The Story and teacher’s Story Guide can be downloaded below. The Guide explains the learning objectives and the different options for telling the story.
The story is about a young girl, Peggy, who farms in the Kent Downs with her grandparents. When her grandmother dies the farm is bought by Mr Duke from London and Peggy inherits a magical time travelling ring. Peggy gradually discovers the significance of the ring as her and Mr Duke clash over the management of the farm. Each management clash represents a particular stage in the geological or historical development of the Kent Downs. As the leader of the walk you can introduce yourself as Peggy (change the name if you wish) and challenge the children to guess what your secret is (you are Peggy the time traveller). As you point out various landscape features you can utter Peggy’s time travelling chants e.g. ‘I know all about hens, birds and their ancestors the dinosaurs….I know all time and I was here when dinosaurs wandered this land….’. Then see how long it takes the children to guess that you are a time traveller.
You can read the story either during the walk or back at the classroom. Or if you are a budding story teller then you can memorise the five key components of the story and weave your own version of the story around these and tell the story traditional style in the fresh air of the Kent Downs.
The time travelling angle of the story allows for an interesting discussion with the children around the future of the countryside and how they think the Kent Downs will look and change in the future.