Education Experiences

Your visit combines learning opportunities with the experience of travelling through the Hampshire Countryside behind a restored steam locomotive to create a memorable full day visit. Our learning activities give pupils the chance to get up close to a steam locomotive and hands on measuring activities. Pupils will decide the most appropriate measurement system for each part of the locomotive and select how they will record their measurements. In addition  they explore the station at Ropley including the engine Yard and the bridge used in the filming of Harry Potter. 

New! Discover how and why railways like the watercress line were important during world world two. Meet the railway’s very own ARP warden who will meet you at your starting station, issue you and your group with your identity cards, use the evocative atmosphere of our carriages to immerse your class into being evacuated during wartime. Everyone will be invited to write a postcard home to their loved ones , and will be evacuated to the scenic and safe mid Hampshire countryside. Explore how rationing, make do and mend all were fundamental to how people survived during the war on the home front as well as carrying out your own home guard fire training in the station yard with our stirrup pumps under the expert guidance of the railway’s ARP warden. 

Discover some of the stories passed down from different generations of station masters of stories and memories of the railway and along the line itself using our interactive story boxes crammed full of objects, dressing up, replica photos and smells. 

Discover how and why the watercress line was built in the 1860s and what impact it had on the surrounding area, its people and the wider impact of railway mania both in Hampshire and wider country. Examine examples of railway features built in the 1800s which are still standing today, how Isambard Kingdom Brunel,  George Stephenson and more locally Edward knight (nephew of author Jane Austen) were important to The Watercress Line and the wider victorian railways. Take part in discovering some of the Victorian stories involved in the running and construction our our railway including the notorious navvies to the local residents who were unsure of what the railway was. 

Edward Knight (the railway’s first director) challenges the group to help extend the railway almost back to Winchester. But there’s a problem….water is in the way! Can you work together as a team to help build a bridge that is safe, strong and secure and under budget? Each group has a fictional budget, designs, builds and tests their bridge before presenting it to the bridge building board. 

Ideal for KS1 and early years groups. Climb aboard one of our trains for an exciting train journey from one of our stations to the other, each pupil will be issued with their own ticket for travel. Have the chance to cross the harry potter bridge at Ropley and see if you can spot the shapes around the station and go on a station I-spy hunt! 

Be history detectives and piece together the stories of people connected to the railway throughout its history. These boxes are designed to support your group’s understanding of the history of railways from early Victorian times through to modern day heritage railway operations. Your visit can be combined with train travel.

Discover some fascinating facts in the history of the Watercress line and piece these together as history detectives. Each story box tells a particular story from the lines past from 1840 through to the present day. These contain fact sheets, artefacts, costumes and a short play script. Pupils are encouraged to present what they discover to the rest of the class, either using the script or by creating their own tableau. 

Discover the science of how a steam engine really works using coal, water pressure and geometry to stay on track! Take a train trip behind one of our historic working locomotives before seeing the engine swap ends, then see the engines up close at  Ropley, explore some of the basic principles of steam engine science through our interactive galleries and our science of steam workshop. 

The railway needs a new locomotive to help run trains up and down the line, working in teams can you build a battery powered model, design, build and test it on the test track. Which teams will steam forward or back, which one will be the fastest? 

Have the chance to explore our Ropley station site after normal opening hours with a tour of the station site (explore the station platforms and buildings, investigate the hands on viewing galleries, cross the Harry Potter bridge) and walk through the engine yard) and take part in the bridge building challenge! 

£80 for the 1.5 hour workshop and tour of the station. 

Max of 35 young people can be accommodated, available throughout the year (except November, December and January)

Ideal for uniformed groups for badge work such as railway safety, local knowledge and STEM. 

We offer outreach sessions for community learning groups where the railway visits you. Have the chance to explore where the railway started from, how it has changed throughout its history, stories of the key people in its development, sounds, smells, objects and audience participation. 

Available throughout the year at a time and date to suit the requirements of the group and subject to availability.  Expert and specialist talks are also delivered by Volunteers from the railway who are also able to offer more detailed and specialist talks about the railway’s history, locomotives and other aspects upon request. Please contact education@watercressline.co.uk for further details. 

Suggested donations of £25 plus mileage (outside a 1 hour drive time )are welcome. 

New! A perfect compliment to a visit to the railway discover some of the railways key stories, people,  trains and locomotives through replica sounds, smells and objects. A loans box can be hired for a maximum of 4 weeks and costs £40 to hire for a term. The content of the loans box can be tailored to meet your class / groups learning objectives and outcomes.