This is one of those trips that probably took place regularly as part of the curriculum: this account comes from the July 1954 Ely High School magazine.
Our Visit to Wembley.
On Saturday, March 13th, thirty-eight girls went to Wembley to watch the International Hockey Match between England and Scotland. We left Ely at 8.15am, going by way of Fordham, Burwell and Newmarket. Arrived in London we did not go immediately to Wembley, but stopped at Madame Tussaud's.
This museum was started in Berne in 1757 by Madame Tussaud's uncle and was opened in Paris in 1762. At the age of six, Anne (later Mme Tussaud) went to live with her uncle in Paris where she showed much ability as an artist and soon her work excelled that of her uncle. During the French Revolution she was forced to take death masks from the guillotined heads, and later was herself thrown into prison as a suspected Royalist, but she was released at the end of the Revolution. She returned to the studios to find that her uncle had died, leaving her the museum. In 1795 she married Francois Tussaud, and in 1802 she brought her museum to London.
The exhibits in the museum are extremely good and life-like. The Royal group was very good, and also the French group. The Tableaux section was very good as it showed many historical scenes. The first tableau represented the Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and it showed Mary with her head on the wooden block and the executioner standing with the axe raised above his head.
Other tableaux were: the body of Napoleon lying in state; the death of Nelson; the murder of the little princes in the Tower; and the arrest of Guy Fawkes. There were also the key to the Bastille, and the original Guillotine Knife in glass cases.
In the museum there was also the Hall of Kings, which showed you all the kings and queens of England from William the Conqueror. Our greatest disappointment was that we were not allowed to go into the Chamber of Horrors; it looked so inviting.
After scrambling back into our bus we set off for our final destination, Wembley! Arrived there we found our seats, and waited in great excitement.
The two teams were piped on to the field by eight pipers, but the noise of the pipes was completely overpowered by the noise of school-girls cheering enthusiastically. England looked fast and efficient in their white blouses and red shorts, and Scotland looked prepared to "fight to the end" in their mauve tunics and long mauve stockings.
From the beginning the match proved to be a very fast and thrilling game. The Scots' goal-keeper made some superb saves, that looked impossible, and the left-back, playing well up the field, showed that the best method of defence is attack. Although both teams used the forceful drive very much, they also used the push-stroke, and we are sure that the members of the school who were there gained many hints to improve their own standard of hockey.
The match concluded with a victory for England, who scored five goals to Scotland's one.
After the match, as we were going out, many of us were separated but we all reached the coach safely.
Then the coach would not start! The driver telephoned Victoria Coach Station, and they sent us a very nice coach, which arrived two hours later. It was supplied with blankets so we settled down in luxury for the journey home. Finally we reached home at 11pm, very tired but very happy.
Many thanks must be extended to Miss Higson for arranging such an enjoyable outing.
BARBARA BEAMISS AND MARGARET HARRISON, Lower VI, ANN FEW, Upper IV. Alpha.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Tussauds
http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/
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page created 9 Dec 10