0:00:23 > 0:00:27This story belongs to Finley and his grandad Laurence.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32It's a tiny tale about how children, just like you,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35lived in the olden days, about 350 years ago.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41Grandad Laurence used to be a firefighter.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44He and Finley are visiting a modern fire station.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Look, Finley, this is a real modern-day fire engine.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02It's got a hose on here.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05This fire engine carries its own water
0:01:05 > 0:01:07and it's got ladders on the roof.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10The ladders are for going up high buildings
0:01:10 > 0:01:13so you can rescue people there. Then we come to the front,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17and it's got the lights and the noise the siren makes.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19SIREN WAILS
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Wow!
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Do you want to be a firefighter when you grow up?
0:01:25 > 0:01:28- Yes.- Yeah, you do? You know, your daddy's a firefighter.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Did you know your daddy's grandad was a firefighter?
0:01:31 > 0:01:33He's your great-grandad.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37- Oh, wow!- I know a story about a young lad called William Taswell.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39He lived a long time ago in London
0:01:39 > 0:01:43and he saw one of the biggest fires in history.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45They called it the Great Fire of London.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48The Great Fire of London happened in the year 1666,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51which was a long, long time ago.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54The fire lasted over four days and it nearly destroyed
0:01:54 > 0:01:56the City of London.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59They didn't have big red fire engines in those days.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03- Shall we go on an adventure to see how it happened, then?- Yay!
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Finley and Grandad Laurence are going on a journey of discovery.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Together, they're going to find out what life was like
0:02:10 > 0:02:12all those years ago.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Finley and Grandad Laurence have come to
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Weald And Downland Open Air Museum.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24These houses and streets look similar to ones in London
0:02:24 > 0:02:26when William Taswell was young.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Finley, what do you think about your costume?
0:02:30 > 0:02:34- I like the buttons and the buckles. - They make you look very smart.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37That's the sort of clothes that William Taswell
0:02:37 > 0:02:38would wear to school.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41William went to school at the time of the Great Fire.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Only wealthy children like William went to school then.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48He would wear a lace collar and a funny tall hat.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50What do you think about your costume?
0:02:50 > 0:02:54I think my costume is ever so heavy. And look at the trousers!
0:02:54 > 0:02:57- They're more like a lady's dress! - FINLEY LAUGHS
0:02:57 > 0:02:58What's the funny hat for?
0:02:58 > 0:03:02My funny hat is for when I have to go and fight the fires.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04This is what this big skirt is for at the back,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07so all the fire embers don't go down my neck.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11It's made of leather so it doesn't burn your head too easily.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25And...throw it!
0:03:25 > 0:03:29When William was a boy, only the richest children had toys.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Even things like balls were too expensive for most families,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37so children made simple toys or played with things that they found.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41Finley and Grandad Laurence are playing a game called apple ball.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Children poked a strong stick into apples that were too rotten to eat
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and then had a competition to see who could throw it the furthest.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51It looks like a fun game!
0:03:52 > 0:03:53Caught you!
0:03:53 > 0:03:57These children are playing a game William might have played.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01The blindfolded girl has to find her friends and catch them.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Do you like playing catching games with your friends?
0:04:06 > 0:04:10William and his friends played some great games.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14William went to school in London.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18During the Great Fire, he wrote about what he saw in his diary.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21A diary is a book for writing down news.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25We know about what happened in the fire because of diaries
0:04:25 > 0:04:27that William and other people wrote.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32The Great Fire of London started in the middle of the night in a bakery
0:04:32 > 0:04:34in a street called Pudding Lane.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37At that time, people used candles and fires inside buildings
0:04:37 > 0:04:41for light and heat. The buildings often went on fire,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43but this one spread really quickly.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47By the morning, over 300 buildings were on fire.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50The rest of the city had to be warned.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06There was no TV, and people couldn't phone or text
0:05:06 > 0:05:10in the time of the Great Fire, so the only way to warn the city
0:05:10 > 0:05:12was by ringing the church bells.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Finley and Grandad Laurence are going to try bell ringing.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Laurence, we're going to show you how to ring the first stage
0:05:24 > 0:05:26of a bell, and Finley has got his
0:05:26 > 0:05:29own special bell to join in, as well.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30So, here we go.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32- Right... Up... - BELL RINGS
0:05:32 > 0:05:34..and down.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36BELL RINGS
0:05:36 > 0:05:40The loud church bells could be heard right across the city.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44There was no proper fire service. Instead, volunteers would
0:05:44 > 0:05:47hurry to help put out fires if they heard warning bells.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50- That's good.- And the noisy bells also told other people
0:05:50 > 0:05:55living in the city that they needed to escape from the fire.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09William found out about the fire
0:06:09 > 0:06:13when he was in a big church called Westminster Abbey.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16He heard a lot of people outside shouting.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20He ran out to a nearby bridge to see what was going on.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23In the distance, he saw flames going high into the sky.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27The wind was blowing the flames, helping the fire to spread.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31To find out why the fire spread
0:06:31 > 0:06:34so quickly in London all those years ago,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Finley and Grandad Laurence are looking at some old houses.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42- What do you think these buildings are made of?- Wood.- That's right.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Even inside. All the walls are made of wood.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50And the wood is all covered with straw and...horses' poo.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51FINLEY LAUGHS
0:06:51 > 0:06:55And it's a real problem making buildings out of wood, because it
0:06:55 > 0:06:56burns very easily.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00So, when there's a fire, that house will burn very, very quickly.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03What else do you notice about the buildings?
0:07:03 > 0:07:07- They're really close together. - Yep, they are, and that can be
0:07:07 > 0:07:09a big problem when there's a fire,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13cos it can jump from one building to the other very easily.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Do you notice anything about the shape of the buildings?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The front of the houses stick out.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Because they stick out at the front,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23the fire can get across the streets.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27At the time of the fire, it had been a hot summer,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31so all the wooden buildings in London were very dried out.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36The wind blew the fire, helping it to spread from building to building.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39It spread so quickly that by the end of the first day,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43over 100 houses were catching fire every hour.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58During the Great Fire,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01people had to leave their houses really quickly.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04They only had time to take a few things with them.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Look - lots of things we've got to save from the fire.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- Can we save everything?- No.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12We can only save what we can carry.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Finley and Grandad Laurence
0:08:14 > 0:08:17are choosing what to save from this room.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19But they have to be quick.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23- How about this picture, Finley? - No. That's too big and heavy.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26- How about this money? - Yeah, put it in the box,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29then put it into this pouch here.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36- Can we get any more in? - Bracelets.- Bracelets, yeah.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39- How about off this table? Anything we need?- Yeah.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42- How about some bird seeds? - Some bird seeds, yes.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46William's family put their precious things in the cellar.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Other people had to bury their items to keep them safe.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Is there anything else?
0:08:52 > 0:08:56And your diary, yeah. Put it in the bag. Let's put it in.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00I think that's it. It's full. Come on, let's go.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Quick, get out of here.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11While some people tried to save their things,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14others tried to put out the fire.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Quick, Fin - the house is alight.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20We've got to put it out with these squirts.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Firefighting was very different then.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25There were no big, long fire hoses,
0:09:25 > 0:09:30so people used big water pistols, called water squirts, instead.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Now squirt the house. Squirt as quick as you can.
0:09:33 > 0:09:34FINLEY LAUGHS
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- Fill up again!- Finley and Grandad Laurence are using toy water pumps
0:09:40 > 0:09:44- that work the same way as the squirts.- Right onto them flames.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46We'll get the fire out eventually.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Fighting fires this way took a long time,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52because people had to keep refilling the water squirts.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Keep going.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58We'll never get the fire out at this rate, Fin.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05But there were other ways of getting water to the fire, too.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Look - a fire! We've got to put it out!
0:10:17 > 0:10:20- What shall we use?- ALL:- Water!
0:10:20 > 0:10:21That's a good idea!
0:10:21 > 0:10:25We need to get water from the trough to the fire using a line.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27William and his friends were marched
0:10:27 > 0:10:30down to the river Thames by their teacher,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32to try and help fight the Great Fire.
0:10:35 > 0:10:41People got water from pumps in the street, or from rivers, or wells.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43William and his friends passed buckets of water
0:10:43 > 0:10:47to the firefighters, like Finley and the children are doing.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49More water!
0:10:52 > 0:10:56Passing buckets of water along a line of people gets water to
0:10:56 > 0:10:57the fire more quickly.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01- It's working, it's working! - Put it out!
0:11:01 > 0:11:06The empty buckets are passed back along the line to refill them.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11That's it! We've done it! It's all out.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14- Hurray! - THEY CHEER
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Hip-hooray! Yay!
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Lots of brave people did everything they could to fight the fire.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Lots of buildings were knocked down to stop it spreading
0:11:37 > 0:11:39from house to house.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43After four days, the wind died down, and eventually the fire went out.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48But, like most people in London, William's family lost their home.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52There was lots of rebuilding to be done in the years that followed.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54William would have seen stone masons
0:11:54 > 0:11:57making new buildings from stone or brick.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01No-one was allowed to build wooden houses in London any more.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04A great fire like that could never happen again.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19- Have you had a nice day today, Finley?- It's been brilliant.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23It's been fun finding out what happened a long, long time ago.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Can you remember some of the things we did?
0:12:26 > 0:12:29What did Finley and Grandad Laurence use as a ball?
0:12:29 > 0:12:31A sausage? Or an apple?
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Yes! They used an apple to play apple ball.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41What did we discover people did to warn everyone about the Great Fire?
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Phone them up? Or ring the church bells?
0:12:44 > 0:12:45BELLS RING
0:12:45 > 0:12:48They rang the noisy church bells.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51What did Finley choose to save from the pretend fire?
0:12:51 > 0:12:54His diary? Or his best hat?
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Yes, he rescued his diary. Well done!
0:12:58 > 0:13:00What did you enjoy most about today?
0:13:00 > 0:13:03I enjoyed squirting the buildings with water.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06What was your favourite thing, Grandad?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Mine was making the bucket line and putting the fire out.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14But my most favourite thing was being with you all day.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19What a journey of discovery.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22That was Finley and Grandad Laurence's tiny tale
0:13:22 > 0:13:26about what it was like living during the Great Fire of London,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28about 350 years ago.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Now, Grandad Laurence has shared this story with Finley,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34it's time for Finley to start his very own story.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Do you know someone with a story to share?