Wednesday 24th May
Keswick – Day 3
Today was a much more relaxed day here in Keswick. We split into two smaller groups. The first group headed off to the pencil museum with the second going to the puzzle museum. We then alternated the activities after meeting up back at the centre to make and eat our lunch. To start the afternoon we headed to Fitz park to enjoy an ice cream together.
The puzzle museum had an array of illusions and tricks of the mind that got all our brains ticking. Some of the most mind-boggling features were the anti-gravity water, a room in which balls rolled uphill instead of down and a room which changed people’s height. All the children really enjoyed working out all the illusions. They then had the opportunity to spend their money in the puzzle shop and sweet shop after. There was plenty to choose from but everybody made sensible choices with their money.
The pencil museum was much more exciting than it sounds. We split into a further 2 groups with one group taking part in an art activity within the museum which involved colouring in parts of an animal, cutting it out and then joining the parts together with split pins, whilst the other group had a tour round learning the process for combining graphite with cedar wood to create pencils. We saw the world’s longest coloured pencil and a spy pencil that was invented during WWII by Charles Fraser Smith, the man who inspired the James Bond character ‘Q’. The smart gadget contained a map and a compass that was cleverly concealed inside the middle of a pencil. The Derwent Pencil factory have since created a replica which can be bought in their shop. The museum also had on display a special pencil they designed and made two of for the Queen’s 60th Jubilee which only the Queen herself and the museum have, they also had on display the Queens platinum Jubliee patchwork quilt that Asquith Children who visited on the Keswick Residential in 2022 helped to create by drawing pictures on some of the squares - It looked amazing with the Asquith Primary School logo in the top left hand side square of the quilt.
Following a relaxed but fun-filled day we enjoyed a fantastic meal of sausages, jacket potatoes and beans or peas followed by Jelly and ice cream.
Most Children headed to the park after dinner to play on the swings, slide, zip wire and other equipment or take part in a variety of sports with Mr Barber. A few children stayed at the centre for some quiet time and enjoyed playing games and building dens which they relaxed in.
Before turning in for the night, some children volunteered to help set up the room ready for breakfast. All the children have the chance to volunteer to help set up / clean up before and after meals to gain more independence.