Trip to Eton and Windsor

Saturday, 18 April saw over fifty Ipswich Society members on the first outing of 2009. We visited Eton College on a lovely sunny day. Eton is one of the oldest schools in the country, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI to educate seventy scholars and supply his other foundation, Kings College, Cambridge. We were taken on a tour by three excellent guides, all mothers of boys at the College. The boys were back and walking to and from lessons, their frock coats trailing behind them and their books under their arms - they don't have school bags! Henry's statue took pride of place in the centre of the school yard. We looked around the oldest classroom in England with names of past pupils cut into wood everywhere, on desks and walls and tables. It was the custom to sign one's name when at the school.

We looked around the chapel which should have been twice as big, as what we see today was the choir area. That is why the seats all face the central aisle, side on to the altar. The Museum of Eton Life had been updated from last year and was very interesting. We visited the dining room that is still used today, little changed since it was built.

In the afternoon after a look around Windsor we took a boat to Boveney Lock on the River Thames. A fitting end to an enjoyable day.

Barbara Barker