2002: Chris Kington

Many geographers will be familiar with Chris Kington's publishing output.
His Publishing included some classic books for geography teachers including David Leat's 'Thinking through Geography', Liz Taylor's 'Representing Geography', 'Living Geography', and Rex Walford's 'Games in Geography'.

Many of these spiral bound books sit by my desk in my classroom, or on my shelves at home, along with others. Chris worked mostly in educational publishing (school books and books for teachers). He also spent time in magazines, newspapers and broadcasting.

Chris is delightful company and has been a member of many of the GA's overseas Study Tours over the years. 
He was born in Bristol (another President with a link to the city) in 1946. He remembers bombsites still around in the city during his childhood. He told me about his education:

Education:

Speedwell Boys' School, Bristol.

He enjoyed making models, and remembers a geography teacher called Mr. Alves who drew amazing chalk diagrams on the board, and also a neighbour who sent postcards from exotic overseas locations. While at school he won a prize and was able to choose a book, and chose 'Human Geography' by D C Money. 
Failed 11+ (an early bi-lateral later to become comprehensive).
He was in the frst cohort to form a sixth form and the first to go to university (I think 5 of us)
He studied at the University of Exeter, for a BA in Geography.

Here, he came across the teaching of Peter Toyne, who had come under the influence of Haggett and Chorley.

He describes himself as an 'outsider President' in that he was not from a geographical background, although he completed a geography degree at the University of Exeter.
One early previous outsider President was the author Hilaire Belloc, early in the 20th century, who has been previously featured here on the blog.

He started his Presidential address by saying: "I am not an academic. I am not a practising geographer. But I am a geography graduate and I have been involved in aspects of geographical education and with the GA for the best part of 30 years."

Chris's Presidential theme was "Valuing Geography", although he said it could just as easily be "Valuing Geographers". 

His Presidential address was entitled:
"You can't judge a book by looking at the cover."

It is very well worth reading, as it goes through some of the changes in textbook publishing which those of us who have been teaching for a while will remember. 

Chris himself says that it is about:
"...the wow factor in the classroom, the sparks that lit the fire in the young mind and the desire for concerned teachers (in particular) to win back control of the curriculum and the control of their professional lives in order they could realise the ambitions that took them into the classroom in the first place."

He mentions early texts such as Preece and Wood, and Rex Walford's book on School geography, before talking about his own publishing career and various encounters with geographers. He mentions a Bill Marsden book which he also loaned me: 'The School Textbook" (2001)

He also looked ahead to the future for publishing, which 19 years on has been proved to be quite prescient:

"the future knowledge economy will rapidly change our perception of how learning takes place as content is increasingly commoditised and contextualised and print and broadcast media merge together. This is the challenge for the government and for the Geographical Association too."

His Presidential address ends as follows:

"I am concerned that the children we teach better become not just better geographers, but better people as a result of studying geography".

He has worked with some famous geography authors, including Harry Robinson, who was Head of the Geography Department at Huddersfield Polytechnic just before I started my degree there in the early 1980s, D C Money - who I have mentioned in previous posts and Vincent Tidswell - my PGCE tutor at Hull University and someone else who I have blogged about previously. He also mentions Bill Chambers and Karl Donert working on a book together, and the involvement of Mary Biddulph: another former GA President.

Chris told me about his various roles within the GA, many of which I had been unaware of.

"I have kept my hand in throughout my working life with geography - Trustee of Field Studies Council, a Non Executive Director of the Ordnance Survey (both of whom subsequently became major supporters/strategic partners of the GA), and three stints of six years each on the GA Council."

In 1987(ish?) Bryan Coates (who was then Honorary Treasurer, but later to be President himself) asked me to conduct the Strategic Review of the GA which took three years to develop then two years to get through Council and a further five years to implement (a decade of work in total) - including the appointment of the new roles of Chief Executive, Finance Director, setting up a proper publishing and marketing arm to the business and a re-focus on (Continuing) Professional Development.

This moved the GA from being an organisation with many volunteers in key voluntary positions to a professional Association with salaried officers, and also brought Richard Gill and others into the GA story,

Thanks partly to the work of Chris Kington before his Presidency we have the GA as it currently stands, and which I helped all aspects of while working at Solly Street. Something that, looking back, I hadn't fully appreciated. Chris is also still active in the GA Cambridge Branch, and was chair for 5 years. He hosts events, and leads guided walks for members each year and also supports ITE students. This work will continue once we are able to move more freely again I am sure.

Chris is also one of the founding member of the Worldwise Quiz (along with Rex Walford, Mike Morrish, Ellie Rawling etc) - plenty more on those Presidents in their own blog entries of course as Former Presidents.

Chris still lives in Cambridge and I have met up with him several times in recent years. One of the great things that Chris did to help me with the blog project was to unearth a range of letters from former Presidents which he collected for his own Presidential years.

These explore the 'spark' which led to their initial interest in geography, and have been mentioned in the posts of a lot of recent Presidents.

Of his achievements he said:

I convened the Strategic Review which took 5 years to work through and to implement and a further 5 years to work throughout the system. Broadly this advocated: 

1) the move from an organisation run and managed by good hearted amateurs to one run by appropriately qualified professionals. Appoint a full time Chief Executive and a qualified Business Manager. 

2) a focus on the increasing professional requirements of teachers as the nature of the subject, schools and exams changed. 

3) the provision of high quality CPD and publications through all phases of schooling and teacher training. 

4) the re-organisation of the entire GA to reflect these new demands whilst re-committing to a Branch structure. 

5) asserting professionalism at all levels and the primacy of the Annual conference and its professional journals - something that remains very important.

6) anticipating technological innovation (mostly unspecified) and need to equip both teachers and students for a changed brave new dynamic world.

I last saw Chris at the FSC 75th Anniversary event at the Linnean Society in London just a few months ahead of the lockdown. Since the lockdown in March 2020, Chris has been treating his followers on Facebook to a daily poem. I'm looking forward to being able to return the letters and books that Chris loaned me in due course.

References
See Chris Kington publications - for sale by resellers and from other bookshops.

'Thinking through Geography 1 and 2' - David Leat, Adam Nichol et al

https://www.geography.org.uk/write/mediauploads/teacher%20education/ga_ite_sft_why_thinking_through_is_important.pdf

Also books with Fran Martin (former GA President) and Jeff Battersby

'Representing Geography' - Liz Taylor - still an important book and one I got a 2nd hand copy of recently so that I could reread a section for a project I was writing.

A photography pack with Harry Cory Wright, with Primary and Secondary handbooks was also excellent. It is reviewed here for TES by former GA President Keith Grimwade.

'Contemporary Approaches to Geography' - 2 volumes written by Charles Rawding

'Living Geography' - a number of authors with GA connections, including several GA Presidents - edited by David Mitchell

I also have a copy of 'Reading our Landscapes' by Charles Rawding which won a GA Silver Award

https://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/silver-ga-award-for-reading-our-landscapes-geography-resource/

Image copyright:Bryan Ledgard and the GA (from Flickr account) at the 125th Anniversary event.

2nd image courtesy of Joseph Kerski

1990: Mr. Bryan E Coates

Last updated June 2021

Bryan Coates was a geographer at Sheffield University. 

He is another familiar name in Geographical Association history. He was connected with the GA for many decades, and this continued until fairly recently - here he is, pictured at a GA Conference in Derby by Bryan Ledgard.

Bryan held several important posts within the GA, and these included some particularly significant ones, which he held for many years, and which are particularly important for the ongoing work of the Association through the 1980s:

• Honorary Secretary
• Publications Editor
• Honorary Treasurer

These were the posts which were crucial to the continued effective running of the Association for many years, before it went onto a more professional footing.

Bryan worked in the Geography Department at Sheffield University.

He wrote about the Geography of Inequality and this was the theme of his Presidential Address in 1991, called 'Our Unequal World'.


Inequality has grown in importance as an area of geographical study over the last few years.

Nearly 30 years on from that time, we now have even greater inequalities, and plenty of geographers studying them, including some of the GA's own current trustees, and Danny Dorling, whose job title invokes an earlier GA President of course.

Bryan was associated with the Association from the 1960s, when he co-authored a piece on employment and affluence with E M Rawstron, who he was to write several pieces in association with.

He also created a Census Atlas of South Yorkshire, which can still be purchased.

He was fondly remembered by Sheila Jones, who also remembered him as "one of the great modernisers" who did a great deal to change the Association.

She sent me more details about his work around the Centenary in 1993.

Here's Bryan in 1993, with Pat Cleverley and a gentleman that we haven't been able to identify as yet at the Centenary event.

Here's Bryan doing a speech at another centenary event in 1993.

Former GA President Jeremy Krause also told me that Bryan:

"...was the ‘ah but man’ - challenging questions - "have you thought about doing this better or differently". Often right about good sense.
Lovely man! 

Great sense of fun!"

While researching Bryan and trying to track down some more information, I discovered from Richard Daugherty that Bryan had sadly died quite recently in December 2019.

From the Sheffield University website, a little more information where his death was announced:

Bryan was based in the Department of Geography from 1 October 1958 to 30 September 1989 and was a Senior Lecturer at the time of his retirement. He also served as the Dean of Social Sciences from 1 September 1988 to 30 September 1989.

Bryan sadly passed away on Wednesday 4 December 2019. 

His family was described in the details of his funeral service:

Beloved husband of Shirley, much loved dad of Andrew, David and Anna and a very dear grandad.

There was also a memory from a former student posted:

To finish, a memory from Eleanor Rawling, who succeeded Bryan as GA President, and is coming up next on the blog:

"Bryan Coates was President the year before me. He could be quite frightening with his bluff Northern manner, his rather direct sense of humour and his strong views but I learned to work with him and to like him a great deal. He was an amazing power and energy for good in the GA, particularly his unseen work at Headquarters, then in Fulwood Road. He helped to modernise and streamline the GA structure. I am not sure people know how much the GA owes him."

It's stories like this which the blog has unearthed so well.

She also shared an anecdote: 

Bryan was a great stickler for timekeeping so as Past President when he chaired my Presidential Address, he whispered in my ear just as I stood up to speak - "you'd better not over-run or I'll cut you short!!"

References

Coates, Bryan E., et al. “Annual Report of The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 76, no. 2, 1991, pp. 177–188. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40572070 - written in association with Richard Daugherty.

Rolfe, Diane. “Twenty-Five Years of ‘Geography’ Production.” Geography, vol. 100, no. 3, 2015, pp. 159–163., www.jstor.org/stable/43825591

Presidential Address:
Coates, Bryan E. “Our Unequal World.” Geography, vol. 77, no. 1, 1992, pp. 1–9. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40572138

COATES, B. E., and E. M. RAWSTRON. “Regional Incomes and Planning 1964-1965.” Geography, vol. 52, no. 4, 1967, pp. 393–402. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40566682

RAWSTRON, E. M., and B. E. COATES. “Opportunity and Affluence.” Geography, vol. 51, no. 1, 1966, pp. 1–15. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40566036. Accessed 12 Apr. 2020.

If anyone has further information on Bryan Coates that would be gratefully received. This is a relatively brief post.

Images: thanks to Sheila Jones

Updated December 2020

I can endorse everything that has already been written about Bryan Coates. He did indeed give many years of service to the Association in several roles and was both a great moderniser and a lovely man. From my time working closely, and very happily, with Bryan when we were the GA’s joint honorary secretaries for three years (1978-81) I can add a little more about his role as a ‘moderniser’. 

Once the Association moved to a model of joint honorary secretaries, one based in Sheffield and the other elsewhere, it would inevitably follow that the locally based secretary was more directly involved at the HQ offices in Sheffield (then at Fulwood Road). Bryan soon realised that all was not well with the staff at HQ and, being the no nonsense man that he was, he took to dropping in there unannounced. He kept me fully informed about the problems he found but it was very much Bryan’s initiative to embark upon a major restructuring at HQ that included early retirement for the man then in charge, the 'administrative secretary'. 

There would also be new appointments of staff members such as Julia Legg who would be crucial for the improved efficiency of the HQ office in subsequent years. All organisations need individuals who will not only see the need for change but also work hard, without looking to take credit, at making it happen. 

As to the ‘lovely man’, I will always be grateful for Bryan’s kindness to me at a personal level.

Many thanks Richard....

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 Bryan replied.

It turns out that he went to Maltby Grammar School, just 3 miles away from where I went to school in Wickersley, at the Comprehensive School there. He talks about a very fierce geography master called Mr. Salmon, who was great in the field and took the students to Whitby, Malham and Eastbourne. He says:

"I dared to say we were not where he said we were. Stunned silence. Fellow students shaking with fear. Me too, in case I was wrong. After a tense discussion, he agreed with me, said SORRY and added "from now on you wll lead the way. I'll tell you where I want to go and you get us there..."

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

Update June 2021

Free book giveaway in my department and found this old book on British socioeconomic geography. Those good-old ‘70s #cartography and #dataviz style. pic.twitter.com/XlMutATofw

— Kenneth Wong (@Kenneth_KHW) June 1, 2021

1987: Changes at Fulwood Road

The Annual Report of 1987 showed the work of Graham Humphrys in prioritising some changes at Fulwood Road, the HQ of the GA, to improve the working conditions for staff. There was also a Meeting room for the first time, and the old lino was stripped out.

Reference is made to Margaret Barlow (who will have her own blog post in due course) as the new...

Thanks also go to Bryan Coates here, for his work navigating some tricky financial times.

It was interesting to see the particular stocks and shares that the GA held back then. The GA still has investments of course, and trustees need to financially prudent, and also consider the types of stocks and shares that are held - these are very careful decisions.

Back in 1987, here's where the GA was investing some of its reserves:

Reference

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.