Harriet, Jasmine, Tom, Emily, and Harriet 

On Thursday 11th August, five Upper Sixth pupils headed to the Yorkshire Dales to complete their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Expedition; this consisted of 4 days walking and 3 nights camping. The group had to plan their routes and meals in advance and carry everything they needed for the entire trip.

“We set off from our starting point in Rylestone with maps and compass at the ready, as well as plenty of water and suncream to get us through the day with the hot temperatures. The first campsite was in Malham; the second day started with a 06:00 wakeup to be able to eat breakfast, pack the tents away and get ready before walking up the gruelling stairs to the top of Malham Cove and then continuing on towards the second campsite at Kettlewell.

During the expedition we met several other walkers and would often talk to them about where they had come from/where they were going. One person reminded us to keep looking behind (especially when walking up the hills) as we should appreciate the environment we were in instead of solely focusing on the challenge of the Award itself. We invited another walker to sit down with us during one of our rest breaks. It was fascinating listening to them talk about when they discovered their love for ‘the mountains’ just after they finished their own A Levels many years ago. They also told us about how they have never owned a phone and how much they embrace living life in the moment, similar to what we had to do during the expedition – it was incredible to learn so much about someone in such a short period of time.

The third day was our longest and toughest day. We had a difficult walk along the moorland but it was worth it to be able to see Mr Bailey’s friendly smile when we finally reached the campsite over 10 hours after setting off. The day was made even more difficult by ending at a forest campsite with no running water and limited facilities (very different compared to the previous 2 campsites). We cooked our food and put up our tents before sitting around the campfire and mentally preparing for the final day.

Sunday was our shortest day but still consisted of several steep hills – this was especially challenging with tired legs and limited sleep. We took shorter rest breaks and our pace increased allowing us to slowly tick off each kilometre. There was a great sense of relief when we saw the school minibus at our final checkpoint and even greater when we were told by our assessor that we had all passed!

The expedition allowed us to push ourselves beyond our comfort zone and allowed us to work well as a team as we knew how much it meant to each other to complete the award. We would highly recommending giving DofE a go as we have gained so much from completing it.

Thank you to Mr Bailey, Mr and Mrs Lunn and Mrs Burren for giving up their time during the summer to allow us to complete the expedition and extra thanks to Mr Bailey for carrying 12 litres of water up the hills to meet us at checkpoints and make sure we stayed hydrated.”

Harriet, Harriet, Emily, Tom and Jasmine

Jonathan Belk discusses archaeology at Ackworth School.

The Archaeology Group’s Exhibition on Open Day was a great success, drawing interest from many visitors. Old Scholars in particular seemed interested to see what had been under their feet many years ago. Kudos to Third Former Josh, who on his own initiative spent some of the day explaining the site and the finds to visitors. Our initial aim was to find somewhere where we could work with no disruption to the rest of the school but in an area that had the potential to be interesting. Anton Maree suggested somewhere near to where the original farm buildings had stood, and this proved to be wise advice.

Shown are images of the annual Ackworth School Open Day. Images Copyright ©Darren Casey DCimaging

Our first excavation was a standard test pit, following the Cambridge Archaeology methodology, but this did not illuminate much, although it was a necessary step both to teach technique to the students and also to find what the substrate was like. Then we did some ground probing, which led us to two further areas. The first provided some pottery and metal, but in terms of lower structure seemed to be part of a long-forgotten path made up of heavy, worked stones that now led nowhere.

Shown are images of the annual Ackworth School Open Day. Images Copyright ©Darren Casey DCimaging

The second area has proved the most important; we now can hazard the hypothesis, based on surface marks on the stone cobbles and on the finds, that this was a forge, probably a blacksmith’s shop. As we excavate southwards, the cobbles become more uniform, without the robbed stonework infill that is so obvious at the north end. Our plan is to continue this, briefly this year but more regularly next year, hoping to find some sort of edge that will give us the dimensions of the paved area. And of course, we expect more finds. The three or four most significant finds are to be assessed by experts, and we are also hoping to arrange a visit by an architectural or industrial archaeologist with a view to gaining another opinion as to the site’s former role.

All the group would like to express their thanks to the school caretaker, Paul Meeson, who has helped us out over the months in so many ways, from making us our ground probe and our marker pegs to ad hoc loans of all kinds of equipment and tools. Paul, you are a star!

“Will L, Will H and Josh working on expanding trench 3, whilst Alara takes a break from trowelling to sort and clean finds.”

Open Day 2022

Shown are images of the annual Ackworth School Open Day. Images Copyright ©Darren Casey DCimaging

On the 9^th of July Ackworth School was once again able to open its doors to friends of the School including current parents and former Scholars. The momentous occasion marks the start of summer and brings the entire school community together to celebrate the end of a wonderful school year. After not being held since 2019 it’s safe to say Open Day was back with a flourish.

The centre piece of Open Day was the complementary buffet, featuring lemon and dill poached salmon or Scottish smoked salmon with capers and mussels. Also offered was, goats cheese and stilton pork pie, mature cheddar and red onion quiche and selection of roasted beef, turkey, or gammon meats. These were all accompanied by the summer salad bowl section, all provided by the talented catering team at Thomas Franks. The marvellous weather permitted lunch to be consumed alfresco under the shelter of the marquees.

Showcasing talent

Drama productions ran throughout the day, showcasing the theatrical skills of the school’s actors. Act 2 of “The Crucible”, is the portrayal of a crumbling marriage exacerbated by outside pressures was moving from a cast so young. Later, Rick Wood’s two-hander on mental health, “Try”, played to a full Fothergill Theatre. It was ‘a fabulous performance by both students and a very powerful play’: a fantastic achievement for a play produced in a week! There is little doubt that Drama at Ackworth is thriving.

We were able to welcome audiences back into the Meeting House for the traditional Open Day concert. Both Coram House, our junior school, and Senior choirs came together at the end to reprise their performance of “No Wars Will Stop Us Singing”, which they debuted in the Concert for Ukraine back in June, together with other schools in the community.

A community

Old Scholars certainly took advantage of the Open Day Reunions as we welcomed back two cohorts, one celebrating 50 years since leaving Ackworth School. There are always opportunities to reconnect with classmates throughout the year here at Ackworth School.

The day came to an end after the traditional Grand March took place which marks the end of the summer term. A glorious day was enjoyed by all, we hope to see you next year!

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