Rachel Bowles

Rachel Bowles is a name closely linked to the GA in many ways, particularly within the area of Primary Geography. She has also been, until recently, a regular attendee of the Charney Manor Primary Conference and a prolific author for many decades, writing for the GA and other publishers and producing a great many books and resource packs.

She was linked with Avery Hill College, and one of several members of that college's staff who contributed to a GA Publication in 1981 for Primary and Middle Schools.

She has also written a number of research papers over the years, during her lengthy work at the University of Greenwich.

She completed an Honours degree in Geography at Bedford College, University of London in 1960. 

Subsequent career : Research Scholarship University of Hull-M.Sc 1962 

PGCE 1962/63 London. 

Teacher geology and geography at The Latymer School 1963-65; 

Senior lecturer Geography in Teacher training first at Edge Hill College, Ormskirk then Avery Hill College, Eltham. 

Honorary Research Associate, University of Greenwich.

Editor and coordinator of the Register of Research in Primary Geography (an independent charity and directory of observations of teaching and learning in the primary classroom and beyond). 

Geographical Association Council member, and an ex- officio member of the GA Early Years Primary Phase Committee (formerly Chair of the Committee) and corresponding member of the GA ICT Special Interest Group

Awarded a GA publication Award 1994

GA Outstanding All Rounder Award 2007

Honorary member of the Geographical Association 2011

Chartered Geographer

Honorary Fellow at Royal Geographical Society with IBG

Here's the citation, when she received her Honorary Fellowship:

From her LinkedIn profile:

Sources:

A research report on Primary education, co-written with a number of former GA President:

https://researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk/en/publications/education-matters-the-state-of-geography-in-english-primary-schoo

https://www.academia.edu/1221105/The_State_of_Geography_in_English_Primary_Schools

Rachel was involved in a series of films for Teachers TV, made by a company called Brook Lapping who I also worked with on three programmes about weather and climate change.

This one on festivals is interesting and you can hear and see Rachel explaining her choice of resources:

https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C1781833

Image: Screengrab from Teachers TV (2008), when Rachel was chair of the GA's Primary Phase Committee.

Further information and memories of working with Rachel Bowles would be very welcome. It's been a few years since I last saw her... at Charney.

2020: Dr Susan Pike

Updated August 2025

Dr Susan Pike is Assistant Professor (Education) at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and was previously Lecturer in Geography Education in the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies at the Institute of Education in Dublin City University, in the Republic of Ireland. 

She moved to Ireland from England in 2000.

School and University

Susan had a shaky start with geography. 

She remembers copying off the board in primary school in Scotland and learning off examination answers and standing up when getting questions wrong in secondary school in England. Luckily for her last year of A level, she had an inspiring teacher Mrs Fairclough, as she remembers

"Jane was amazing, she realised very quickly we had pretty poor experiences of Geography so far. She listened to our complaints, and acted upon them! She took is out on fieldwork, passing on her passion for Geography and the environment. She was so caring, she also persuaded me to apply for university, something I had never considered before. For this I remain so grateful to her." 

Susan attended Nottingham University's School of Geography from 1987. One of her lecturers was Professor John Cole. Susan had lovely memories of him: 

"As geography students we were a social lot, most of the class went out on Thursday nights to Rock City. But we were all there at 9 am on Fridays for his 'Developing World' lectures. He was so interesting, teaching us geography through story. I was very lucky to have him as my tutor in 2nd Year, through his stories and questions, he never failed to get us thinking geographically". 

Her other memorable lecturers were numerous, and included Dr Catherine Delano-Smith and Professor Louise Crewe. Over the past 20 years Susan has designed and taught on a range of modules in Geography,

Teaching

After graduating, Susan worked for Compassion in World Farming for three years, hence the idea for her GA Conference theme in 2021. She worked in all sections, from despatch to campaigns but also knew that she wanted to move on and teach. 

She gained a place on the PGCE at the University of Southampton, and her tutor was Professor Nick Foskett. She had very positive experiences at Southampton. 

"I was so fortunate on the PGCE. My tutor was Nick, who was so dedicated to his role. he really cared for us all. At Bournemouth School for Boys, we were treated with such care, as we were the first PGCE students there and at Oaklands Community School in Southampton, the same was so as they always took students." 

During this time Susan realised the importance of her subject association:

"I was always aware of the GA, having read Geography at university. But on the first day of our PGCE, Nick told us to join the GA and that the Conference would be in Southampton that year, so I joined and went the Conference. I remember being 'star-struck' by meeting so many of the people whose work I had read. And they were all so lovely!" 

Susan worked at King Richard School in Paulsgrove, Portsmouth, then back to Oaklands Community School in Southampton. All whilst completing her Masters in Geographical and Environmental Education at Southampton. She then became Head of Geography at Hayling School near Portsmouth. She fondly remembers all the roles she held as well as the students and teachers she worked for. 

"I was so fortunate to work in great schools, with such dedicated teachers. All the school I worked in were challenging in terms of the issues some students' experiences, but luckily as a geography teacher you were able to link the learning to the students' lives and engage them. Most of them eventually liked geography and many did better than they thought they would at GCSE! We also went on many trips, working out the very cheapest ways to travel, from down to the local beach or shops and all the way to EuroDisney and the Christmas Markets in Germany." 

Working in teacher education.

Susan continued to be a member of the GA, and on moving to Ireland and working in teacher education, she started writing for the GA. She first wrote about research on children's national identity in Primary Geography in 2001. She went on to become more involved in the work of primary geographers, presenting at several GA Conferences, Geography Teacher Educators' Conferences and Charney Primary Geography Conferences. 

During this time Susan completed her doctorate in education at Queen's University Belfast as well as other published research in geography education and teacher education. As can be seen from her DCU profile, she has written numerous books, papers, chapters and resources all related to geography and geography teacher education. She is also on the Committee of the Geography Society of Ireland, a member of the Geography Education Research Collective (GERECO), the editorial board of International Research in Geography and Environmental Education (IRGEE). 

Susan and the GA Presidential Role 

Over time, Susan became more involved in the work of the GA. In 2016 Susan's first book was published, 'Learning Primary Geography: Ideas and Inspirations from Classrooms', featuring theory and practice in primary geography. Over this time Susan wrote articles, many with teachers for Primary Geography. 

She received the Geographical Association Award for Excellence in 2016. 

She worked extremely hard as Secretary of the GA’s Early Years and Primary Phase Committee from 2017. She then became Junior Vice President in 2018. 

Over the past two years she has chaired the GA’s Education Group meetings for the last year in her role as GA Vice-President and President, and is currently a GA Trustee. Susan’s 2021 Presidential theme of ‘Compassionate Geographies’ grew in significance and resonance since it was first announced, as we all became increasingly aware of our own personal geographies and connections with others. The Conference, held online, was a great success. Session downloads are still available to obtain by those who attended, and can be purchased by those who didn't attend the event. Susan was delighted about how the Conference went: 

"Thanks to all the GA member and staff who got involved, the event went as well as it could! The keynote speakers, the workshops and lectures as well as the Wonder Room were all wonderful." 

The online format of the conference allowed those who could not normally attend the event to come along. As Susan says:

"My original reasons for wanting to become President were to encourage more people to get involved in the Association, as the restrictions this year has actually helped this process. I think people are more likely to say they can volunteer for the GA, as it's been easier to meet up online. However, I also know folk are really looking forward to seeing each other for real! There's also more to do to make the GA more diverse and inclusive, but we are all working on that as you can see in each issue of GA News. It's been a strange year to be GA President, but I've enjoyed every moment of it. It has been a privilege everyday. Luckily I was in the presidential cycle for the two years before, working with Education Group and Governing Body before our movements were restricted. However, there are many GA members I've only really got to know online, many of whom have become more involved in the Association. All of them are so dedicated to the Association and promoting and developing geography in their settings. So, like many of us, I am really looking forward to Conference in 2022, for many missed cups of coffee and chats, as well as the quiz, BeerMeet and other events in Guildford!" 

As she steps down from being GA President, she is looking forward to continuing her work for the GA, as a member of Governing Body and working on various projects for the Association. Most of all she is looking forward to linking up her students with schools, principals, teachers and children again, something that has been impossible recently. 

Images copyright: Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association - the next images were provided by Susan Pike.

Susan with teachers involved in Learning Primary Geography, and Dr Harold Hislop, Chief Inspector of Schools in Ireland in 2016

Some of Susan's Geography Specialism students at the GA Conference in 2017

Some of Susan's BEd2 students 2011, out of fieldwork with Barnaby Bear

Rethinking risk by making fire with BEd3 students at DCU, 2018

References

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_PFcqb8AAAAJ&hl=en - Google Scholar

1999: Professor Michael Bradford

Last updated November 2025

Michael Bradford was a stalwart supporter of the GA for decades, in various capacities, and led on a great many initiatives to promote the subject at all levels throughout his career.

He was Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Manchester.

Some descriptions from Michael's University page:
After an undergraduate degree at St Catharine's College Cambridge, I did postgraduate work at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and completed a PhD at Cambridge. 

My first post was as a Lecturer at the University of Manchester (1971) where eventually I became Professor of Geography. 

My research interests have been on the geographies of education, the geographies of children and urban policy evaluation. 

The underlying themes that tie the work together are inequalities, social exclusion and social polarisation. Similar themes featured in my teaching. I have also completed some pedagogic research and published papers on learning and teaching, and earlier in my career written texts for school geography.

Michael was very much involved in the GA Manchester Branch, which is one of the oldest of the GA Branches, and has previously won a GA Award. He kindly welcomed me when I gave the Herbertson Memorial Lecture in 2008, to over 200 people.

Michael particularly loved the city of Manchester, and led a tour of the city during the most recent GA Conference in the city.
He also attended the 125th anniversary dinner of the GA at Christchurch College, Oxford, which I have blogged about previously.

Sadly, during the compilation of this blog, Michael passed away in July 2019. It was announced on social media at the time and was a catalyst for me contacting other Presidents earlier than I otherwise would have done. I am sorry that I didn't get the chance to chat to Michael about his career in person.

A Celebration of Michael's life was held at the University of Manchester on the 19th of October 2019. It was attended by many people who had been inspired by his work, including a significant number of former GA Presidents.

The Celebration was led by Ashley Kent, Janet Pickering and Derek Spooner, along with Sheila.

Michael had also planned a party that was to take place at the Sports club, where he and Sheila had been members since the late 1970s. Several hundred people had already responded affirmatively to this event, but it was cancelled, as he was very unwell and in the hospital at the end of June. This party was meant to celebrate various things, including he and Sheila's Golden Wedding. 

Sheila told me:

"Michael had outlined what he wanted to be included in his Celebration of Life. He said he wanted it to be at the University, in a lecture theatre and also that there would be a video of him speaking at the beginning of it. I was able to implement almost all of what he wanted. Michael would have loved the reunion of people at the reception following his Celebration of Life."

His obituary, written by another former GA President Derek Spooner (who also introduced his GA Presidential Lecture in 2000) was published in The Guardian, and he explained that Michael may well have had a career on the stage.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/07/ichael-radford-obituary

In 2003, Chris Kington asked a number of former Presidents what had sparked their passion for geography. He lent me the letters that he received at the time, and here is the response that Michael sent to Chris at the time. It describes a trip to Arran in the company of future Ofsted chief Chris Woodhead.

This contains some memories of particular teachers, including Charles Larkinson. He talks about the importance of travel and holidays.

"A gradual immersion - inspiring teaching - a kind man who drove me to Arran among many kind acts - and a few key moments and walking holidays. Fun and Geography were connected, as were kindness and Geography."

Thanks so much to Chris Kington for the loan of the letters.

In January 2021, I had the chance to chat to Sheila Kaplan Bradford. She was keen to talk through the work that Michael had done through his long career, and also very kindly sent me a number of documents and videos. One of the most entertaining elements was a recording of the speech that Michael gave at the Presidents' Dinner, with plenty of jokes. 

Sheila told me: "I would say that the essence of Michael was his concern for all people. He felt passionately about trying to redress the inequalities and injustices suffered within societies. He was keen to make sure that his philosophy and way of life reflected that strong moral and ethical ideal." 

Michael was born on the 6th December 1944 at St Helier's Hospital, Carshalton in Surrey. He attended Winchcombe County Primary School, Carshalton and Wallington County Grammar School for Boys, followed by studies at St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, BA Cantab (1964-67) and PhD: thesis (1968-71): Spatial Aspects of Urban Consumer Behaviour 

Between his undergraduate and graduate studies at Cambridge, Michael attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for one year as a post-graduate in the Department of Geography. This experience convinced him that he wanted to pursue a career in teaching and research at University level rather than becoming a secondary school teacher, which had been his original plan. His career took him to a number of institutions and involved some significant achievements:

1971: University of Manchester - Professor of Geography awarded 1997, and Professor Emeritus

1996-2000:  Head of the School of Geography 

2001-2004:  Pro-Vice-Chancellor responsible for Teaching and Learning 

2004-2005 Associate Vice President for Teaching and Learning 

2006-8:   HE Academy: Senior Associate (one-day a week) Jointly led Change Academy sponsored by the HEA and the Leadership Foundation

In this role, Michael visited a range of institutions interacting with staff or giving workshops in relation to Change and Leadership. These included Dundee, Robert Gordon, Bangor, Aston, Sheffield, Lampeter, Plymouth, St Mary’s and Cambridge. In addition Michael led leadership workshops for a national audience for the HEA. These led to some mentoring of staff outside the University of Manchester where he completed many mentoring sessions as part of Manchester Gold, including supporting teachers such as Sue Bermingham.

Distinguished Achievement Medal: Teacher of the Year 2005 at the new University of Manchester. 

HEFCE-funded National Teaching Fellowship 2006 £10,000, a prestigious national award. 

GA Council member: 1992-2001 and 2006-2010 and President 1999-2000.

IBG: 1990-93 Member of the Council of the Institute of British Geographers Secretary of Council’s Education Committee. IBG Conference Officer 1992-95 Member of Council’s Education Committee. RGS/IBG: Invited as Chair of Higher Education Subcommittee with a seat on the Research and Higher Education Division (RGS/IBG) merged society. 

Education Division of RGS/IBG 1998-2002 Research Division. 1998-2004 Member of Council RGS/IBG (elected 2000-3, co-opted before and after)

2000-2003:  Chair of Joint Committee of RGS/IBG – GA

RGS/IBG Study Groups various committees eg HESG 1992-2000

1990-93:  Chair of the Urban Geography Study Group of the IBG - organised resurrection with six meetings and major improvement to finances Awarded by RGS with IBG: 

Taylor and Francis Award for excellence in teaching and learning in geography in higher education. 

Michael was also the HE rep on Dearing’s Slimming of the National curriculum. Vice Chair of Subject Benchmarking Group & QAA auditor. 

1993-6: Developed a new 'A' level and Chaired the Exam Board: NEAB(AQA)

He also had a great many interests outside of his work.Michael was chair of the Bramhall Community Council in the 1980s. This was a new thing and I think they understood what a good overview Michael had of the area and the politics. I think he was viewed as having balanced views of the issues which affected the community. He likely would have been a good councillor, but he became too involved in the University. Michael loved sports and played squash for many years at Grove Park Squash Club, and  very involved in the overall running of Manchester Football Club and Cheadle Hulme Cricket Club. He acted as overall Secretary of the Club for three years. 

Michael's Presidential theme was Pride of Place. 

Sheila told me "An engagement with place was always very significant to Michael. This was true of both of us, which is why I came up with the idea, that Michael loved, that we were like two pieces of Blackpool Rock with Geography [or Geographer] written through us. Michael loved that image. Michael became very involved in the Manchester Branch of the GA. He served as Local Branch President, at least once, if not more, and continued to serve on the committee in different roles including up to the time of his death. He was very supportive of all their activities and took part in all the functions held, such as the World Wise Quiz. He mentored a number of the teachers, who were involved in the GA, both officially and unofficially. He was held in very high regard by all of them. He contributed to the fairly recent publication of a book[let] about the history of the Manchester Branch. He presented the Herbertson Lecture to the Branch and combined meeting with the local Geological Society. He frequently travelled to other GA branches to give presentations to the society. Some of these were on geographical topics and others were about applying to University to study Geography.

One of my most vivid memories is when Michael was asked to dress up as Barnaby Bear for the GA conference and to wander around the exhibit as part of a promotion for Barnaby Bear and the books, and eventual television series. People were supposed to guess which Past President was in the bear costume."

See the previous post on Barnaby Bear for the image of Michael in the Barnaby Bear costume.

Thanks very much to Sheila for her many contributions to this post.

References

A small selection of many references and publications:

1977: "Human Geography: Theories and their Application". Oxford, Oxford University Press, 180pp. (with W.Ashley Kent) over 10 impressions. 

Hardback edition in Zimbabwe, 1991. 

Translated into: 1981 Geografi Manusia. Kuala Lumpur, Penerbit Eajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd, 237pp, Malaysian 1987 Geografia Humana. Lisbon, Gradiva, 2&4pp Portuguese 

This book has become a major text used around the world. 

1993 "Understanding Human Geography: People and their Changing Environments". Oxford, Oxford University Press 320 pp. (with W. Ashley Kent) 

[Geographical Association prize: a significant contribution to Geography]

1979-1994: Michael was a co-editor of a major series for Routledge on Geography and the Environment with Prof. A. Wilson (Leeds), N. Thrift (Bristol) and E.Soja (UCLA). This enabled the dissemination of geographical research. Over the years Michael personally acted as editor of 24 books.

And finally....

Here's Michael and colleagues performing YMCA on the rooftop of the University, which originally had 15 million views before being taken down temporarily...

Images copyright: Bryan Ledgard / Geographical Association

As Sheila said: 

"Michael had always been passionate about the subject and promoting it within schools. He was always interested in making sure there were strong links within the education sector - from Primary to Secondary to Higher Education. He felt strongly about how much the GA could contribute to the support for school teachers. Michael just passionately cared about people."

He also introduced a major change to the GA during his time as President, one which ran for over 30 years, and was only changed this year.

As President, Michael set up the Presidents Group ie the Junior Vice, Vice and current President along with the past President would meet several times a year to establish continuity of policy (the group was renamed to the Governance Working Group last year). 

The President's role, he said, is much more than a figurehead role. Michael reviewed and restructured the HQ staff. He helped establish the GA's weebsite. He improved links with the RGS/IBG, and  introduced a day for PGCE students and NQTs at conference. All these and other work set the base for more recent change within the organisation.

This is an important and powerful legacy, for which the GA is grateful to Michael Bradford.

Further memories of Michael and his work would be very welcome.

Update March 2021

Here's Michael and myself stood next to each other after picking up GA Awards back in 2015.

1993: Professor Andrew Shaw Goudie

Last updated August 2023

What other subject tells us so much about the great issues of our age – global change, natural and human?

Professor Andrew Goudie, University of Oxford.

Andrew Goudie is a geomorphologist, and a leading expert on drylands.

He has published a vast range of books, articles and other papers, and received numerous awards for his work. Andrew sent me a CV which included almost 30 pages worth of links to papers and other publications and contributions over the years.
I have been lucky enough to hear Andrew speak several times, and was on the same 'bill' as Andrew at an Oxford GA Branch conference some years ago. The most recent event we both attended was a 75th anniversary event for the Field Studies Council at the Linnean Society in London, where Andrew gave a presentation which referenced several former GA Presidents.

Much of this entry was made up of contributions from Andrew himself thanks to a questionnaire I sent round to all the GA Presidents I could.


Image: Andrew Goudie supplied - copyright rests with Andrew Goudie

I am grateful to Andrew for sending through a number of documents to help me with the creation of the blog, including images of Presidents I was having difficulty tracking down who have already been featured - I also found some additional images from other contemporary Presidents as the blog has reached nearer to the present day.

I also mentioned him to William Atkins, author of the amazing book on the deserts that he wrote a couple of years ago.

Thank you! I'm so pleased to hear that. I turned to Andrew Goudie's books constantly while writing it.

— William Atkins (@WillAtkins01) August 3, 2018

Andrew also got a mention from a later GA President Keith Grimwade, who went to Jesus College, Oxford. 

He told me: 

"the mid to late 70s was also an exciting time to be an Oxford geographer because having lost out to Cambridge and elsewhere in the quantitative revolution, it was just beginning to pull ahead with its work on the environment and climate, led by someone else who was to become a GA President, Andrew Goudie". 

Andrew also hosted the GA's Centenary celebrations as he was the President of the GA during the Centenary celebrations. I have already shared some of the images that were sent to me by Sheila Jones, who was at the event and passed through some excellent resources, including some photos of the celebration and futher details. They will be posted around the time of this post, so visit the blog to see more.

Andrew was born in 1945 in Cheltenham.

He was educated at Dean Close School (Cheltenham) and went on to Trinity Hall (Cambridge) to study geography (of course).

Qualifications:

B.A. Cambridge (1967) 

M.A. Cambridge (1971) 

M.A. Oxford (1971) 

Ph.D. Cambridge (1972) 

DSc. Oxford (2002)

These also included the highest grades, and distinctions.

Throughout his entire career he has worked as an Oxford academic, and is also the author of many books and papers on a range of topics, notably deserts, drylands and geomorphology.

He has held posts in a number of Oxford colleges including Master of St. Cross College and also Pro-Vice Chancellor. He has held visiting Professorships and posts in a number of other organisations as well. 

He was the first professional geographer to lead an Oxford college.

As with other former GA Presidents, he has a connection with the Pitt-Rivers Museum in Oxford.

He has advised numerous committees and other organisations as well.

He has been awarded a great many prestigious awards within the discipline of geography - these include:

• Cuthbert Peek Award of the Royal Geographical Society (1975) 
• Publications Award of the Geographical Society of Chicago (1983) 
• Founder’s Royal Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (1991) 
• Mungo Park Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (1991) 
• Gold Medal, Charles University, Prague (1998) 
• Prix de l’Académie Royale de Belgique (2002)
• Linton Award of the British Society for Geomorphology (2009) - named after another former GA President David Leslie Linton.

In many ways, Andrew also has a close connection with many of the GA Presidents of the 1930s-60s in that he has been involved in a great deal of advisory work at the very highest level, which have connected him with many learned societies in addition to the GA, and international bodies as well.

These have included:

British Academy, BGRG, RGS-IBG, Royal Society.

He was also involved in the Action Plan for Geography.

Outside of the academic world, he is also involved in CPRE and a Trustee of the Jurassic Coast Trust - both of which connect him to the work of other former GA Presidents of course, particulary Denys Brunsden.

He has had Editorial roles on a number of publications, and spoken at events around the world. He was linked with this 2018 BBC World Service broadcast.

Andrew has also led expeditions to places such as the Karakoram, Kenya and Australia. I am sure I remember seeing him and/or Denys Brunsden speaking about it at Sheffield University as a 6th former.

When he became the GA President, Andrew was a high profile academic and Professor of Geography at Oxford University - the university associated with the GA's founding a century earlier of course.

Andrew told me:

"I was charged with helping with the Centenary celebrations. 

I have given huge numbers of lectures to GA branches over the years. 

I established, with Denys Brunsden, the Classic Landforms series. "

These books have been best sellers from the GA Shop for some decades and are still available to purchase even now. Here's the Dark Peak volume, which I used myself when teaching, along with the White Peak volume, and the one on the North Norfolk coast. They are many people's first experience of GA publications and activity and will be found on the shelves of many geography departments around the country I am sure.

Andrew had written numerous articles for GA journals, particularly 'Teaching Geography' where he has tried to educate teachers in the correct approach to teaching about drylands.

Andrew said:

"I have always been a Geographer and have always believed that the state of geography in universities depends on attracting good sixth formers to become undergraduates."

This was an important factor in the decision to write my book 'Why Study Geography', which came out in October 2020.

Andrew's Presidential Lecture was called 'The Nature of Physical Geography: A View from the Drylands".

In it, Andrew talked about his career, and the importance of these often overlooked parts of the world, and some of the scholars who had come before and to whom he was indebted - a common theme for many Presidents.

Of landscapes, he said they are:

"one of the greatest gifts to human kind. Let us study them and therefore enjoy them and let us expose our students to great landscapes whether in Britain or overseas! Landscape has a great potential to stimulate interest in Geography in the young and in the lay person..."

He also referenced another former GA President: Sidney Wooldridge, speaking in 1949:

"By what right can we withhold a knowledge of how our terrestrial home is constructed, the meaning of its scenery and the patterns of its sky. The world contains not only factories, farms, railway sidings, market places etc but the blue hills on the skyline, the winding valleys which traverse them, russet bracken covered slopes and heather fells and the ever changing incident of long and varied coastlines."

He also predated the modern movement towards avoiding the use of the term "natural disasters". 

I have my No Natural Disasters badges and stickers.

He said:

"it is probably best no longer to use the term 'natural hazard' because many hazards are only quasi-natural"

Andrew has written on the theme of the divide between school and academic geography, and how this might be dealt with.

He also published a paper in The Canadian Geographer in 2016 on divisions between human and physical geography - another ongoing debate in the subject discipline.

Andrew remains as busy as ever.

I was interested to see that one of the PhD students that Andrew supervised was Rita Gardner, former Director of the Royal Geographical Society. Another was Nick Middleton, who has appeared on TV himself, talking about some of the world's extreme environments.

In 2003, Chris Kington asked a number of former Presidents what had sparked their passion for geography. He lent me the letters that he had in reply and Andrew replied.

He says of his spark that it was:

"I was eight or nine and we had a family holiday that took us to Lyme Regis. I collected ammonites. I then got acute appendicitis and the minister at the Kirk in Cheltenham who gave me a book on fossils... When I was better I sought them out all over the Cotswolds."

Many thanks to Chris Kington for the loan of the letters.

References
Oxford University Staff Page - some details of Andrew's academic work.

Andrew provided me with a CV with hundreds of books, papers and other published output. Here are a few examples to jog your memory perhaps:

Why the Devil’s punchbowl dries up. Geographical Magazine 50(6), 381-386 (1978) (with M. J. Day) Chill winds over India. Geographical Magazine 411-416 (1979) 

Fearful landscape of the Karakoram. Geographical Magazine pp. 306-312 (1981) 

The disintegration of rock by mechanical processes. Teaching Geography 6, 176-179 (1981) 

Man, maker of landscapes. Geographical Magazine (1987)

If anyone has anything else to add about Andrew, and memories of his contributions to the GA, please get in touch.

Update March 2021

New Book Alert! The Queen of the Sciences: Geological Pioneers of the Jurassic Coast by Andrew Goudie and @CharmouthHCC Patron Denys Brunsden. Available now on our online shop: https://t.co/codaT1W1dg pic.twitter.com/lN3iGskiQr

— CharmouthHCC (@CharmouthHCC) March 30, 2021

Updated August 2023

Out in November 2022, in collaboration with Denys Brunsden. 

Details here from OUP.

1986: Professor Denys Brunsden

Last updated January 2024, with some sad news.

"Field time is your most precious time - how precious you will know only when its days are past" 

(Sauer, 1956)

Emeritus Professor Denys Brunsden is a legendary geomorphologist, whose work will be familiar to many, particularly with respect to coasts. He has also collaborated frequently with another former President: Andrew Goudie.

He was a leading person in the successful campaign for the designation of the Jurassic Coast as a World Heritage Site, acting as a Trustee for many years, and is now a Patron of this classic Coastal location - a venue for generations of geography fieldtrips, and classic case study in many textbooks. This has been a coastline which has been part of his life for decades.

Denys is still active, and this video is one that I have used each year for my teaching, looking at the potential impact of coastal erosion on the town of Lyme Regis, and the need to manage it. I try to get to Lyme Regis at least once a year, and we just managed it this year... Denys has written about this area in a large number of books and other papers.



The International Association of Geomorphologists, which Denys helped to instigate, has a Brunsden medal which is awarded annually for work in this area.

Denys was born close to the Jurassic Coast area as well, in Torquay in 1936.

He was educated at Torquay Boys Grammar School, before earning a place at King's College, London.

Here he is talking about his life at this time, and the influence of another GA President Sidney Wooldridge.

In 1956 I went up to Kings College, London, and was advised to study under Sidney Wooldridge, at that time the great geomorphologist. Geomorphology is the study of the shape of the earth, the landforms, and the processes that create them. I was mesmerised by his teaching, and being a bit more mature than the other students I worked harder and got a good degree. When I finished my degree, Wooldridge asked me if I’d like to join as a junior member of staff—straight out of graduation—and I jumped at it, teaching 6 hours of tutorials a week and completing my PhD at the same time. 

And there I stayed, for the rest of my working life, finishing up as Emeritus Professor and Fellow of the College. It has been my place.

I am sure that I remember Denys speaking about the Karakoram trip at Sheffield University when I was doing my 'A' level Geography around 1982 and we visited to hear the talk. I had the article clipped out of a magazine for some years.

Denys was a Professor of Geography when he became GA President. He has also worked as a consultant in Engineering Geomorphology.

From 'Bridport Life' in 2015:

"I was part of the British Geomorphological Research Group, a new growing group of “young Turks”. We were creating a new subject, writing all the textbooks, each one of us a specialist—one on deserts, one on glaciers, me on landslides. I was one of four people who started a company called Geomorphological Services Ltd—later we went on to create the International Association of Geomorphologists—and that took me to consultancies in some 28 countries and incredible situations; the Ok Tedi gold mine landslide disaster in Tibet; Papua New Guinea, the Dharan to Dhankula Highway in Nepal; all the work in Dubai surveying for the new airport and dry dock infrastructure, at a time when only 18,000 people lived there, there was no high-rise, and dhows were going back and forth across the creek. Even now I’m working for BP offshore looking at the sea bed for pipelines and well sites."

His Presidential Address was called 'The Science of the Unknown' and referred to the importance of fieldwork as well as other things.



There are quite a few quotes from this address relevant to my own proposed conference theme.

Denys explored some ideas that I've also used over the years when teaching CPD courses for the GA on fieldwork, local studies (heimatkunde) - which goes back to Keltie and Mackinder, and Physiography.
He also mentions Wooldridge who was a geologist turned geographer and had a great interest in fieldwork, which is something woven through the history of the GA. 

He also refers directly to some of the themes that had occupied his time as President of the Association with regard to the well-being of the subject.

Denys told me some other things about his time at the GA.

Denys told me about his various involvement in the GA, which is very impressive.

1956-9 Student Member 

1960-to date Member 

1962-7 Assistant Conference officer. All conferences and the annual Conference were held at the London School of Economics

1968. Published Dartmoor in the 'Geography through Maps' Series 

1968-74 Honorary Conference Officer. Annual at LSE. 

1968-74 Member Executive Committee. 

1974-79 Member of Council. 

1973-76 Member of the Organisation and Development Committee which re-organised the whole committee structure of the GA and much remains to this day. We also proposed the Council for British Geography (CoBRIG) and set up the new publications such as Primary Geography: Great movers in this period were Sheila Jones and Pat Cleverley. 

1975-78 Representative on the Council for Environmental Education for the GA

1984-6. Vice-President

1986-7. President

1987-8 Senior Past-President

1988 GA representative on the Nature Conservation Working Party for Science at the Dept. Educ. Science. 

Denys also organised the GA Consultation on the 'Future of Geography' with J. K. St Joseph, Minister for Education at the time.

I also asked Denys about his memories of other GA Presidents at the time. 

The longest serving was probably Alice Garnett. She 'owned it". The most faithful supporters were Robert Steele and all the Presidents of that time. 

The most influential in my time was Michael Wise (also a fabulous Treasurer), before that S.W.Wooldridge was a monumental presence and Dudley Stamp put the GA on a sound financial course especially with his advice to Michael and in many 'hidden' ways.

Denys also pointed out the particular influence that King's College, London has had on the development of the GA, in the same way as other key institutions which have kept cropping up through the last century or so that I have been blogging about. Those include LSE, Oxford University, Aberystwyth University, Manchester University and Sheffield University amongst others.

Denys told me:

You should mention the important role of the KCL/LSE contribution during the 1950-1990 period. The annual conferences were always held at LSE. 

The successive members of staff who did the work of organising conference included the following people, who I will try to find out more about.

Tom Elkins - Professor of Geography at the University of Sussex

Jim Bird

Peter O'Dell (or Odell)

Denys Brunsden 

David Jones

Barrie Morgan - strongly linked to King's College, London

https://www.strandlines.london/2012/08/01/memories-of-the-strand-dr-barrie-morgan/

David Green

A massive un-recognised contribution. Something for me to pursue further. 

We also all served on the lecture circuit, all of the academics (all universities) lectured to the branches and to school conferences. The link to Universities at that time was very strong.

Sheila Jones told me of the importance of the GA conference organiser in her messages to me, and mentioned that Denys helped organise her own conference.

Denys also got involved in the production of a Channel 4 TV series called Landshapes, which I remember using when I first started teaching as I had the series on video. It also included Rita Gardner - Director of the RGS-IBG, David Jones and Professor Andrew Goudie.

It was presented by Tim Preece.

It was made in 1988.

A series of seven programmes looking at the geomorphology of Britain and Ireland.

Part 1: The stiperstones of Shropshire, which are representative of some of the most ancient rocks found in the British Isles.
Part 2: The landscape created since the last Ice Age, concentrating mainly on Norfolk where the sands and gravels represent some of the youngest and weakest rocks of the British Isles.
Part 3: How the ice sheet influences land shapes in the mountainous regions of Britain, showing the glacial cradles of North Wales and the rivers estuaries of Ireland and Cornwall.
Part 4: The landscapes created by the melting waters of the Ice Age. Shows some spectacular scenery such as Devil’s Dyke, Cheddar Gorge and the waterfalls of Teeside.
Part 5: The erosion of the coastline caused by the sea undermining the soft rocks. Concentrates on southern and eastern England where land is being reclaimed by the sea.
Part 6: Because the British Isles lie on the edge of one of the earth’s plates, the 10,000 miles of coastline are very varied. The shoreline is shaped by the constant battle between the waves and the rocks.
Part 7: The effects of man’s actions on the landscape since his earliest ancestors used ‘slash and burn’ techniques to clear the ancient forests. Soil erosion caused by agriculture in places where the forest was completely felled created the wetland landscape. Human activity has thus changed the landscape sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

The episodes in bold are ones I remember using in my teaching. The music was very memorable as well.

References
Denys doesn't have a Wikipedia page, although he certainly deserves to have one. More recent GA Presidents don't have pages yet, perhaps that will be a follow up to this project.

Jurassic Coast website: https://jurassiccoast.org/trustees/prof-denys-brunsden/

http://www.marshwoodvale.com/people/2015/12/denys-brunsden/

http://www.bridportlife.co.uk/people/denys-brunsden/ - this has a range of fascinating information on Denys from his own words, including the fact his son plays bass in 'Hothouse Flowers'.... also goes into more detail on his work on the Jurassic Coast.

"Education is key; if people understand what they’re observing then they respect it, and from respect comes a sense of ownership, a stake in something which then has a far better chance of being looked after and conserved for the future."

Presidential Address: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40571619 - "The Science of the Unknown" (1987)

http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/11566/

A classic book here:

Source of image: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2onPDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA80&dq=cuchlaine%20king%20nottingham&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=true

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/14879080.society-of-dorset-men-honour-for-professor-denys-brunsden/ - an award from the Society of Dorset Men.

Denys has written and contributed to a great many books, papers and articles.

I have a copy of this particular guide book of the Jurassic Coast he was involved in creating.

Denys also worked on a number of projects with another former GA President Andrew Goudie, who will be featured on the blog in a few weeks' time. He wrote an Atlas of the Environment of the UK with Andrew.

As always, if anyone has further information relating to Denys Brunsden please let me know so that I can expand on this post.

Top image: provided by Denys Brunsden, taken by Professor Jesse Walker of Louisiana State University

Update November 2020

Alan Kinder let me know that Denys first joined the GA in 1956, when Lord Nathan was the GA President - a very different era of Presidents to now.

A report on Deny's Conference was published in 'Geography' in 1988

Source:

Humphrys, Graham, et al. “Annual Report of The Geographical Association 1987.” Geography, vol. 73, no. 2, 1988, pp. 162–178. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40571395. Accessed 14 Nov. 2020.

Some tweets:

Today over lunch, I revealed to the legend that is Prof Denys Brunsden my favourite paper of all time; Geomorphic Thresholds by Stanley Schumm from 1979. I was then treated to fabulous stories of their friendship ☺️ So what’s ur fave paper?! 😀 https://t.co/0vkHy1tD3t

— Dr Anjana Khatwa - #NDA2020 Finalist 😊 ✊🏽 (@jurassicg1rl) January 21, 2020

Professor Denys Brunsden (Emeritus Professor, King’s College, London).
He is one of the first Western scientists to witness the shrinking of the Aral Sea in Central Asia .

— Mian Muhammad Ali (@hassanch702) July 16, 2018

Black Ven and Spittles. The drawing shows the huge loss of land and cliffs and the position of the old roads and tracks that one time connected Lyme Regis and Charmouth.
(Source Geographical Magazine Feb 1969 written by the then young Prof Denys Brunsden of Chideock) pic.twitter.com/l2UAjmN9tN

— Nigel (@lymefossilsnet) June 27, 2018

Advice to young geomorphologists in his #IAG2013 keynote 'Think outrageously, be unconstrained'.

Update March 2021

New Book Alert! The Queen of the Sciences: Geological Pioneers of the Jurassic Coast by Andrew Goudie and @CharmouthHCC Patron Denys Brunsden. Available now on our online shop: https://t.co/codaT1W1dg pic.twitter.com/lN3iGskiQr

— CharmouthHCC (@CharmouthHCC) March 30, 2021 

Today over lunch, I revealed to the legend that is Prof Denys Brunsden my favourite paper of all time; Geomorphic Thresholds by Stanley Schumm from 1979. I was then treated to fabulous stories of their friendship ☺️ So what’s ur fave paper?! 😀 https://t.co/0vkHy1tD3t

— Dr Anjana Khatwa 💙 #NDA2020 Finalist 😊 ✊🏽 (@jurassicg1rl) January 21, 2020

Updated July 2022

A lovely piece written for the KCL Geography newsletter by Denys, now 85.

It provides a nice potted biography of his life and achievements, sixty years on from doing his degree.

Here's a lovely interview with Denys too:

Updated August 2023

New out in November 2022 from Denys and Andrew Goudie.

A sad update in January 2024.

1982: Professor Richard (Dick) Lawton

Updated August 2023

Richard (Dick) Lawton was an academic geographer who was active in all spheres of the subject during a long career, and involved in moves to improve the standard of teaching in universities.

He was born in County Durham, but he was linked with the University of Liverpool for his entire career. He was very much influenced by the teaching of a previous GA President,
Professor Percy Maude Roxby.

He was described by Bill Chambers (President in 2004) as

"a tough Yorkshireman and utterly committed to geography and to the GA especially on Merseyside."

His 1972 inaugural lecture, ‘An age of great cities’ (itself a classic Lawton tour-de-force apparently) and his 1987 Presidential Address to the Institute of British Geographers, ‘Peopling the past’ were said to have encapsulated his academic achievement.

He had a distinguished wartime career, as did many GA Presidents during this time.

His undergraduate studies were broken by three years (1943–46) as a sub‐lieutenant aboard the corvette HMS Primrose hunting U‐boats on the North Atlantic - an experience which I am sure informed his geography in many different ways.

His duties on board the ship included those of librarian, in charge of a set of the top‐secret Naval Intelligence Geographical Handbooks, many written by those who would become his tutors and his colleagues after the war was over, and some of whom we have featured in the posts on this blog of course.

From a description of his work:

He was a good and faithful servant of the (then) three principal professional organisations: the Geographical Association (Member of Council 1975–89 and President 1982–83); the Institute of British Geographers (Honorary Secretary 1973–76 and President 1986); the Royal Geographical Society (Member of Council 1986–89).

As an official or committee member Dick was always in total command of the details and could deal sharply with those who, having failed to ‘do their homework’, made lazy or ill-informed contributions to proceedings.

He wrote a useful piece on Career opportunities for Geographers in 'Geography' in 1980 as well, connecting with my own work in this area during 2020.

Source:

Lawton, R. (1980). CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR GEOGRAPHERS. Geography, 65(3), 236-244. Retrieved August 26, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40569280

His GA Presidential lecture was entitled: 'Space, Place and Time'

In it, he explores some important geographical concepts:

This particular quote from his address is interesting:

"Knowledge of places, awareness of space and perception of spatial order - both life-space and social space - is built up over time and in the context of shared cultural experience. Hence it is not equally open to all and is shaped by many factors such as age, education, opportunities of travel and the like. These interact over time in a complex way to create a hierarchy of personal space from the very familiar - home, workplace, neighbourhood - to the occasionally visited, which may be far in distance but not now necessarily in time (overseas holidays, and international business trips or conferences). Indeed, modern telephonic and radio communication is leading towards a micro-electronic era in which we may well witness the ultimate collapse of space by time. This substitutability of one dimension of our world by another is not new, as we shall see, but never before have the implications of it been so profound..." 

- there certainly have been some profound changes in our lives in the micro-electronic era...

In the Space section he references Richard Hartshorne and talks about the idea of "life space".

The last award he received was the RGS's prestigious Murchison Award in 1983 ‘for his contributions to historical geography and geographical education’. In his reply on behalf of those who received honours from the RGS that year Dick reflected his firm belief in the importance of geography (‘a truly universal subject in its appeal and relevance’) in education for citizenship, a concern advanced as Secretary of the Council of British Geographers (COBRIG)

An obituary was published in the Geographical Journal, following his death in 2010.

A few quotes from this piece:
In 1995 (in an essay on the historical geography of the British Isles published in German) he summarised his chief interest as the historical and social geography of the British Isles, especially the urban and population problems of industrial society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

"There was nothing narrow or instrumental in his teaching, with its invitations to explore beyond anything that might be regarded as ‘curriculum’ "

Expanding on this:

There was nothing narrow or instrumental in his teaching, with its invitations to explore beyond anything that might be regarded as ‘curriculum’ and its frequent historical, literary and biblical allusions enthusiastically delivered to classes who were assumed if not to know about them at least to savour them. Like many of his generation he had serious academic interests and knowledge far wider than those they expressed in their publications. That may seem strange in the current university climate but simply reflects a shift of priorities from teaching in its widest sense to research in its narrowest. 

What his students experienced was rock‐solid integrity from a teacher who demonstrated that knowledge mattered, and could open doors onto worlds they never knew existed. 

He did not patronise or talk down to them, but simply encouraged them to do better and better.

As with another President who was to follow him: Rex Walford, he also had a particular interest in music.

He was also, it seems an accomplished historian, and wrote a history of the Ryedale village of Marton.
He was interested in the developments of the village.

He is an authority on the historical and social geography of Britain and has written more than 150 research articles and books.

Professor Lawton says the Domesday Book village, which gets its name from a farm or place by a pool, was originally part of the lands of Sinnington Manor and was in the hands of Norman lords until the 16th century.

An RGS remembrance ends with these kind words:

This was a generous, fearless man who could direct a fiery indignation against humbug and intellectual dishonesty, while showing a deep sensitivity to understanding the problems and applauding the achievements of others. These were some of the many things we loved him for. It will be a duller world without him.

References
Obituary:
https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2011.00408.x

Selected publications 
Lawton R 1972 An age of great cities Town Planning Review 43 199–224 
Lawton R 1983 Space, place and time Geography 68 193–207 
Lawton R 1987 Peopling the past Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers new series 12 259–83 
Lawton R 2009 Marton: a short history Ryedale District Council Lawton R and Cunningham C M eds 1970 Merseyside: social and economic studies Longman, London 
Lawton R and Lee W R eds 1989 Urban population development in western Europe from the late-eighteenth to the early twentieth century Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 
Lawton R and Lee W R eds 2002 Population and society in western European port cities, c 1650–1939 Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 
Lawton R and Pooley C G 1992 Britain, 1740–1950: an historical geography Edward Arnold London Lawton R, Aspinall P J and Hudson D M 1982 Ellesmere Port: the making of an industrial borough Borough Council of Ellesmere Port, Neston, South Wirral 
Steel R W and Lawton R eds 1967 Liverpool essays in geography: a jubilee collection Longman, London

https://www.rgs.org/geography/news/richard-(-dick-)-lawton-(1925-2010)/
An influence on the work of Gerry Kearns:
https://hgrg.org.uk/how-i-became-a-geographer-2/

https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2011.00408.x

- RGS obituary with further information and some images - worth reading.

https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2011.00408.x#:~:text=Dick%20Lawton%20was%20an%20empiricist,to%20the%20Geographical%20Association%20showed.

Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britain-1740-1950-Historical-Richard-Lawton/dp/0713165502
Liverpool Essays:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liverpool-geography-jubilee-collection-Richard/dp/B0014KRQ02
 co-written with former GA President Robert W Steel.

Lecture from GA Conference:
LAWTON, R. Changes in University Geography. Geography, vol. 63, no. 1, 1978,“www.jstor.org/stable/40568829. Accessed 25 Aug. 2020.


If anyone has any further information on Richard Lawton please get in touch as this entry is quite brief compared with some of the other recent entries.

Update: December 2020

In 2003, Chris Kington asked a number of former Presidents what had sparked their passion for geography. He lent me the letters and here is the response that Richard sent:

As with many Presidents, Dick mentioned his childhood, and a fascination with maps, followed by exploration of the local area: in his case the limestone across the moors.

He also had a "dynamic junior geography teacher" at Houghton-le-Spring Grammar School called Doris Parkinson. As with Richard Daugherty, Lawton was a scholarship boy, back in 1936.

I wonder whether Doris is a distant relation.

Richard says "What cricket mad schoolboy could resist a lesson in which the diversity of West Indian society was ullustrated from a photo of the touring side of, I think, 1937 with its ethnic mix from the captain, white of course, at that time, through varying degress of mixed blood to fully black...."

Doris was a Liverpool graduate, and that took him to Liverpool where he encountered many of the luminaries that have featured on this blog already: Percy Roxby, Wilfred Smith, Clifford Darby, Bill Mead, Frank Monkhouse and Harry Wilkinson.

He says that he learnt from them "not only about geography, but how to be a geographer".

Thanks to Chris Kington for the loan of the letters.

Update March 2021

Bill Chambers, President for 2004 remembered Dick Lawton getting him involved with the GA, as Dick was in charge of the GA's Liverpool Branch: He told me:

Once established from 1973 at Notre Dame College Liverpool (now Liverpool Hope University) and being responsible for the training of primary and secondary teachers it was a natural progression to join the local branch of the GA which was largely run by Professor Dick Lawton of Liverpool University. 

After a decade as Programme Secretary and later Chair of the Branch I was encouraged as part of my professional development by my head of department Alan Hammersley to contribute nationally and I joined the Environmental Education Working Group. The GA gave me the opportunity to work with the great geographers of the day and become aware of current developments in geography. It also gave me an opportunity to begin to publish both academic and pedagogical papers. I also made many lifelong friends including Tony Thomas the inspirational head of the Field Studies Council.

Updated August 2023

He co-edited a collection of essays on Liverpool with another former GA President with Liverpool connections: Robert Steel, published in 1967

Essays from generations of Univ of Liverpool-trained geographers from 1920s to 1960s. The anthology spans from Britain to Brasil, the USSR to southern Australia, and, timewise, from the Tertiary Era to the present day

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31406496394&searchurl=an%3Dsteel%2Brobert%2Bw%2Band%2Blawton%2Brichard%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dliverpool%2Bessays%2Bin%2Bgeography&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1#&gid=1&pid=1

https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/4369206.picture-of-marton-through-the-ages/

Another book on Liverpool that he co-authored

Appears in this book - £150 though...

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/geographers-9781472512352/