Post written by Explainer Eli
As millions descended upon London for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee festivities, a team of valiant Science Museum knights mounted their noble steed (the outreach van) and headed to a far flung region of the Great British Isle (Cumbria). Their quest, to entertain the good folk at the 2012 Whitehaven Jubilee festival using nothing but sensational science!
Over the two days we succeeded in our mission; wowing the crowds with table top science experiments including cordial cornflour slime, courtly carbon dioxide filled bubbles and aristocratic Alka-Seltzer rockets!
We also performed a number of shows; ‘The Bubble Show’ and ‘The Greatest Hits Show’ that would have made our Majesty proud!
The London celebrations may have had a 1000 boat flotilla but Whitehaven’s Harbour was equally as splendid…
Other highlights of the festival included performances by Katherine Jenkins, The Enemy and The Charlatans.
Our dwelling for the duration of the festival was a pleasing palace with tight security (we were given a code that opened a box, which released a key that opened another box, which in turn revealed a key code entry pad for opening the door). The hotel even came complete with a trio of terriers that could rival any corgis and to top it all there was also a patriotic parrot!
On Saturday, after a days hard work, we decided to make the most of our northern adventure and headed for a drive over the very scary Hardknott and Wrynose pass to feast on a splendid Chinese in Windermere.
During the drive, the satellite navigation system kept telling us to “Turn around” and at one point we definitely smelt burning tyres! Many of the knights had become too accustomed with city dwelling and had never experienced such crazy roads. There were screams from Outreach Officer José of “Slow down Nate, use the engine!”
Reaching the summit of the mountain, blowing the cobwebs away after a hard day explaining science to the masses, was just what we needed.
On Sunday, Explainer Dominique’s impressive ‘Bubble Show’ bought the tent’s work to an elegant end, which was no mean feat as the Red Arrows were performing lots of spectacular stunts outside.
People of Cumbria we salute you! Thanks for coming to see us; we all had a fantastic time!
Thanks to the Samuel Lindow foundation and the National Nuclear Laboratory for inviting us! Hopefully we will be returning next year…
Explainer Fact: For more top science experiments, check out the Science Museum’s website or visit us in South Kensington, London.