From London to the Mara River, Mount Etna, Hong Kong and Japan, WUS pupils drew on experiences near and far for the school’s inaugural Snapshots Travel Writing Competition. Their challenge was to capture a place, moment or experience through vivid description and thoughtful observation, before professional travel writer Will Hide joined the shortlisted writers at school.
Launched before the summer holidays, the competition asked pupils to return with a snapshot in words: one memorable place, moment or experience, closely observed and vividly described. “It was a real pleasure to travel through the pupils’ writing,” said Mrs Chacksfield, Head of English. “Their adventures took us far and wide, from volcanoes and mountain lakes to bustling cities and African safaris, while other writers proved that memorable travel writing can be inspired by places much closer to home, including here in London.”
A Junior and Senior shortlist was selected before the entries were passed to guest judge Will Hide, a professional travel writer and Blue Badge guide whose work has appeared in The Times, The Sunday Times and The Telegraph. Will joined the shortlisted writers at school for the competition’s final showcase, where pupils read extracts from their work and heard about his career in travel journalism.
His advice ranged from painting a vivid picture and never assuming the reader knows what the writer knows, to avoiding travel-writing clichés, using natural language and making every adjective earn its place. Above all, he encouraged pupils to think about what he called “armchair travel”: writing that transports the reader somewhere else without them having to leave their seat.
That sense of being transported also came through in Will’s comments on the shortlisted pieces. Of Eli’s The Wonders of Ichiran, he said: “I was hungry after reading this! It did a really good job of making me feel I was there, and explaining what this restaurant was to someone who’d never been.” Reading Nadia’s Snapshots: Hong Kong, he said: “I could picture looking at the people through their windows as we went up the escalator.”
The showcase concluded with Bronze, Silver and Gold awards in the Junior and Senior competitions, with all of the shortlisted writers sharing extracts from their work.
Junior Awards
Gold: Zayan (Year 6), Mara River Safari
Silver: Konstantinos (Year 6), Greek Evening
Bronze:
Jake (Year 5), Etna Exploration
Senior Awards
Gold: Eli (Year 8), The Wonders of Ichiran
Silver: Nadia (Year 7), Snapshots: Hong Kong
Bronze: Julian Yip (Year 8), The Cotton Castle
A selection of the pupils’ travel writing can be read below.
Mara River Safari
by Zayan
The first thing I heard was the thunder.Not the thunder of a storm, but the pounding of thousands of hooves against the parched earth. The ground trembled beneath me as if the savannah was alive. Brrrr! Brrrr! Dust rose in colossal clouds, stinging my eyes and draping my tongue with its dry, bitter taste. Suddenly, carnage!!!
Embarking on their annual migration ritual, thousands of wildebeests raced towards the Mara River, a dark smudge sweeping across a golden sea of land. Zebras raced among them, their stripes reflecting the shimmering sun. I sat upright, my eyes glued to the animals sprinting down the hill. I was awestruck! Grunts, snorts and frightened cries engulfed the air.
But they were not alone. Hidden in the tall grass across the river and ready to pounce, a lioness crouched quietly, subtle and unseen. Her tawny eyes, as amber as molten gold, followed the herd. She was completely still.
Waiting. Watching. Wanting.
My fingers curled tightly around the burning metal handrail of our safari jeep. I could smell the dusty grass and the musky odour of the stampeding animals commingling like potions stirred together in a witch’s cauldron.
At the riverbank, the wildebeests immediately halted like a cartoon on pause. Below them, the brown water swirled innocently. Hippos grunted and snorted, their enormous grey heads rising through the surface.
Then, SPLASH! One wildebeest sprung. Alive again!
The bank erupts; a volcano spurting out cascading lava. Myriad wildebeests and zebras charge into the river. Water crashes and churns. Hooves strike rocks. Mothers call for their calves. The noise is deafening. A boisterous drumming sound reverberates through the Savannah.
Out of nowhere, my tour guide urgently points to the bubbling water where a long, dark shape slices through the water like a knife slowly edging into its target.
A crocodile.
Its jaw slyly snaps shut.
A wildebeest disappeared beneath the surface. I gasped in lament. Part of me wanted to turn my head away, but I couldn’t.
Another crocodile lunged. The wildebeests thrashed; desperately fighting against the current and even each other. A petrified calf struggled behind the herd groaning for its mum. “Come on!” I whispered. “Come on, please!”
It kicked once.
Twice.
Its front legs finally reached the opposite muddy bank. It scrambled upwards and escaped. For a moment, relief washed over me.
Then the grass moves. A slight twitch. My heart pounds against my ribs. The lioness rapidly leaps into the air, ready to devour its quarry.
It strikes. Immediately, I shut my eyes. But, when I open them once more, only dust lingers in the air. The thunder eventually fades into serene silence as the herd retreats, but the brutal beat of the Mara still carries on inside me.
The Wonders of Ichiran
by Eli
Going to Japan is great, the people are nice, the vending machines regurgitate everything from 80p apple juice to Pokémon cards. It’s cheap and children can be given Suica cards, which are like Oyster cards that can be used in 7-eleven and other shops. But for me, Ichiran (and 7-eleven) reigns supreme (over Lawson which is overpriced and annoying due to its proliferation, No Offense Mr Lawson).
To start, opening hours are regularly either 6am–10pm or 24/7. This is perfect when you arrive at 8pm and need good food to start your trip. Or, if you’re jet-lagged and hungry at 1am. But be warned, queues, especially at the New York Brooklyn and Times Square and Dazaifu (Japan) can be extremely long (At Dazaifu, we waited for 3 hours).
But the queues, in this writer’s opinion, are worth it. Ichiran is not the best, probably not even ‘good’, but it is a good starting point for solid proper Japanese food. The ordering system is fun and exciting. You order at a machine which spits out little slips of paper which you give to your waiter. Also, if one orders ramen, one gets given a sheet from which to choose your options: spicy sauce, dashi (seasoning stock), pork, onion, broth strength, garlic and texture.
It’s popular 1-person dining booths give a very personal connection with food. Ichiran is also very widespread, with branches in NYC and Okinawa. Ichiran can be found, therefore, in the USA and next to a US naval base.
At Ichiran, your periphery is enclosed by the aforementioned booths and by the red curtain separating you from the kitchen. The long glazed wooden tables are separated by dividers which act as the boundaries of said booth. It smells of rich, flavourful broth and when a thin curtain is lifted, a mysterious bowl of ramen is placed in front of you along with “Hiden no Tare” (spicy sauce).
Now to the ramen itself, it looks like a pale milky-white broth with (if one chose) a stark dollop of Hiden no Tare in the middle. Pork is on the right and onion on the left. At the bottom of the original bowl is the following: “This last drop is our greatest joy.” The broth tastes like proper classic Hakata ramen.
Children, please do not read the following paragraph.
Parents: the price of the comprehensive ramen for a family of 4 can come to £40 maximum if everyone gets a Jumbo (select 5) ramen, Noodle refill, extra garlic, vinegar and a drink. Ichiran can be as cheap as £5pp, so £20 for a family of 4.
Children, you may now continue reading.
In conclusion, I believe that Ichiran is the best first ramen that you can have in Japan. It has everything needed; it is open (near or at) 24/7, so it is perfect for any day, anytime. So, wherever you go, whomever you see, stay safe, look after one another and eat Ichiran.
