From trips to Chessington to a day at Eynsford – these are the school trips I went on as a child growing up in south east London in the early 2000s.

This time of year is when many schools will be planning those end of year trips to the beach, a castle or the seaside.

As a child growing up in south east London I can remember a number of trips I went on during my years at school, here they are:

Eynsford

Growing up in south east London, one trip I firmly remember visiting was the small Kent village of Eynsford.

The village is known for its ruins of what once was a Roman Villa, as well as the old sweet shop and ruins of its former castle.

During our trip we were given a survey which we had to fill out, finding out all the interesting facts about the town and visiting the nearby castle.

The trip was finished off with the class taking their packed lunches and eating them by the nearby river that ran through Eynsford.

Greenwich Planetarium

One of my favourite trips that my school did locally was a trip to the Planetarium at the Greenwich Observatory.

I can still remember sitting back in a recliner seat and gazing up with amazement at the night sky simulation and feeling like I was travelling through space.

Usually after the trip we spent some time looking around the exhibit, and perusing the gift shop trying to work out what to buy with our spending money.

The Horniman Museum

The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill was one of the museums I remember visiting on a number of occasions on account of how close it was to get to.

The trip normally resulted in a mix of sounds of repulsion and fascination at the many taxidermied insects in the museum.

There was always one musically-inclined classmate who would commandeer the musical instruments on offer and play some semblance of a tune.

Christmas Tree Farm

One trip many south east Londoners may remember doing, especially if they went to school in the Bromley or Lewisham area, was a trip to Christmas Tree Farm in Downe Village.

The farm is still there today and is home to a number of farm animals, and it was somewhere we visited often during my primary school years.

I remember spending my money from my parents in the small farm shop or buying an ice cream to eat after lunch, back when 99 ice creams actually were 99p.

Broadstairs

Every child who went to south east London surely remembers an obligatory trip to the beach.

My school normally paid a visit to the seaside town of Broadstairs and its nearby beaches.

A school trip there was normally focused around visiting the Dickens Museum in the town itself and then a trip to either Joss Bay or Botany Bay.

Usually this would end with us all having an unofficial sandcastle building competition, which would result in us begging our teachers to get buckets of water from the “forbidden sea”, so that we could make the sand damp enough to mould with.

Even now Broadstairs is always the seaside town that reminds me most of my childhood, and it still looks so much like it did when I first visited at the age of eight.

Chessington World of Adventures

Chessington World of Adventures was somewhere us kids normally got to visit during the end of year celebrations in July.

I still remember excitedly bundling on to the coach and being instructed by teachers not to eat our snacks before lunch.

I remember as a child going on the vampire ride and being utterly terrified, but probably the highlight of my trip was always visiting the legendary Bubbleworks ride.

Sadly, the ride no longer exists at Chessington, after it was closed in September 2016 much to my utter sadness, although it’s a ride I have fond memories of still today.