Schools & Education

The Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway is a great place to visit with groups of children and school parties.

To help organise your trip, we provide a selection of packages, as well as teaching resources to help with planning your visit.

 

Group Benefits

To make life easier, we’ll provide these additional benefits for your educational group visit…

  • Free pre-visit for teachers and their family members, separate to the group visit.
  • Free travel for Teachers (on certain packages)
    • In accordance with local LEA’s the adult/child ratio is 1:6 for Key Stage 1and 1:10 for Key Stage 2
  • Free hot drink for teachers (at Haverthwaite)
  • Free squash and biscuits for children (at Haverthwaite by arrangement only)
  • Free access to Woodland Play Area
  • Free undercover Picnic Area
  • Free Colouring Sheets
  • Reserved seats on the trains

National Curriculum

During your visit, you can cover the following aspects of the National Curriculum with your group…

Basic Mathematics

Running a railway uses mathematics on a daily basis, from reserving seats in carriages and working out the capacity for passengers on each train, to the amount of coal and water used by the locomotive, the number of sleepers and lengths of rail needed to repair and maintain the track.

History

The Leven valley is one of the ‘Cradles of the Industrial Revolution’ with the construction of ironworks at Backbarrow – Bloomery Forge including a weir across the River Leven – around 1685. With the help of our Guide Book, you can investigate how the advent of the railway helped develop the many other local industries up the valley, such as charcoal production, cotton mills, gunpowder works, bobbin mills and advent of the Victorian tourist age with the Steamers on Lake Windermere.

Science & Engineering

You can cover the basic physics of steam-locomotive operation, and look at how the steam is converted in rotation of the wheels, investigate how accidents are prevented with the mechanical signalling system and look at how newer technology such as diesel engines and electric motors have replaced the older steam locomotives, and what benefits this brought to the modern railway network.

Geography, Geology & Wildlife

With its diverse and stunning range of lakes, meres, rivers and valleys, it’s easy to see why the 885 square miles of the Lake District was designated a National Park in 1951, and, since 2017, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As you travel along the River Leven, you can discuss how the water flowing along, began its life on the fells at the north end of Windermere (– which isn’t a lake at all but a ‘mere’, the clue’s in the name)- being then funneled into U-shaped valleys carved by glaciers over 15000 years ago, along with the mere itself. Why not combine your visit with a trip to the Aquarium at Lakeside where you can also investigate the water-cycle and the flora & fauna of this unique area.

Helpful Documents

We’ve prepared some documents that might assist with the preparation for your visit…

 

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