How has the economy of Cowes changed over time?

 The lesson this week, were inspired by the children’s questions about how Cowes has changed over time as last lesson we spoke about how Cowes used to have a train station and a pier. One of the children went home and spoke to his grandma who has a book with lots of old photos of our local area. Grandma sent them in so we analysed them and compared them to the are today. This then led to the children being introduced to J.S. white as well as Saunders-Rowe, two companies that were very important in the maritime\ boat building industry in Cowes. The children identified that Cowes was famous for designing and making ships both for the navy and other countries as well as building sea planes. Furthermore, they identified how the floating bridge has changed over time and the design of the hovercraft. Finally, they looked at BAE Systems in Cowes who now design and test radar for the navy and other maritime industries.