did our activities for the day we'd have a 20 a side game of football which was just kicking the utter shit out of each other. 

In secondary school I went to Bratislava for some sort of exchange with our Biology and RE Teacher. Me and my best pal went, and the first couple of nights were quality. The school we went to gave us all a shot before dinner, one during and one after. We also found a load of porn mags behind one of the cisterns in the school toilets. In our free time, we would go to a local bar and have a few beers, I think it was called topvar or similar and the beer mat had a very attractive young lady on it which I pocketed to give my Dad as a present on my return. We met the mayor of the town, there were some sort of celebrations going on, and we were given a tea set. With a few nights left we went for a pizza, got back to the hotel and I was violently sick (from both ends). Myself and the RE Teacher both had food poisoning. Didn't move for a couple days, before coming back via Vienna which is the only place I have seen a toilet attendant offering aftershaves in a McDonalds.

[RH33]

On 31/05/2021 at 14:36, ICTChris said:

I went on an art trip to Barcelona.  We went by coach which is pretty mental.  We stayed in Lorret del Mar and drove into Barcelona every day, then visited art galleries and various other attractions - we went to the Nou Camp and did the tour one day.  It was the first time I'd ever got drunk, we all piled into the bar at the hotel and were served alcohol with no questions asked most nights.  The teachers didn't seem to mind unless anyone got too pished. I doubt they'd get away with that now, they'd probably all be fired after we all filmed it on our phones.  

It's not a trip but in sixth year I went on an overnight trip to Glasgow to do our Uni visits.  Everyone went out to the pub and got pished and then went back to the halls we were staying in and smoked loads of dope, at the time I thought it was the most mental thing I'd ever done in my life but looking back we were a load of complete idiots.  It was fun though.  On the bus journey home one of my friends got in a fight and punched someone and then refused to ever speak to me again because I didn't join him in beating someone up.  

If I'd done that on my uni visits you're sister in law would've kick our arsed! She did go to American Pie though!