Students from St. Mary’s College in Crosby took a bite of the ‘Big Apple’ on the latest long-haul trip organised by the school.

New York was the first stop on a week-long History Department visit to America which also took in Washington and the Civil War battlefield site of Gettysburg.

In Manhattan, the party of 25 students were based in a hotel near Times Square which gave them easy access to key locations including the Empire State Building, Central Park, the Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central Station and Fifth Avenue.

A crossing on the Staten Island Ferry gave the St. Mary’s pupils panoramic views of the iconic New York skyline, and they also visited Wall Street and nearby Ground Zero where they were impressed by the sombre grandeur of the new memorial and the other building work currently in progress at the site.

The second part of the trip in Washington enabled the students to see the White House, the Congress building - where they watched a debate in progress - and Arlington Cemetery where the Kennedys are buried.

There were also visits to many of the leading museums for which the city is also famous.

St. Mary’s Head of History, Niall Rothnie, commented: “This was a very successful trip thanks to the enthusiasm of the students who were keen to absorb as much American culture and history as they could during the week.”

The St. Mary's students pictured during a visit to Central Park in New York.

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