All Year 5 pupils visited the Marble Arch Caves on Wednesday 17th May. We had two activities – getting to see inside the caves and a woodland studies tour. My group got to see the caves first. We went through big gates and down a lot of stairs to get into the actual caves. There was water falling through some of the cracks onto our heads. We all walked along a path and our leader Anna told us some facts about the caves. We saw something that looked like a big slice of crispy bacon and we saw the huge porridge pot that had overflowed and we got to see the ‘Simpsons’. We couldn’t go on the boats because the water level was too high.
It was amazing in the caves and everybody was stunned at what they saw. We ate some lunch in the theatre. I was very hungry after walking up the 150 steps. After lunch we had a discussion about habitats, survival and food chains. We went into the woods to search for a range of mini-beasts. We found lots of dung beetles and millipedes. We visited a small cottage made of stone that wild animals lived in. It was a very interesting day out and I really enjoyed myself.
Rhys Mc Gourty (Mrs Kelly’s class, P5)
Facts:
- Many years ago people believed the rock in the caves was marble – it was limestone
- At 7 miles the Marble Arch Caves are the longest cave system in Northern Ireland
- The caves are estimated to be at least 1 million years old
- On average between 55,000 – 60,000 people visit the Marble Arch Caves each year
