PGCE 1986: York Field Trip

The latest entry from my PGCE Main Method folder from my PGCE in 1986-7 refers to the field trip that we took to York quite early on in the course, sometime in October I think from memory.

This was an interesting day. I had no car at the time - in fact I didn't get a car until I got my first full time job down in King's Lynn and realised that I could no longer rely on the trains that I had been used to when I lived up in Yorkshire where public transport was cheap and plentiful and well connected. Norfolk was not quite like that. I had to quickly learn to drive - I did that within two months - about 10 lessons and passed my test first time - and then took out a loan to buy a very nice white Citroen BX which was a good car with its hydro-pneumatic suspension. It served me well before I replaced it with a burgundy Xantia.

I got a lift there from a student who did have a car, along with a few other teachers who were on the course with me, including Dave Hardy, who I stayed in touch with for quite a while.

We were given the job of following a route in a town trail and thinking about how we would use that and also consider the potential of the city for a geography fieldtrip. We then had to write a report on the

York Field Trip 1986 by GeoBlogs on Scribd

I did some digging about the authors of the guide that we had used, who were named on the front. They were also mentioned in 'Geography' in 1975, so this was perhaps draft version that we used. We were paired with History PGCE students and did some joint investigation of the city.

At the time, a friend of mine was at York University, so I stayed in York before getting the train back to Hull - the impressive Paragon Station - the following day - the trip was on a Friday from memory.

The other aspect of that day that was memorable was that it was the day when we found out our teaching placement schools, and I discovered I would be spending the Spring Term of 1987 at Bransholme School in East Hull. More on that is in my Presidential lecture and post on the blog.

Source

“The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 60, no. 4, 1975, pp. 311–22. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41415055. Accessed 24 Sept. 2023.

Image of York Minster: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

Humanities 2020 Podcast

The humanities prepare students to be good citizens and help them understand a complicated, interlocking world. The humanities teach us critical thinking, how to analyse arguments and how to imagine life from the point of view of someone unlike yourself.

Martha Nussbaum

It was a pleasure on Wednesday afternoon this week to sit and chat with Anthony Barlow to record a podcast for the Humanities 2020 website and project.

The project has a manifesto.

Primary schools have a duty to equip children for the challenges of the 21st century. We believe that the primary school curriculum in England is failing to do this or to fulfil the legal requirement for a balanced and broadly-based curriculum. Literacy and numeracy dominate the curriculum while other vital aspects of learning are often ignored. This is wrong.

We want young children to be literate and numerate, but much more than that. We affirm that every child is entitled to rich, stimulating and engaging learning experiences.

We want children to have more opportunities to be creative and to build on their sense of curiosity. We would like to bring more joy and imagination back into the classroom.

The podcast I recorded seems to have been the longest to date. Which I guess is a good thing...

You can listen here if you have 55 minutes to spare... thoughts welcome. It was a bit of a ramble at times.

Thanks to Anthony for the invitation.

After I'd recorded it, I also checked out the ACast podcast hosting system which was being used for the Humanities 2020 podcast, and signed up for a free account and created the site for a podcast of my own which I'm going to call 'Living Geography'. 

Look out for the first episode coming when I can find the time to record it.

Call for GA Presidential nominations for 2025-6 is now open

The Autumn 2023 issue of the GA Magazine is now available to download online, with printed copies arriving before too long.

Among the news and updates on the GA's wider activities, there is the annual call for nominations to serve as the GA's President for 2025-26, following on from Hina Robinson.

It would be great to continue the run of teacher Presidents - not sure we've ever had three teacher Presidents in a row in the GA's history.

If anyone is thinking about the possibility of putting themselves forward I'm happy to answer DMs or chat in confidence. And if you do decide to put yourself forward then good luck!

1989 Conference: Young Worlds

 

Does anyone remember attending this conference? 

I had recently started a full time teaching post in King's Lynn and my HoD may well have attended this...

The development of Geography

Quite a few GA Presidents are mentioned in this piece by Ivor Goodson, on how geography gained its status as a discipline.

It references several key times in geography's development, including the Madingley lecturers and the emergence of the 'new geography'

Source:

Goodson, Ivor. “Becoming an Academic Subject: Patterns of Explanation and Evolution.” British Journal of Sociology of Education, vol. 2, no. 2, 1981, pp. 163–80. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1393016. 

PGCE 1986-7

As I've blogged about previously on this blog, I completed my PGCE between 1986 and 1987 at the University of Hull.

My tutor was the rather lovely W V Tidswell. He has his entry on the blog here.

I did teaching practice at Withernsea Primary School, Andrew Marvell School and my main stint was at Bransholme School.

We had our theory (Main Method) sessions in a lecture theatre but mostly in a bungalow off the Cottingham Road. My picture of it is below:

Image: Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license

I've started a series of posts over on LivingGeography which will share the contents of my PGCE Main Method folder, which I still have. They will be tagged #pgce1986

The first session with Vincent used the research of Molly Long, GA President in 1970.

There are also mentions of the work of quite a few other Presidents as well - of which more to come in future posts.

As you can see, the quality of the photocopying back then was a little shocking and the page also had Vincent's impenetrable handwriting at the top :)

The research involved asking students their opinions on 25 tasks they might be asked to do in a geography lesson. I think we were supposed to avoid the ones they didn't like and do more of the ones they did like.

To read more, go to the research itself.

Reference:

LONG, MOLLY. “The Interests of Children in School Geography.” Geography, vol. 56, no. 3, 1971, pp. 177–190. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40567553.

The Teaching of Geography (1974)

A report on a gathering of Polytechnic geographers. 

Speakers included Professor Richard Lawton and Rex Walford (both GA Presidents). Rex talked about the use of gaming as a teaching method and had most of the attendees "hopelessly in debt to him" apparently. 

Source:

Cooper, A. D. “Report: The Teaching of Geography.” Area, vol. 7, no. 2, 1975, pp. 95–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20000969. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

GA Conference 1977

A report by Sheila Jones

There was also a lecture by Lord Nathan... a connection with the past, as he had been GA President over twenty years earlier.

The Macmillan Education Lecture Energy and the environment was given by the Rt Hon. Lord Nathan, Chairman of the Working Party which produced a report under the same title in 1975. His lecture assessed the balance of energy needs and potential related to the consequent damage inflicted upon the environment, reminding the audience that there is a limit to the capacity of the environment to absorb waste. Of all forms of energy, Lord Nathan seemed to favour solar energy as it does not cause pollution, does not create new heat and is not restricted to certain locations. It is especially suitable for developing countries. He concluded that the solution to prob lems of conflict between environmental conservation and the demands for energy could only be found by a multi-disciplinary team to which geographers made a full contribution.

On the last day, at the Annual General Meeting, the constitutional changes were approved and the new structure of the Association has now become a fact rather than a blueprint. It is hoped that this structure will mean that there will be an improved servicing of the membership and also that it will, as Prof. Wise hopes, be easier to make our voices heard in present and future educational debate.

Source:

Jones, Sheila M. “Report: Education and Economic Geography at the Geographical Association.” Area, vol. 9, no. 3, 1977, pp. 214–15. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20001238. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

New OFSTED Subject Report

The long-awaited subject report for Geography has now been published and can be viewed on the OFSTED website.

It's called 'Getting our Bearings'. It applies to England only.

The GA has posted its thoughts on the report on a page on the GA website, from which the report can also be downloaded.

The description of the report below is from the GA website. I have emboldened some key areas.

Ofsted’s finding is based on inspection of the content taught in 50 schools, which was more challenging and representative of the distinctive nature of the subject than seen in earlier reports. The sustained rise in the number of pupils opting for geography GCSE and A level is also welcomed by the report, as is the significant curriculum development work undertaken in recent years by teachers in both the primary and secondary phases.

The report also identifies challenges for geography education. Recruitment of geography teachers is a significant issue, leading to a high prevalence of non-specialist teaching. Ofsted also finds that teachers of geography, specialist or otherwise, receive very little subject-specific professional development. As the GA has proposed on more than one occasion: there is a clear need for a programme of professional development at all key stages, to support the teaching of geography nationally.

The report finds a wide variation in curriculum time between schools, which affects the way the subject is taught and whether ambitious curriculum goals are being realised. Particular concerns are raised about the quality of curriculum planning at GCSE, where exam specification coverage is often prioritised over learning, and the quality of fieldwork provision across all schools, which has not yet recovered from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are also personal responses from Alan Kinder and GA President Denise Freeman, which can both be read on the GA website.

There are also quite a few references to the Geographical Association in the report, including an early mention when defining Geography. There are also references to articles in GA journals, written by members of GA SIGs and committees. Research carried out by numerous GA Presidents is also mentioned in the list of references at the end of the report.

IBG Conference Report - 1975

Until the mid 1970s, the GA Conference took place at the start of the year. That has been mentioned previously and was also mentioned in this report of the IBG Conference in 1975.

In his Presidential Address to the Institute, Prof. M. J. Wise encouraged his audience to reflect on their functions as teachers as well as researchers in geography. 

His title 'A university teacher of geography' related to the life of G. G. Chisholm, known to many for his Commercial Geography, and an active lecturer until 1926. 

The meticulous lectures delivered in morning dress must have captured the imagination of an audience which normally overlooked the value to man of places. 

Richard Hartshorne had seen Chisholm as an exception to the provincialism of other British Geographers of the period. (This is no longer the case, Prof. Wise pointed out: in the field of international contacts, British geographers are nowadays second to none.) 

Source:

“[Annual Conference Report].” Area, vol. 7, no. 1, 1975, pp. 50–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20000934. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

Dr Edward Christie Willatts OBE

Another unsung hero, linked with the work of Dudley Stamp and the Land Utilisation Survey but a great deal more besides.

Image from the 1930s. Could that be Edna Green too?

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/3983645366/in/photolist-752dYN

Edward Christie Willatts, geographer and cartographer, born July 4 1908; died January 8 2000

Christie Willatts, who has died aged 91, was recruited by the wartime government to run a geographic information system in the days before the term itself was invented. He was well qualified to do so. He had been the organising force behind Britain's first land utilisation survey. From 1941, until his retirement in 1973, he used his energy, unrivalled knowledge and skill as a presenter of geographical facts, to help planners and decision-makers across Whitehall do their job better.

Professor Dudley Stamp recruited him to run the survey he had conceived of land-use across Great Britain. Willatts recruited and enthused thousands of volunteers, writing their instructions, supplying their maps, and then checking the results. 

He did this by travelling the country by motorcycle and sidecar with fellow geographer Edna Green, whom he married in 1937. 

When the government requisitioned the survey offices at LSE, he commandeered a barrow to wheel all the maps and records to Bacon's, their printers in nearby Fetter Lane. When these were blitzed, Willatts set up a drawing office in his own home.

The Royal Geographical Society awarded him the Gill Memorial in 1950 for research, and he was appointed an OBE in 1958. He helped to found, and later became an honorary member, of the British Cartographic Society.

Source:

Obituary from 2000: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/mar/17/guardianobituaries4

He also helped J A Steers with his survey of the coastline of England and Wales.

His Obituary in 'Geography' was written by GA President Professor Michael Wise

Willatts had trained as a teacher 1930-31 and, at a time when good teaching posts were difficult to find, had received an attractive offer from Hulme Grammar School, Manchester. As he was already undertaking fieldwork for the LUS in Surrey, Willatts seized the new opportunity offered by Stamp for a year at an annual salary of £200. The decision brought great good fortune to the LUS. Willatts' work involved visiting education officers to win support, recruiting schools and student volunteers to undertake the field work, writing and publishing leaflets and instructions, supplying the six inches to the mile quarter sheets, collating and analysing the completed sheets, arranging the publication of the one-inch maps and, later, the production of the County Reports.

Source:

“Dr E.C ‘Christie’ Willatts, OBE 1908-2000: An Obituary.” Geography, vol. 85, no. 2, 2000, pp. 166–166. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40573410. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

E. C. Willatts (1946) "Some Geographical Factors in the Palestine Problem" The Geographical Journal,Vol. 108, No. 4/6 (Oct. - Dec., 1946), pp. 146-173 (32 pages)
J. R. James, Sheila F. Scott, E. C. Willatts (1961) "Land Use and the Changing Power Industry in England and Wales", The Geographical Journal, Vol. 127, No. 3 (Sep., 1961), pp. 286-309
E. C. Willatts (1971) "Planning and Geography in the Last Three Decades" The Geographical Journal, Sep., 1971, Vol. 137, No. 3 (Sep., 1971), pp. 311-330

Other references:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fresearchportal.port.ac.uk%2Ffiles%2F178033%2FSoddy_Report_Land_Use_Surveys.pdf&psig=AOvVaw0Rdpo2-DtdvBHYJlVZHFcw&ust=1694970764136000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBAQjhxqFwoTCNCp46fSr4EDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAP

A piece in the BCS journal:

Christie Willatts inspired and helped to train almost an entire generation of cartographers at a time when there were no formal qualifications in the subject outside geography and surveying. Forced on him by the wartime situation he recruited many young women some straight from school and who count themselves fortunate to have had such a teacher. Having begun his postgraduate career by training as a teacher and having held parttime university teaching posts at LSE and Birkbeck College in London, his role became one of combining research with trainingwithin the Civil Service. His national contribution lay (with Dudley Stamp) in the completion of the aims of the LUS, then of laying the groundwork for a national atlas and lastly of raising the profile of geographical cartography in Britain, with decisionmakers and national institutions.

John Bale

This post updated with some sad news in October 2023.

A review of John Bale's biography - by Trevor Higginbottom.

This is a very well-written and absorbing autobiography that tells us much about geographical education from 1960 to 2001. During this period John Bale's career included posts at Townfield Secondary Modern School for Boys, where he encountered 'deadbeat teachers' and 'lively' boys, Avery College of Education and the University of Keele. In 1998 he was appointed to a professorship in the latter's Education Department. 

The book contains many insights into the important influences during this period of, for example, the Geographical Association, the London Schools Geographical Group and the 1970 Charney Manor Conference. Individual geographers played an important role in Bale's career, including 'the dynamic walking whirlwind' Rex Walford and Michael Wise. Bale was a sportsman with a specialist interest in sport geography, in which he became a leading world figure. The book contains reflections on the influence of subject trends on his thinking in this respect, including 'quantitative' and 'welfare' geography. 

He became less interested in teacher training, finding lesson observation 'often a numbing experience where the main objective seemed to be one of control'. 

Arguably, Bale's influential work could have been used much more in lower secondary and primary geography to develop both the cognitive and affective dimensions of the subject, given that sport is an important motivational topic for many young people. For example, the very influential 'Geography for the Young School Leaver' Project's learning materials included very little on this theme. 

In 2001 Bale took early retirement from Keele 'severing (his) increasingly tenuous (and increasingly tedious) links with geographical education'. 

In the same year he assumed a new role in the Centre of Sports Studies at the University of Aarhus where, until his retirement in 2006, he made very significant contributions in the humanistic and social scientific fields of sport. 'Professional' autobiography is a genre which other geographers might consider: for example, some long standing geography teachers might usefully describe their involvement in the 'golden years' of curriculum development in geographical education in the latter third of the last century. It is important that this is recorded given that, hopefully, there might one day be a return to these exciting processes of curriculum change in the subject.

Source:

Higginbottom, Trevor. Geography, vol. 100, no. 2, 2015, pp. 121–121. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43825437. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

Another reviewer here also says good things about the book.

I'd love to take a read if anyone has a copy lurking on their shelves. It's proving elusive via eBay / ABE Books etc. which are my usual ports of call.

John was a PGCE Tutor at Keele University, and is fondly remembered by those he taught.

He also co-edited this book with Rex Walford and Norman Graves (two former GA Presidents)

It is well worth a look at - there are some useful chapters on the development of geographical education.

His book on Primary Geography is also one that I have in my library of old educational books at school. 

Updated October 2023

I was contacted by Jeremy Krause, a former GA President with the sad news that John passed away recently.

He said:

This is a sad loss of someone who, in their own way, influenced so many of us as a geographer and especially as someone committed to Primary Geography.
'Geography in the Primary School' published in 1987 came at a time when there was much debate about what the Primary Geography Curriculum should contain. The first chapter of John’s book entitled ‘Young geographers and the worlds inside their heads’ clearly indicates his take on children’s education. 
I have lost one of the greatest influences on my geographical and education career. I met John when he was Head of Geography at Nobel School in Stevenage. He supported me with my undergraduate dissertation. A few years later I met him at Avery Hill and then at Keele Uni. It was John that encouraged me to undertake my Masters.
He was one of those people 'you meet along the way’ - he shaped who I am. He gets mention in my GA Presidential Blog

My father’s obituary, @guardianobits https://t.co/x8rldzc6yj

— Anthony Bale 📚🐈‍⬛🏳️‍🌈 (@RealMandeville) October 25, 2023

The Guardian Obituary is here.

It describes the importance of a teacher: Frank Baber, in igniting John's love for Geography.

My Dad, Prof. John R. Bale, died peacefully at home yesterday aged 83, after living with dementia for many years. Here we are together in a photo booth c. 1979, & some of his books as a geographer & sports historian. Scholar, runner, Welshman, Guardian-reader, & a wonderful Dad pic.twitter.com/epl4rDJUGk

— Anthony Bale 📚🐈‍⬛🏳️‍🌈 (@RealMandeville) October 21, 2023

We send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Professor John Bale who has sadly passed away at the age of 83. John was an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at the @ICSHC and pioneered the geographical study of sport. @DMUHistory @BritSportHisSoc pic.twitter.com/yoHHc5LTtJ

— ICSHC (@ICSHC) October 27, 2023

RGS 125th Anniversary Dinner - 1955

There was a strong representation of former GA Presidents at this event, held at the Dorchester Hotel - very posh.

In the speech that followed, the GA gets a mention, alongside the previous explorations and expeditions.

There is also a mention for recent Medallists, including Sir John Russell (another former GA President)

“The 125th Anniversary Dinner.” The Geographical Journal, vol. 121, no. 3, 1955, pp. 392–404. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1790929. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

Bill Wallace

In my regular trawls through sources for additional nuggets of information on past GA Presidents, I come across other people who played a role in the Association, but never became President. It's a reminder of the importance of all those who volunteer their time to support the work of the Association, and have done for over 130 years! This is why being President is such a privilege.

Bill Wallace was involved with the Further Education Section of the GA. His work was in Further Education - what is now carried out by the Post-16 committee.

The piece was written by Marguerita Oughton, who wrote quite a few similar pieces at this time.

Oughton, M. “WILLIAM WALLACE.” Geography, vol. 48, no. 4, 1963, pp. 418–19. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40565722. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

Rothamsted

The GA President in 1923 - a century ago - was Sir John Russell. 

He was the director of the Rothamsted Experimental Institute.

Rothamsted Research is a world-leading, non-profit research centre that focuses on strategic agricultural science to the benefit of farmers and society worldwide.

Rothamsted Research is home to three unique NBRIs that are open to researchers from all over the world; The Long Term Experiments, Rothamsted Insect Survey, North Wyke Farm Platform for grazing-livestock systems research.

This is still going strong and providing research expertise to farmers and others involved in agriculture.

By 1923, the Institute had already been around for 80 years!

Rothamsted Research is the longest-running agricultural research institution in the world. Its foundation dates from 1843 when John Bennet Lawes, the owner of the Rothamsted Estate, appointed Joseph Henry Gilbert, a chemist, as his scientific collaborator and planted the first of what were to become the classical Rothamsted long term experiments, on Broadbalk field. The scientific partnership between Lawes and Gilbert lasted 57 years, and together they laid the foundations of modern scientific agriculture and established the principles of crop nutrition.

This provides some detail on the work that Sir John Russell completed.

Sir John Russell's entry is here.

This is what they get up to...

Maybe you've heard of us from across the globe, or just walked your dog past our experiments - you might have wondered, what do they actually DO there? 🤔

Find out (a few of) the ways that our research has contributed to the world!
Full vid: https://t.co/UqqaOjVBFi pic.twitter.com/8lzCQfp5m9

— Rothamsted Research (@Rothamsted) September 13, 2023

GA Centenary - mystery images

Another few images supplied by Richard Daugherty from the GA Centenary celebration in 1993.

Help required to identify...

The lady with Richard at the dinner.

The lady on the left sat on the bench with Sheila Jones, Richard and Pat Cleverley... three Presidents.

I think it may be a member of staff at Fulwood Road (at the time)...

Belloc and the Fens

Hilaire Belloc was GA President in 1915.

He wrote about the Fens - the location of my school - in a collection of over 30 essays called 'Hills and the Sea'. In it, he intersperses pieces on England with others from France, including places like Carcassonne and other locations around the world - a reminder of his travel literature which perhaps drew him to the attention of the GA Council who had the job of finding a new President.

The book was first published in 1906 and was critically acclaimed.

It can be accessed via Project Gutenberg.

It is called 'A Family of the Fens' and focusses on the drainage of the Fens and its ruinous cost.

In 'On Ely' he visits the Cathedral, passing through its doors.

He ends this piece by talking about the allure of getting to know Ely and that "no man lives in Ely for a year without beginning to write a book. I do not say that all are published, but I swear that all are begun."

He visits 'The Sea Wall of the Wash', crossing the Nene at Sutton Bridge and heading for the coast.

This takes him to a piece called 'Lynn': the town where I lived for some years and taught for twenty years. I can follow his walking route from the Ferry, up to the Customs House, and onwards to St. Margaret's Church. 

At Manea in the Fens he talks to a local person, and captures the conversation:

MYSELF: This land wanted draining, didn't it?

THE OTHER MAN: Ah!

MYSELF: It seems to be pretty well drained now.

THE OTHER MAN: Ugh!

MYSELF: I mean it seems dry enough.

THE OTHER MAN: It was drownded only last winter.

MYSELF: It looks to be good land.

THE OTHER MAN: It's lousy land; it's worth nowt.

MYSELF: Still, there are dark bits—black, you may say—and thereabouts it will be good.

THE OTHER MAN: That's where you're wrong; the lighter it is the better it is ... ah! that's where many of 'em go wrong. (Short silence.)

MYSELF: (cheerfully): A sort of loam?

THE OTHER MAN (calvinistically): Ugh!—sand!... (shaking his head). It blaws away with a blast of wind. (A longer silence.)

Here's a talk which goes into a great deal of further detail on Belloc's work and influence, from Chris Hare.

It's part of a Lottery Funded project. Belloc lived for most of his life at Kingsland in Shipley.

Swansea Presidents

Richard Daugherty has provided a great deal of information on the more recent history of the GA.

Richard was GA President in 1989.

He recently sent me a few pictures that he found from the GA's Centenary event in 1993, which was held at the University of Oxford in the year when Andrew Goudie was President.

This one features four Presidents with a Swansea connection...

Bonus points if you can name (any of) them. I shall add their names in a few days' time...

Update

Left to right

Graham Humphrys

Richard Daugherty

Bill Balchin

Robert Steel

GA Publications in the Internet Archive: Geographical Work in Primary and Middle Schools (1981)

One of quite a few books that can be borrowed from the Internet Archive free of charge if you are interested in finding out more about the development of school geography (and the GA).

Published in 1981.

Edited by David Mills

The list of contributors below includes some former GA Presidents and others closely linked with the Association. 

https://archive.org/details/geographicalwork0000unse_v1z9

Thought for the Day

“Drinking good ale is a more renowned and glorious act than any other to which a man can lend himself”

Hilaire Belloc, GA President 1915

800 posts and over 50 000 views

I started this blog in April 2019. It was then that I was able to tell people something that I heard in November 2018: that I was going to be the President for the Geographical Association for 2021-22.

As part of any legacy I might leave after my year in office, I decided to write a biography of every GA President to date, and also to add future Presidents for as long as possible.

Inevitably it was also a biography of the GA as well. I scan-read every single issue of the GA's journals: particularly 'The Geographical Teacher' and 'Geography', going all the way back to 1901.

This was to look for mentions of what Presidents had done before, during and after holding the office. Presidential addresses were also printed for some decades. Many have been lost to history.

At the same time, I also got involved in the Geographer's Gaze project. This involved opening up some of the slides that are in the GA's collection.

I also visited several places connected with the GA.

I was unable to access the GA's archives because of COVID, and have still only managed about eight hours or so in the stacks down in the warehouse at Solly Street.

Please have a look through your photos and see whether you have any from old GA Conferences you attended back in the day... I'll keep the blog going and hopefully get back up to Solly Street some time to continue to fill in the gaps.

Thanks for reading.

Visits have increased dramatically in recent weeks, particularly from Singapore it seems.

Cross-channel Geographers

A find while researching Stanley Henry Beaver.

It explores collaboration across the channel.

This developed from the work of Paul Vidal de la Blanche.

He conceived the idea of genre de vie, which is the belief that the lifestyle of a particular region reflects the economic, social, ideological and psychological identities imprinted on the landscape.

The influence of Halford Mackinder and Andrew John Herbertson at Oxford was highly important in the training of teachers and university lecturers. The ‘new geography’ of Vidal and his disciples became widely known in Britain and served as a model for the first half of the century since French was far more readily accessible to a British audience than the German geographical classics.

Former GA Presidents who are referenced include:

H. J. Fleure - a French speaker and early visitor

Emrys Bowen

Stanley Henry Beaver

Percy Roxby

John Linton Myres

Bill Mead

Sidney Wooldridge

David Leslie Linton

There is also reference to Monkhouse and Darby.

There is also reference to the work of Hilda Ormsby - the French expert at the LSE

Source: https://journals.openedition.org/cybergeo/2966

Image source: Wikimedia - CC licensed

John Beddoe

John Beddoe was mentioned in a piece called 'Wayside Geography' by John Linton Myres (GA President in 1925), which I blogged about recently. He was a doctor who pioneered some of the techniques of observation in scientific recording which are still used in some of the ethnographic fieldwork that is carried out even now.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Beddoe

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Hina Robinson - the new GA Vice President

Good luck to Hina - check back in a year's time to see her entry on the blog...

Congratulations to Hina Robinson (@RobboGeog), the new @The_GA Vice President (and President in 2024-25). Already a huge figure in the Geography education community (and a good friend), @geography_DAF and I are really looking forward to working with you in you new role! pic.twitter.com/S0oPDUSSPo

— Alastair Owens (@AlastairHackney) September 1, 2023