On Friday 10th October, Year 8 went on a guided walk to various places in the City of London and Bermondsey.

We started off the trip by a taking the tube, five stops away, from Sloane Square to Blackfriars.

There, we met our two local experts who walked us from Blackfriars, along the Thames, providing us with an informative talk about the location and the history of London.

They picked out various features which helped us to see for real what we had learned about in class, such as the gravels that line the Thames around London Bridge and the rise in elevation north of the river near St Paul’s. We considered London’s energy needs and how to provide for this, standing opposite the old Bankside Power Station, which was oil-fired (now the Tate Modern), and looking across at the solar panels that line the newly improved Blackfriars Bridge.

We walked past St Paul’s and then stopped for lunch up on the top floor of a shopping centre (One New Change) and took in the beautiful scenery.

After that, we had a brief journey on the coach to 7, More London, the PWC business offices. They are in London’s most sustainable offices, an award-winning building. We were shown around the whole building which was incredible and so well set out. We were all amazed by how eco-friendly the building was; there were no bins under desks, as they had grouped recycling bins for wax cups, food waste, plastic, etc. in a central area. The employees only use around 30 printers between the 5,800 people who work there. We rode in their ‘intelligent lifts’ (that save energy) and learned how the building is partly powered and heated by recycled cooking fat from restaurants around the city!

We also visited City Hall, which was nearby, and had fun looking up where we live and school on the Google Earth floor. Overall, the trip was thoroughly enjoyable and very interesting. Thank you to all the teachers, guides and people that kindly showed us around at PWC.