On the move to Fulwood Road

An interesting article on the move from Park Library and the potential for visitors...

Something that might be returned to perhaps in due course.

Reference

Garnett, Alice. “The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 49, no. 1, Geographical Association, 1964, pp. 59–72, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40565765.

The move to Solly Street #1

I've previously blogged about the GA's move from 343 Fulwood Road to Solly Street in 1996-7

Fulwood Road was the GA's HQ from the mid 1960s to the late 1990s.

Frances Soar, Chief Adminstrator of the GA for many years got me started on some of her memories of this time. She was involved in assisting with the move, and some additional complications from the time, which I have blogged about previously.

The old Roman Catholic area of St Vincent's is certainly worth further study - an excellent book about it was published by the Church when they moved up to Crookes: it's available on line The Sheffield Indexers - History of St Vincents written by Ted Cummings.

Frances is the first of several people who will share their memories. It is a pity the memories of some of the other moves of the GA are not so easy to collect.

Frances told me:

At the back of Solly Street when we first moved in, before the block of flats just above us on Solly St. was built, there were still apple trees from the time when the area had old housing, and I once met a lady who remembered visiting her grandparents in a house there when she was small. Some of the trees were still there in my time, by the access drive to the back yard.

343 Fulwood Road was a lovely old house, but totally impractical for housing the publications business that had become such an important part of the GA's service. Deliveries of new publications were by then arriving shrink wrapped on pallets in huge delivery vehicles that couldn't get down the narrow, bendy, drive. 

We had to unload boxes from pallets on big lorries parked on the main road, and cart the heavy boxes down to the house one by one, sometimes reversing my poor little Austin Metro up the drive and back down again with a few boxes in the boot each time, all under the impatient gaze of the lorry driver who was anxious to get to his next drop. 

Once inside, we had to cart the boxes up steep steps to the first floor, where they filled the spaces around and under our desks until sold, or were hauled up to the attic where we nervously stacked them as close to the walls as possible, hoping that the weight wouldn't bring down the ceiling.

Eventually we were forced to move most of our stock to the premises of a local storage company. Unfortunately, they moved our stock to a less secure location without telling us, and a fire there destroyed the lot. 

Lack of storage space also meant that each quarter we had to hope that all the deliveries of journals and their inserts would arrive at exactly the same time, on the same morning and at the same place (a local church hall) so that we could prepare everything for mailing, helped by a small army of volunteers. I lost count of the times we had to postpone the whole exercise because one journal had been delayed for some reason.

It was clear that we needed either to 'outsource' everything, or find a proper warehouse and packing space, as well as offices for the GA staff and meeting rooms for the GA committees, ideally within easy reach of the railway station and with good vehicle access for deliveries.

The problem was finding suitable alternative premises. 

After careful consideration, the GA decided to stay in Sheffield, so we started looking locally, discovering all too soon that whilst it was fairly easy to find a suitable warehouse with a small office, or suitable offices with a tiny storage area, finding the two combined was a real challenge. With the help of former GA President Professor Stan Gregory, who lived in Sheffield and who volunteered to take part in the search, we looked at various possible places in and around Sheffield, eventually drawing up a shortlist for further consideration. 

On a hot June Saturday in 1996 my Metro was pressed into service once again to take several Officers including I think Ashley Kent and Neil Simmonds to look at a few possible buildings. At some point I pulled off the road close to the town centre for us to 'take stock' before the visitors had to catch their trains home, which was when Ashley (I think) spotted a 'to let' board on a nearby building. Peering at what we could see of the empty premises we realised it was worth further investigation. 

A little bit of serendipity then in the choice of location.

Solly Street is located in an area called 'St. Vincent's', once the heart of Sheffield's Catholic community, which had developed into a centre of old Sheffield industries such as toolmakers and knife manufacturers. 

By the 1990s, further changes were happening, as manufacturers with viable businesses began to move to more suitable premises elsewhere, and others, sadly, disappeared altogether. Many of the old church buildings along Solly Street were becoming run down, St Vincent's Church itself having been empty for some years. 

I occasionally used the parking business which opened up in the old church yard as an overflow option when the spaces outside Solly Street were full, or were needed for visitors.

Our building had been built by a stainless steel architectural fabricator for his own business - hence the smart stainless stair rail and front door we inherited. 

This I did not know!

After he retired it had been let by his widow and daughters to various companies. 

As our GA geographers astutely spotted, this was a good time to take up a lease there, as the area had huge but as yet unrealised potential for upgrading. This is of course what has happened, with old factories and patches of wasteland replaced by modern apartment blocks, and the former church and its ancillary buildings improved for other uses. I remember watching foxes in the waste ground opposite the GA.

Whilst preparing the staff for the move, Frances timed how long it took to walk up to the city centre and what sort of walk it would be. Staff were going to miss the shops, bank and other services at Broomhill so it was helpful to know they could easily get to and from the city centre. 

Coincidentally, two former members of the GA's staff at Solly Street now run a business in Broomhill called Ginger. More on Lucy Oxley and Anne Greaves' involvement with the GA as we get nearer to the present day.

The Trustees agreed to take the Solly Street lease a quarter before the Fulwood Road lease expired, so we were able to prepare the old premises for our departure and the new premises for our arrival without disrupting services to members. It was quite moving to say goodbye to a building that had been such an important part of the GA's history, with its impressive fireplaces and other original features no longer boxed in or covered up, looking much more like the proud private house it once was, ready for new occupants.

An early task at Solly Street was to persuade the authorities to give the building, then called 'Greco House', a proper address with a street number - a surprisingly complex exercise. 

The GA did contemplate inventing another name for the building, but characteristically chose to be practical rather than pretentious.

Further memories of the move to Solly Street to come...

1994: Professor James Anthony (Tony) Binns

Tony is currently the Ron Lister Professor of Geography at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and still working, in fact he was planning to come over to the GA Conference in Guildford in 2020 before it was cancelled.

This entry includes information provided by Tony himself, via the Google form questionnaire I created.

Tony was born in Prestwich in 1948.

Education:

Stand Grammar School, Whitefield, Lancashire. 

In 1967 I went to Sheffield University to study Single Honours Geography. I graduated in July 1970 and then stayed at Sheffield to Study for a Diploma in Education, which I gained (with distinction) in July 1971. I joined the GA in 1969 in my second year as an undergraduate at Sheffield and made good use of the GA library which was then in the ground floor of a large house at 343, Fulwood Road.

Career - quite a varied one:

I taught at Adwick High School in Doncaster in 1971 and 1972. 

I became fasciated with Africa through my studies at Sheffield and also from teaching a Sixth Form General Studies course at Adwick High School. So in October 1972 I went to the Centre of West African Studies at Birmingham University to study for an MA and then a PhD. 

I spent the whole of 1974 in Sierra Leone researching on the relationships between rural development and diamond mining. 

I took up a position as Research Fellow at the University of Sussex in October 1975 and stayed at Sussex as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader until September 2004 (30 years). 

In October 2004 I took up the position as Ron Lister Professor of Geography at the University of Otago in Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand where I still work. I have published 21 books and over 160 book chapters and journal articles. 

My writing has focused mainly on development issues in Africa, South Asia and the Pacific, and also on aspects of geographical education.

An impressive output, similar to the previous 2 Presidents who have also had long academic careers in the field of geography education.

Of his own GA Presidential year, Tony told me that at the time he was Reader in Geography in the School of African and Asian Studies at the University of Sussex, Brighton.

"My theme focused on understanding processes of development in poor countries and, in particular, appreciating indigenous knowledge and perceptions."

This is important work which still needs to be done.

He told me about his appreciation for the work of the GA.

"The GA plays a vital role as guardian of the school Geography curriculum. Among GA members there is a vast amount of knowledge and expertise on all aspects of geographical study. It is vital that the strength of Geography in our schools is maintained and indeed enhanced, to ensure the success of Geography in higher education and the contribution of the discipline to understanding so many aspects of the world we live in."

Tony co-produced the GA's response to Keith Joseph's questions following the 1985 speech to the GA special event I have blogged about previously, working with Patrick Bailey. 

See the earlier entries on 'A Case for Geography'.

Mike Morrish told me that he was good friends with Tony, who ran a number of GA Study Tours to China and one to the Gambia.

Tony also told me about his memories of his Presidential cycle:

"We achieved a membership of 11,000 during my time as President. The GA primary initiative was gaining momentum and the national curriculum had been launched. 

In 1988, as GA Hon Secretary (1985-1989), I played a key role in setting up the Teacher Education Working Group, the International Committee, the International Fund and the New Initiatives Fund. 

I also played a key role in launching the GAs overseas study tours through the International Committee, and I took part in the first study tour to China in 1988. 

In 1993, we had a very succesful tour to Pakistan and China to celebrate the centenary of the GA. 

My Annual Conference in April 1995 was the first and only conference to be held in Lancaster. 

The theme of the conference at Lancaster University was 'Developing Geography'. We had a memorable President's Evening held in the splendid Victorian edifice of Lancaster Town Hall with the Mayor of Lancaster hosting us. After the dinner I had arranged for an African band to come up."

Recently, Tony co-wrote a paper with Alan Kinder, which can be obtained from the Geo-Ed website.

In 1993, Tony attended the Centenary conference events and was featured in several photos which were sent to me by Sheila Jones and have been appearing on the blog in recent years. Several of those have appeared on previous posts.

 

I'd hoped to have an image taken with Tony at the 2020 GA Conference, as Tony was coming over to lead a session. He had to cancel of course, before the whole event went virtual.

He did, however still take part by offering a session. This can be accessed via the GA website.

Tony has travelled widely in Africa, leading trips for other geographers and involving himself in projects.

Here he is in Freetown , Sierra Leone in 2011

Image credit: Kenny Lynch

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynchkenny/5430881779/sizes/l/

Thanks to Tony for answering my questions and contributing to this post.

You can find out more about Tony's work in supporting Geography, which mentions his GA Presidency in the introduction to the Ron Lister Lecture in October 2020. He talks about his work in Sierra Leone, and ideas of place.

 

Professor Binns has been visiting and researching in Sierra Leone, West Africa, for 46 years and has developed strong links with the remote community of Kayima in the north-east of the country. The United Nations ranks Sierra Leone as one of the world’s poorest countries, where development has been constrained by political and economic instability, a decadelong civil war, an Ebola epidemic and now COVID-19. In this lecture, Tony will draw on his experiences since 1974 to examine the changes the community has experienced and to appreciate the underlying causes of poverty in Kayima. Very few longitudinal studies have been undertaken in Africa, and this study reveals a remarkable level of community resilience and ability to adapt to changing scenarios.

References
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Binns
Image taken from Otago University newsletter.

https://www.otago.ac.nz/geography/staff/otago084963.html

https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p246-tony-binns

A Facebook video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=253550984837812

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030913259301700108 - "a place in the sun"

If anyone has other memories of Tony and his time as GA President please get in touch.

Martin Shevill

Martin Shevill was the GA's Library and Information Officer in the late 1980s at Fulwood Road.

As with other GA officers throughout the decades, this went alongside other work, including work as a Lecturer at the University of Sheffield and a Headteacher, and the GA was fortunate to have someone give their expertise freely to support the work of the Association.

He held several honorary posts at the GA, and was a trustee for a while.

His LinkedIn profile contains a lot more information.

Martin is the Senior Education Adviser for National Teacher Accreditation (NTA) and formerly CEO of Consilium Academies and also carries out independent consultancy work. Martin has worked in senior leadership positions in education for twenty five years. He has supported a number of schools/academies in the North of England commissioned through the National Leader of Education, LA and Trusts routes. He has also been instrumental in setting up educational trusts for example Education Ossett Community Trust (EOCT), a trust of nine cross-phase schools in Ossett including a secondary special school and the Yorkshire Education Trust, a group of four academies in Doncaster/Wakefield. Martin has held honorary positions with the Geographical Association, including. Trusteeship and has written a series of school geography text books and articles for educational journals. Martin is a former member of the Head Teacher Board of the Regional School Commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire.

Imagine if Dudley Stamp had had LinkedIn.

References

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.

If anyone has more memories of Martin's contributions to the GA, please get in touch.

Margaret Barlow

Margaret Barlow is mentioned in the 1987 Annual Report with some reference to her and her staff, suggesting she was the office manager at the time, and her post was titled Senior Administrator. She oversaw the improvements to the Fulwood Road building that took place in 1987 to improve working conditions for staff. She was active and supportive of the Presidency of Graham Humphrys and Michael Storm.

If anyone knows more about Margaret Barlow, please get in touch.

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.

343 Fulwood Road - memories wanted

Updated January 2021

Some memories of Fulwood Road from former President Sheila Jones. For some years, the GA HQ was based at a house on 343 Fulwood Road.

"It would have been a lovely family home. In the front there was parking space for 2/3 cars. On the ground floor was a sitting room and smaller room, which was used as an office. A winding staircase, beside which were some paintings of past Presidents (I wonder what happened to them? I wonder whether they are at Solly St.). The planned photos never happened!

On the first floor was a larger room, I suppose a wall had been knocked down, where the meetings of the council took place annually in Autumn. There was also a bathroom on this floor.

The library was in the basement, and the garden, mainly lawn, was quite large."

Any other memories, and images of Fulwood Road welcome... Thanks to some former GA Presidents for some memories which shall be added to later posts.

1953: Fulwood Road Library

From W G V Balchin's Centenary volume

1968: Professor Alice Garnett

Last updated August 2023

Alice Garnett was a Professor of Geography at the University of Sheffield.
She was the second British woman to hold the position of Professor of Geography and the first female President of the GA, and very much connected with its growth and influence.

I believe another of the first few female Professors of Geography may have been Joy Tivy, who is mentioned elsewhere on the blog, but there are a number of candidates it seems.

As Head of the Geography Department she rapidly expanded the department- with 401 students being taught in the department by 1967. She left a legacy of the next generation of geographers and one of the biggest departments in the University. She had previously joined the Geography department as far back as 1924. Hers was a life of geography.

She also held the position of Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society - another former President to have similar connections with the two organisations. There have been plenty of those mentioned on the blog as it has grown, but the connections have not been the same for a few decades which is a pity. Work for future GA Presidents to continue to pursue.

Alice Garnett's name appears on the GA's Annual Report in 'Geography' from around 1950 onwards, when she started to take a leading role, as the association moved to Sheffield, initially into Park Library before moving to Fulwood Road - a move that Alice was very much an integral part of organising and negotiating.

Ivor Goodson talked about this period:
The period following 1945 does seem to have been critical in geography's acceptance and consolidation within the university sector. Professor Alice Garnett explained in 1968 why this period was so important: 'Not until after the Second World War was it widely the case that departments were directed by geographers who had themselves received formal training in the discipline, by which time most of the initial marked differences and contrasts in subject personality had been blurred or obliterated'. At this point geography departments were established in most universities and the subject had a recognizable core of identity. 

Alice had also, significantly been Honorary Secretary of the GA for some years before taking over the Presidential role, and had also produced the Annual reports that were published in 'Geography', so she was a very important person within the Association for many years. 

She was particularly interested in the connection between school and academic geography.




She was mentioned by several former Presidents that I spoke to as being at the very heart of the GA at the time.

Her Presidential Address was called:
"Teaching Geography: some reflections"
and looked back on some of the previous legacies of the GA's work and what she hoped might happen next.

Prior to her taking up the Presidency, Alice had served as the Association's Honorary Secretary for twenty years: 1947-1967, following the retirement of the previous holder of the post, and continued to support the GA after her Presidential year, along with her colleague Professor David Linton. She helped provide a space for the Association's library and a great many other 'backroom' tasks.
During the war, the GA had the use of a room in the High School of Commerce at the University of Manchester, but Alice moved it to Sheffield University, and found a suitable space in the Park Branch Library on Duke Street.

They persuaded the Corporation of Sheffield to give the GA accommodation in a section of the Park Branch Library. In April 1950, the GA moved for the third time. A fund had been put together to celebrate the Jubilee, but as this fell in 1943 it was not felt appropriate, and the money was saved for the removal expenses. However, Alice Garnett and the other officers managed to arrange the move without touching this fund. Mrs. C. D. Mann, the Chief Clerk resigned at this time.

She also insisted on the value of, and reorganised support for Primary Geography.

She also negotiated favourable terms on the lease of 343 Fulwood Road in Sheffield, which became the home of the GA for many years. More on that to come later.

Alice Garnett’s enduring legacy to her department was her lobbying for a purpose built building for Geography which she achieved where the Geography annexe had been on Winter Street. The building which Geography still occupies was opened in 1970 by the then head of department Ron Waters. Terraced houses on Winter Street were demolished for the new Geography building which was integrated into Weston Park. This and other features including the hexagonal teaching rooms earned the building a Civic Trust commendation.
The building, as designed, contained a library, a map library, a physical research laboratory with a huge flume, aerial photograph analysis room and teaching rooms sufficient for all but the biggest first and second year lectures. It also had offices for academic staff, tutorial rooms, a workshop, photographic and cartographic suites.
Sheffield University Geography Department building in 1970

Source: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/about/history

I visited the Department several times during the early 1980s for talks and a few school-related events. I also visited several times more while working for the GA.

In 1954, Alice published a piece in 'Geography', following the previous year's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, looking back, taking stock and looking forward. Part of this was to make the most of the GA's stable financial position to pay staff appropriately, so that they were paid in accordance with the work they were doing at HQ. She also wanted to support the Section Committees more, to help them complete the vital work they were doing (and continue to do) to support and push forward the work of the Association. At the time, they were paying their own travel expenses for attending meetings. She reflected on the need to build up a fund. At the time, mostly due to Alice's own persuasion, the GA was given free conference accommodation and also free offices and storage at the Park Library in Sheffield.
She talked about the importance of the 'giving' nature of the Association.



She finished by setting a challenge to the geographers / GA members of 1993.


She was also involved in the GA's role in supporting the development of teacher education. In 1962, for example, 'Geography' featured a piece that she had provided for the Advisory Council to the Ministry of Education on the nature of school teaching for 'average and below average children'. This involved the following GA members, who included teachers. I wonder whether any readers can tell me more about these colleagues.

It concluded as follows:



A piece by Rex Walford, published in 1993 mentioned Alice.
The article was about Mackinder, but included a quote and the follow up listed below:

 Can we now usefully ask of ourselves and of our somewhat fragmented discipline 'Whither the geography of today and tomorrow?' For surely on the answer to this question will depend decision-making regarding the educational value and popularity of our subject in schools and its role as a university discipline and in other institutions of higher education. 
As geographers today probe and strive to expand our frontiers further and further, would our answers now be too disparate to command attention? 

These were the last published words of Professor Alice Garnett (Garnett, 1987). 

She had spent most of her life, beyond her duties in the University of Sheffield, tirelessly working for the Geographical Association, notably serving it as Hon. Secretary in a key period of its life. She had been intimately concerned with the mid-century struggle to make geography an acceptable and widely-available subject in schools. 

A postscript was added by Jo Norcup in late May 2020
She told me that Alice had a sister called Olive Garnett, who was also a prolific geography author. Olive will have her own post on the blog.

Other memories of Professor Alice Garnett are welcome.


Source:
Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Garnett - her maiden name was Crow.

University of Sheffield page: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/alumni-old/history

Fleure, H. J., and H. M. Fleure. “Alice Garnett: Honorary Secretary 1947-67.” Geography, vol. 53, no. 1, 1968, pp. 93–95. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40566483.

GARNETT, ALICE. “Teaching Geography: Some Reflections.” Geography, vol. 54, no. 4, 1969, pp. 385–400. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40567138

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8tdurY3CGNQC&lpg=PA97&ots=jiACAnc8q_&dq=pat%20bryan%20leicester%20geography&pg=PA102#v=onepage&q&f=false

Garnett, Alice. “LOOKING AHEAD AND TAKING STOCK.” Geography, vol. 39, no. 1, 1954, pp. 1–4. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564668

Garnett, Alice. “Memorandum on Geography Teaching.” Geography, vol. 47, no. 1, 1962, pp. 63–71. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565632

Updated November 2020
While researching Stan Gregory and early use of ICT, I came across this by Ron Johnston.

Source:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kVtwDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA90&ots=AHT4_XIJ21&dq=Geographical%20ASsociation%20Package%20Exchange&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false

Obituary

Ellis, Ronald, and Arthur Hunt. “The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 74, no. 3, 1989, pp. 272–275. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40571681. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020

Alice Garnett obituary.

Plenty more on her dedication to geography here...

I wonder where the painting might be now.

Updated August 2023

I then came across a few tweets suggesting that Alice Garnett was one of the first person to talk about the Urban Heat Island effect in work she carried out.

She also seems to have been one of the first people to use the term "heat shadow".

This blog post explores her book on climate in Sheffield. Written by Alex Stockham.

I found the first clue in the archives at the Central Library. In a book from 1956, Climate in Sheffield and its Region, there’s a study by Alice Garnett, a Professor of Geography at the University of Sheffield. It contains the earliest mention of a ‘rain shadow’ describing our city’s climate, the reason for its relative dryness in comparison to Manchester and the Peak. As it goes, air filled with moisture reaches a mountain range and gets buffered upwards. There’s less pressure and it’s colder the higher you go, so the water vapour condenses into a liquid as clouds. When the clouds get too heavy, it rains. On the other side of the mountain range, the air descends and warms up again. The water in the clouds evaporates, leaving a ‘shadow’ of rain where it should have fallen before the descent.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/department/about-department

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tRgrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=%22Alice+Garnett%22+geography&source=bl&ots=UIiLPDITPt&sig=ACfU3U2Iv9Yc32l8GWK7XGmDuTWpkQIbVQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjW0O7kzNeAAxUXTkEAHSw_AUQ4RhDoAXoECBgQAw#v=onepage&q=%22Alice%20Garnett%22%20geography&f=false

1965: Moving to Fulwood Road

Through the 1950s. the GA's premises at  Duke Street Library in Sheffield were getting overcrowed. A donation of oak shelving from the University helped matters in 1959, but the City Fathers, who had granted the GA free accommodation decided that the permises were needed, so the GA had to look for a new home.

In 1959's Annual Report this was explained.

Balchin describes the 1960s as 'an anxious time', as several early options were rejected.

Their tenancy of the library was due to end in September 1964, and notice was served a year earlier. By late 1963, Alice Garnett had been able to secure some assistance from Sheffield University, who had bought land for building student accommodation which included a sizeable Victorian House at 343 Fulwood Road, Sheffield.

This was adopted as the postal address for the GA from September 1964.



Balchin says that the formal opening of the new HQ was on the 11th December 1965, by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, followed by lunch.

Alice Garnett talked about the impending move in her reflections in 1964 and reported on it in 1965.


After 14 years at the Duke Street Library they had a short move.
It describes the accommodation as having ground-floor accommodation for the library and editorial needs, and first floor accommodation for clerical and administrative work, along with meetings rooms, branch visits and committee meetings.

Here's a floor plan from an estate agent's booklet when it was sold


New staff were also taken on it seems.


Further HQ staff of the time were mentioned in a report from 1966.


References

GARNETT, ALICE. “The Geographical Association: ANNUAL REPORT 1958.” Geography, vol. 44, no. 1, 1959, pp. 54–62. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564237
Image taken from Balchin's Centenary, photo is copyright the GA Archives

“The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 49, no. 3, 1964, pp. 346–348. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40566391. Accessed 22 Apr. 2020.

Fleure Library

Over the years, the GA has accumulated a huge wealth of printed material, and what remains of this is currently held at Solly Street, the GA HQ in Sheffield.
There is also a large Primary-focussed collection owned by Simon Catling, some of which is also held at the GA's HQ in a special room.
A great deal of this was initially collected and curated by H. J. Fleure, who is pictured opposite.

He looked after all donated books to the Association - some of which were sent in for review in the journals, and others from teachers who wanted to leave something tangible in the Association's archive.
Fleure was a former President, who has his own entry on the blog shortly.

He managed to find a number of premises for the library in Aberystwyth, where it stayed for many years. Fleure was the GA's Honorary Secretary at the time. It then moved to Manchester where, as I have previously mentioned, it was saved from a fire by a fast acting caretaker.

The library was housed in the Sheffield University library for many decades after it was moved from Fulwood Road in 1983 following a decision approved by the GA Council at the time. I remember visiting it there as an undergraduate.
The collection is now housed at the GA HQ in Solly Street, and several glass display cases featuring items from the library are in the Patrick Bailey room (a former GA President who will also have his own post on the blog)

For the 125th Anniversary conference, I was asked to curate a selection of items from this collection, and was aided by Ricky Buck, who retrieved the items that I suggested might tell a story of the Association, and together I chose about 100 items and provided captions for the exhibition, along with a Primary section.

One of the things that I have available to add to this collection is a set of journals called 'Classroom Geographer, which was published by Hugh Sealey. More on this in a later blog post, as the journal saw the first published work by several GA Presidents who will get their entries in time.

I have a spreadsheet containing details of all the 10 000 items which were in the collection at the time, and there is an impressive range of books and other materials there. 

The peripatetic Association

Updated November 2020

The Geographical Association has used various premises during its history. It has travelled from place to place, as all good geographers do of course.
I hope to visit as many of them as possible during my Presidential year (and around that time): some of them are familiar to me already of course, and I have visited them.

The Association was formed in the Common Room of Christchurch College, Oxford.

The journals: 'The Geographical Journal' and 'Geography' list a great many venues hosting the AGMs in the early years of the Association including

1903: College of Preceptors, Bloomsbury Square, London
1912: The Physiological Lecture Theatre of University College, London

The London School of Economics was a regular location for the GA Conference for many years, when it was held over the New Year period.
There were the years in Aberystwyth and Manchester, under H J Fleure.

In 1997, there was the move to Solly Street, following an earlier residency at Fulwood Road (and Park Road Library before that)
When I first visited, there was a view up the valley towards the Peak District, but over the years this has been closed off by the construction of student accommodation.
This is the present home of the Association.

For three years, this was my place of work too, where I was fortunate to work as the Secondary Curriculum Leader of the GA. I still visit occasionally for meetings, and to work on projects.
I will be visiting more regularly for the next few years for various meetings.

Image: Alan Parkinson