Lord Horatio Nelson rose to the highest ranks in the Royal Navy and became a national hero, but his incredible story has a humble beginning in the quiet north Norfolk village of Burnham Thorpe. Thousands of people are expected to be involved in the Battle of Trafalgar bicentenary celebrations over the anniversary weekend - but what do we know about his childhood years? Time dectectives Pupils at Howard Junior School, in the village of Gayton near King's Lynn, turned time-dectectives to find out and decided to film a drama about their discoveries. "Year six were studying the Battle Of Trafalgar and from that came the idea to create a docu-drama and look at Nelson – the boy," said head teacher Gail Robbins. "The class did their own research using historical reference books and the internet. "They wanted to show how Nelson moved from being a boy growing up in Norfolk to one of our greatest heros," she added.  | | Aaron Barton stars as the young Nelson |
More than 30 young people were involved in the film. Location, location, location It was up to the children in the production team to find a number of filming locations in the area where Nelson grew up, to write the script, sort props and transport and to develop the storyboard. "We know Nelson spent some time in Burnham Overy Staithe, so maybe he learned to row there? We also know he went to see the tall ships in Wells-next-the-Sea as he had relations living in the town," said Gail. "As with any drama there is some poetic license in the story, but it's all based on the events found by year six during their research," she added. The project was something of a first for the junior school. "We'd never done anything like this before. We managed to film everything, but it was the editing that was proving to be a problem, so we asked the BBC Voices centre at The Forum in Norwich if they could help. "Little did we know at the time they'd actually teach us how to edit for ourselves!" said Gail.  | | Edward (left) and Horatio Nelson |
After many weeks of planning, filming and editing - the finished film Young Nelson was ready for its debut screening in front of an invited audience. Movie première "The première was magnificent. The children in the film had left the school at the end of the term, but they returned to the red carpet to be videoed and interviewed. Everybody came, people could just not believe how how well the children had done," said Gail. "It wasn't just a case of filming, it was a lot of thought and effort in the planning and production. "I think it says a lot about the children in that the project meant so much to them. That they were happy to come back to their primary school on a Friday night and take part in the première. "It was all very Hollywood. "The girls were all dressed up, everybody and anybody was interviewed on the red carpet, we were very excited. When you give children the opportunity to run with creativity, you will always be surprised in what they can achieve," she added. | 
