On a windswept Friday evening in early May, thirty Year 10 historians accompanied by Mr Davies, Mrs Morgan and Mr Briggs travelled to the East End of London for a tour of Jack the Ripper's old haunts. We met our guide, Colin, outside Aldgate East tube station and we moved off into the back streets.

We stopped for a brief introduction to the murders, which gave the students a chance to show off the knowledge imparted in previous lessons. Colin very quickly showed a huge knowledge of and enthusiasm for his subject and the students were clearly impressed. Some of the girls were, perhaps, slightly less impressed when he used them as dummies to illustrate the Ripper's modus operandi.

We were taken round all of the murder sites, some of which are similar to how they would have been in 1888, others are completely different. Apparently, the authorities in the aftermath of the murders wanted to avoid ‘ghoulish sightseers' and so demolished some of the houses concerned. We bumped into at least four other groups of such ghoulish sightseers as we made our way around Whitechapel, so that clearly didn't work!

The students were able to get a grasp of the area in which the Ripper worked as we walked around Mitre Square, Hanbury Street, the Ten Bells and the rest. The site of Mary Kelly's murder is now a multi-storey car park: this was, apparently, the first of the murder sites to be demolished.

The students also saw a variety of photos depicting the murders and found out some new facts relating to the crimes (did you know, for example, that the authorities took advantage of Catherine Eddowes' rigor mortis to photograph her ‘standing', propped up against a wall by an almost unseen hand?). There is no doubt that the students' coursework will be greatly enhanced by the experience.

The two hours flew by and then it was back to the coach for a quiet journey back. Thanks to Mrs Morgan for all her help and especially to Mr Briggs, who stepped in at the 11^th hour.

Simon Davies

Head of History