School trip to resort zoo was a pleasure in my day

This article on school outings was sent in by Tim Mickleburgh, of Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby. Our thanks to him

SKEGNESS Academy has been under fire recently for taking pupils on a trip to New York. Well in my day school outings were much closer to home, and had to be paid for. Nevertheless, they were no less enjoyable.

The first such trips from Grimsby were when I attended Willows Infant and then Junior School (1968-1971).

I remember going to the old Cleethorpes Zoo, situated where Pleasure Island is today. Hardly exotic, though perhaps some of the animals were!

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On another occasion we went to Covenham Reservoir. This was another example of what they called an "educational trip", meaning that course work was produced as a project.

I recall taking photographs with a camera that used the old 126 film. Moving to Great Coates Middle School (1971-74) we went further afield – to Lincoln and Hull! That outing to Lincoln was particularly interesting, as we called at Tattershall Castle on the way where I was so impressed by the brick-built structure that I bought a copy of the National Trust Guidebook, retailing, if my memory serves me well, at 15p. From there we went to the cathedral and castle, with further photos taken to add to my collection.

Looking back, the thing that strikes me most about the Hull trip was having to travel on the old Humber Ferry.

This meant a ride along New Holland Pier to catch the boat – heaven surely for someone who was already a pier and train lover!

At our destination I know we went to the Wilberforce Museum, and I think the transport museum, too.

Which reminds me of an outing by the school which entailed an even shorter journey, namely to the old Doughty Museum that used to exist near Grimsby Town Hall. Little did I know that generations later I would be working at its successor, Welholme Galleries!

I know that Great Coates Middle School went to London during my time, but I chose not to go, for reasons long forgotten.

Perhaps it was simply that I felt I'd already "done" London, courtesy of rail trips with dad to see a Gillette Cup semi-final at Lord's(1973) and the last ever FA Amateur Cup final in the old Wembley Stadium(1974).

Anyway it was all a far cry from New York, unless you mean New York not far from Tattershall Castle!