Jump! Mag

Art & History, Written By You

Gentry or Servant? Which Would You Choose To Be? – Written By You

You will all know what a ‘servant’ is, I am sure – Perhaps your Mum says that sometimes when you ask her to do too much for you ‘Do you think I am your servant?’ 🙂

Do you know we mean when we say ‘the gentry’? According to this website

The gentry were the people who were knights, squires, gentlemen and gentlewoman whose fortunes were great that they did not have to work with their hands for a living. Their numbers grew rapidly and became the most important class during Elizabethan time. They could start as a knight and through generations and marriages, they could gradually build a wealth and title. Most of the important people of this time came from this class.

Back in Tudor times (between 1485 and 1603), a person couldn’t choose to be born into the gentry. Today groups of people all over the world get together to reenact various periods of history, including the Tudor period.

Alison has been on both sides of the gentry/servant divide and tells us all about reenactments, making your own clothes and living like a Tudor girl, at least for a weekend.

Travel

The Best Urban Beaches

Pic Credit

Who else is looking forward to the summer? Whether you call your summer break a ‘vacation’ or a ‘holiday’, there is a good chance that some of you are heading for the beach.

Did you know that around the world there are hundreds of artificial beaches. Some are near the coast, but others are miles away from the seaside – perfect for those who don’t or can’t travel far.

City beaches are sometimes called ‘urban beaches’ like the one above in Cologne, Germany. This can involve the delivery of hundreds of tonnes of sand, to a place where there is no sand.

Islands Brygge, Copenhagen, Denmark

Islands Brygge

There is no sand here, but it is an oasis of fun in the middle of the city. For many years, this area was run down and neglected, but after a regeneration project, new life is blossoming. Who wants to jump off this diving board?

Festival of Love Beach, South Bank, London UK

Festival of Love Beach

This beach is all about relaxing and digging your feet into the sand. No pool (and the chilly Thames is certainly no alternative!) but great views over London, and the South Bank centre often has great activities for kids on offer. Check out their website for details.

Paris Plage, France

The capital city of France can get really hot and muggy in the summer months, so what better way than to cool off at an urban beach? Check out the huge showers in the picture!

Bundek Lake, Zagreb, Croatia

Lake Bundek

In the south of the city of Zagreb, this park was brought back to life after many years of neglect. It is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike, hoping to cool off in the hot Croatian summers.

Baby Plage, Geneva, Switzerland

Baby Plage, Geneva

This might be the MOST fun urban beach for kids in the world. The huge trees are festooned with old tyres and bicycle tubes, knotted together to create ladders and swings.

San Alfonso del Mar, Chile

San Alfonso Del Mar, Chile

Ok, this is a bit of a cheat, cause it isn’t an urban beach, but it is the biggest swimming pool in the world, so we had to include it! It is 8 hectares, and holds 250 million liters of water. That is equivalent of 6,000 familiar 8m long pools! It is part of a privately owned complex in South America.

BONUS BEACHES

Now, don’t tell your parents that we showed you this, and don’t try it out at home, but how awesome does this look? We can’t help thinking that this would be VERY messy, but it looks so relaxing and fun!

The artist Justin Kemp created home sandbox for under his desk.

This was built in Japan in 1993 – an artificial beach with a retractable roof. It was not commercially successful and closed over 10 years ago. Which is a real shame, because it looks really amazing.

Featured Image – Cologne KM689 Beach Bar in Germany

Sports

Our ContiReporter Ailsa – Video Report from U17 Championship

Check out our ContiReporter’s fantastic video report from the Women’s U17 Championship, and tomorrow you can read her final report from the last day of her trip.

If you missed part one and two, you can catch up now!

Ailsa went to the Women’s U17 Championship thanks to the kind support of Continental UK.

School & Career

What is The Point in Learning Biology?

Last time we looked at uses of English, both in day-to-day life and in careers. Today we will focus on Biology – the study of life and living organisms in more detail that you could ever think necessary. So how is Biology useful in our day to day lives? How can we put the skills learned in Biology to use?

Here is where to find BIOLOGY … every day and everywhere

Art & History

Living in History

Now you know what reenactment is, from Alison’s excellent article, you may want to know a bit more about how it all works. How much work is involved in sewing the clothes, what do they eat, how do they get around? Alison’s mother Jax has written a great article about all this and more

It wasn’t an easy life, living in Tudor times. You can find that out by reading about it in a variety of places.

But I found it out by living it at Kentwell Hall.

We do reenactment. We being our entire family, from my son who was a Tudor baby aged 4 months last summer, through to my partner Tim.