Pupils head to country for a day of learning; Excited youngsters get to try hands at rural events

Byline: DAVE BLACK

HUNDREDS of Tyneside youngsters left their classrooms behind for a day out with a difference in the countryside.

They headed north to Wooler in Northumberland to take part in one of the UK's biggest outdoor educational events of its kind dedicated to rural life.

Highlights for the excited primary school pupils included trying their hand at dry stone walling, poultry plucking and butchery.

And they swapped their usual computers and other learning tools for wheelbarrows and gardening equipment to experience the delights of growing fruit and vegetables on an allotment.

The aim of the event was to teach the children more about life in the countryside, and how their food is grown and produced.

More than 1,620 pupils from 42 schools in Tyneside and Northumberland - together with 320 of their teachers and parents - gathered on the Glendale Showground for the rural teach-in.

They were given lessons about the growing of crops and the rearing of livestock which they eat in their daily diets - as well as meeting those involved at the sharp end of the production process.

The youngsters were the latest to take part in the Glendale Agricultural Society's annual Children's Countryside Day, which was launched seven years ago.

Free to schools, the event brings in children from rural and urban backgrounds and teaches them about the contribution which farming and rural activities make to everyone's lives.

Yesterday the pupils found out more about farm-related work such as planting, game rearing, fly fishing, sheep shearing, stick dressing and wool spinning.

The giant, outdoor classroom also included its own purpose-built and fullystocked allotment.

Jayne Watson, one of the organisers of the event, said: "Many of those attending today are more used to an urban environment, so we hope it will encourage them to think about growing some food at home, or even their own allotment."

CAPTION(S):

COUNTRY LIFE Left, Emma Palmer and Jay Armstrong and, right, Alisha Bradshaw with a 1915 tractor FUNTIME Pupils from Shanklea Primary School in Cramlington enjoy the countryside in Wooler, Northumberland