Descriptive writing - A day in Torquay in 1907

Pupils might plan details of what to include in a recount of day in Torquay in the summer of 1900 using a simple timeline framework, such as the one below. Studying the various sources suggested will allow them to select various appropriate details. Some will point out that some of these sources are from before or after 1900. This will provide a good opportunity to discuss how historical evidence is seldom so neat and that it is appropriate to conclude that a fair in 1900 will be very similar to one from 1912.

It would be helpful to model the first entry and part of the second to help pupils undertake this activity.

Time	Activity	Sources	Suggestions
9 a.m.	Leaving the hotel	Imperial Hotel	The hotel, what it’s like
9.30 am	On the beach	Anstey’s Cove or Torquay Ladies Bathing Cove	What you do on the beach – bathing machines, how they work, fishermen on the beach
12.30pm		Thomas’s sign	Lunch, refreshments on the beach
2 pm	A boat trip	Boat trip	What the boat is like
4.30 pm	Buying souvenirs	Wall Plaque Shell Box	The kind of souvenirs you choose, what they are made of
5 pm	The Fair	All the fun of the fair	What the fair is like, the rides, the crowds

Pupils could then use their completed table to assist in writing an account of a day in Torquay in 1900.