the magical sightseeing tour of Sevenoaks
Anas: Welcome to Sevenoaks. Here is some interesting information about our beautiful town. Sevenoaks is 20 miles south-east of London. Its population is about 20,000. It is situated in the wonderful Kent countryside. Do you know where the name Sevenoaks comes from? Some people believe that the town is named after the seven oak trees which grew there a long time ago. Therefore you can see seven acorns in the coat of arms.
Sebastian: Sevenoaks was and still is a market town. It’s not only an excellent shopping centre but also an excellent place for commuters because there’s a fast train which takes you to London in 35 minutes. The motorway M25 is only some minutes away. So it’s easy for the partners of our twin towns to reach Sevenoaks. We have been twinned with Rheinbach in Germany since 1990 and with Pontoise in France since 2002.
Lilly: Kent is famous for its orchards. The apples are made into apple juice, cider (that’s apple wine), jams and of course delicious apple cakes. You can walk off the calories in our wonderful landscape, there are many forests and parks.There are also many hop farms. Our beer is very good because of the Kentish hop in it. Don’t miss a pint afterwards. You won’t believe it but you can also see vineyards and try our wines. Yes, the British do make wine!
Franziska: Here in Sevenoaks you can really enjoy your days off. There are nice hotels and excellent Bed and Breakfast places where you can enjoy the traditional English breakfast with bacon, eggs and sausages. If you like to eat a lot in the morning you can also have tomatoes, baked beans and mushrooms. If that’s too much for you just have grapefruit and toast with marmalade. You kids can start the day with hot chocolate and different cereals. Do you prefer Sugar Pops, Puffa Puffa Rice or Peanut Butter Crunch???
Wouldn’t it be nice for parents to go on day trips without children who are bored when you visit museums and churches?
Franziska and Christina: We’ve got a special service for you.
Christina: You can leave your children at a fun club where trained staff looks after them. They get to know other children and play games with them. So you can all spend a relaxing day and meet in the evening to talk about your experiences.
School
Carina: Our children of course can go to the fun clubs only after school. We’ ve got a lot of different schools from nurseries and pre- and primary schools for the children between 4 and 11 and secondary schools for the older ones. Our secondary schools are mostly for boys or for girls. We don’ t have mixed schools.
Villages
Marie: Around Sevenoaks there are about 14 villages which are very nice. One of them is Shoreham. It is situated near the small River Darent and it is very pretty. If you want to make a day trip there it’s a good idea because of the fresh air and the nice cafes. Are you fed up with hectic coffees- to- go? Then you should try a Cream Tea. Have you never heard of Cream Teas? There is nothing to beat a Cream Tea while sitting in a rose garden on a nice summer day and around you are bees, butterflies and the lovely smell of flowers. Enjoy a typical Cream Tea there with a nice pot of tea, scones still warm from the oven, home-made cakes, cream and strawberry jam. Go on and spoil yourself – you know what to do!
Knole House
Louis: Do you like history? Sevenoaks invites you to visit and discover its historical castles and houses. One of the most famous buildings is Knole House. It’s known as calendar house because of its 365 rooms, 52 staircases and 7 courtyards.
Maximilian: It was built in the 15th century, later Henry VIII lived here. You know he’s the king who had six wives because he wanted to have a son. He broke with the Roman Catholic Church and made himself the head of a new church, the Church of England because the Pope didn’t allow a divorce. Only four of his wives died a natural death, two were executed in the Tower of London. ---About one hundred years later the Queen gave Knole House to her cousin Thomas Sackville. It still belongs to the Sackville family. It is set in a lovely parkland with lots of deer. Don’t feed the animals because they can be dangerous.
Gina: Do you believe in ghosts? Do you want to know why an area in Knole Park is named Duchess Walk? Then you must walk the dark avenues of chestnut and oak in windy moonless nights. Why? Because then you can meet Lady Ann Clifford, I mean her ghost who haunts the park.
Inside Knole House and other historic houses
Jolan: On our guided tour you can visit 13 state rooms with pictures, carpets, silver and a very important collection of English furniture from the 17th century. Another interesting building is the Red House. It was built in the 17th century and was the home of the Austen family. Do you know the famous writer Jane Austen? She used buildings and the park as a model in her books. One of her novels is “Pride and Prejudice”, perhaps you’ve seen the new film version of “Stolz und Vorurteil” in German last year.Eva: There are more scary stories about haunted places. You can read one of them in the oldest book, the Domesday Book. It’s about a place called the Bishop’s House. It’s said that the ghost of a bishop haunted it and ate children. Or that the house disappeared and then suddenly appeared again.
Melina: You have already heard that you can see many interesting historic buildings in Sevenoaks. On the right you can see a very old building which was once a farmhouse and now it is a popular pub and a restaurant, the Oak Tree.
If you look left, you can see the Vine Cricket Ground with its19th century cricket pavillion.
Opposite Vine Cricket Ground you can see Kippington House. A friend of Francis Drake bought it in 1630. Francis Drake was a famous sailor who first sailed around the world.
Many years later some people bought the house and rebuilt it. Today it has got many flats.
Hever Castle
Moritz: On the right you can see Hever Castle. It was built in the 13th century. It is a massive gatehouse together with a walled bailey. It is surrounded by a moat with a wooden drawbridge. Inside you can have dinner with more than 60 guests. You can also marry there. If you are interested in the Middle Ages you can find a wonderful collection of armours for knights. For children the castle may be a bit boring but outside you can perfectly play hide-and seek. If you kids play try to be very quiet because the older people don’t want to be disturbed when they are walking in the wonderful garden.
Sports and Nature
Christian: Do you like sports? Here on the right you can see the Vine Cricket Ground which is a paradise for cricket players. It’s about 250 years old and one of the oldest cricket clubs in the country. There you can see one of the old seven oak trees. Do you like nature and do you love English gardens? Look at the Bradbourne Lakes on the right. There you can feed geese and ducks. There are lots of birds and butterflies. On the left you can see a part of the famous North Downs Way. You need a week’s holiday and a good condition if you want to walk it because it’s 246 km long.
Andreas: We’ve also got a sports centre. It’s the perfect place for sports fans who want to play tennis, rugby or football. You can also do yoga or practise martial art. If you like dancing you can learn to rock´n ´roll. Every Wednesday there is a Bridge evening from 7.30 till 10.00.
Shopping
Annalena:
Shopping? Of course. Sevenoaks offers a town centre with many small and nice shops. On the left there’s the big Blights Development. It’s an outdoor shopping centre with a theatre and a cinema complex. There are lots of nice little cafes and excellent restaurants. They serve top quality French, Italian, Indian or Chinese food. But of course you can also enjoy traditional British food like a Sunday lunch with roast beef or lamb with Yorkshire pudding and vegetables.
Lilith: So you see that the sentence “The only way to eat well in England is to have breakfast three times a day“ is not right. --That was our guided tour. We hope you enjoyed it and come back to Sevenoaks. --Now you have got some time to explore our buffet, drink a cup of tea or coffee and try our home-made cakes and biscuits. Thanks a lot for your attention. Bye-bye.
Christina: We want to thank our computer experts Frank and Simon.
Carina: Simon took a lot of photos in Rheinbach and the two found interesting pictures in the internet to show you the sights of Rheinbach and Sevenoaks.
Carina: Thank you for your Powerpoint presentation.
Andreas: Now that’s really the end of our presentation this year. If you want to read the texts they’re on our school homepage.
Gina: Come back to Form 6b next year. Then we’ll present a theatre play. --We all wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
