Biographies of all the Presidents of the Geographical Association since the founding of the Association in 1893. Researched by Alan Parkinson (GA President 2021-22), with contributions from others, including the former Presidents themselves where possible.
The Festival of Geography brings together colleagues from the Royal Geographical Society and Geographical Association (GA) for a joint celebration of geographical knowledge and understanding.
This special event is an opportunity for teachers at all stages to come together and share their passion for geography. Over a full day, attend sessions on creative and practical ideas for the classroom and get subject updates from experts in the field.
The day is bookended with sessions from the GA and RGS-IBG on the future of geography teaching and its value as a subject for students of all ages.
The festival consists of a full day of talks and workshops held live at the RGS-IBG in London on 16 June 2025.
Programme
10.00 - Welcome
10.15 - Geography: the Big Picture (Steve Brace, GA Chief Executive)
10.45 - Keynote lecture: Mark Maslin (University College London)
11.30 - Tea and coffee
11.45 - Creative curriculum ideas (Fiona Sheriff)
12.45 - Lunch
13.30 - Practical fieldwork ideas (Chloƫ Searl)
14.30 - Tea and coffee
14.45 - Subject knowledge sessions (Anjana Khatwa and guest)
15.45 - Choose Geography: embedding careers education into your teaching (Alan Parkinson, VP Education Royal Geographical Society)
At the RGS-IBG 150th anniversary event which I have previously blogged about - back in 1980, there were some interesting connections explored between the RGS and the GA.
As it says in the report of the meeting which is available to read on JSTOR:
A comment from the RGS:
For example, we shall shortly have discussions with the Geographical Association, which represents, as you know, those who teach geography in the classroom, and which enjoys an extremely friendly and mutually valuable relationship with the Royal Geographical Society; we shall be discussing with them a number of issues touching on the contribution which geography can make to pupils' education at school, and I am sure that that exchange of views will be very helpful.
I wonder what will be occurring by the time of the 200th anniversary in 6 years' time?
Hopefully 2025 will see more joint activity between the GA and the RGS.
While looking for something else I came across Daniel Clayton's paper from the University of St. Andrews.
In it he talks about the emergence of decolonising and the early proponents of looking back at the nature of Empire, with Felix Driver's work being mentioned prominently.
In the aftermath of World War II, two British geographers, Sidney Wooldridge and Ronald Harrison Church, implored colleagues to take the study of colonial geography more seriously. Wooldridge (1947, 202) ventured that “it appears to me to throw a strong light on the position of Geography in this country that we are so calamitously and shamefully ignorant of our Colonial Empire”. And Harrison Church (1951, 116-17) sought to make amends with a primer entitled Modern Colonization, noting that Africa was “ripe for rearrangement” (albeit colonial reform more than independence).
As Britain’s sprawling empire shrank, the type of geographical study and imagery associated with it became less acceptable and feasible, and Alastair Bonnett (2003) asserts that geography soon abandoned its bequest as a “world discipline” and geographers sought to make their discipline ‘useful’ again by focusing on pressing domestic problems. Yet geography was not taught at many of the new universities established across the United Kingdom in the post-war decades, in part because politicians continued to view the subject as having “a somewhat ‘dated’ look about it”, as Ron Johnston (2003, 69) puts it.
Indeed, the ‘conquest’ of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in June 1953, coinciding with the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, was arguably the crowning glory of 1950s British geography and points to the post-war extension rather than liquidation of geography’s empire.
The RGS was a proud sponsor of the Everest Expedition, and through to the 1970s its learned organ, The Geographical Journal, kept a populist foot in the imperial past by publishing excerpts “from the journal a hundred years ago”, most of which were manly tales of expeditionary derring-do.
As you'll have perhaps seen from a post at the end of April, I'm going to be working as the Vice President: Education of the RGS from June.
As with any major project that I get involved with, or new role, I've started a new blog. This will track my work over the coming years, and also publicise relevant RGS-IBG activity.
When I started out on my GA Presidential journey, I started a blog which now has over 850 posts on it, and includes a biography of every GA President to date as well as much more on the history of the Association and its activities.
No. 1 Kensington Gore is known as "the Home of Geography".
I've taken that as the name for my new blog, as I'll be visiting more regularly than I have for a few years.
Lowther Lodge has been the home of the Royal Geographical Society for over 100 years.
I've been connected with the RGS-IBG for quite a number of years in various ways, as were quite a few other former GA Presidents. I'm now about to strengthen those connections a little more.
In 2007 I became a Fellow of the RGS and Chartered Geographer (Teacher) and have been ever since.
In 2008, I was awarded their Ordnance Survey Award for excellence in Secondary Geography Teaching. This was a proud moment and came at the culmination (I thought) of my teaching career as I was joining the Geographical Association and stepping out of the classroom. I didn't realise I'd be back again within five years.
I had also spoken at the RGS as part of a student day - with Alastair Owens actually - although I only found that out much later when digging through some old papers. It's a wonderful thing to stand on the stage in the Ondaatje Theatre where so many greats have stood before. We also took students there for a range of events, and I took part in an event representing the Guardian / DfE once as well. I ended up having lunch with Nicholas Crane and have bumped into all sorts of explorers and 'celebrity' geographers at times in the lunch area.
Between 2008 and 2011 I worked closely with the RGS - particularly Steve Brace - who is now the GA Chief Executive of course, and Claire Wheeler (now Claire Brown) along with the rest of their APG team as part of the Action Plan for Geography. This meant regular meetings at either the RGS or Solly Street at a time when Michael Palin was president.
From 2011 onwards for several years I contributed resources to the RGS website, thanks to Steve Brace. This included:
- From the Field resources - working with PhD researchers to translate their work into the classroom
- 'A' level / fieldwork materials funded by a Data Skills project
If you are a fellow, you will have received your electronic 'ballot paper' for the elections for Council for June 2024 and will perhaps have noticed that I have put myself forward for the post of Vice President: Education. I had to keep this to myself for a while.
This blog post would have been a request to vote for me in an election, but as it turned out I stood unopposed, so will be confirmed in this role at the AGM of the RGS in June, the same day as the RGS's Awards are handed out.
From June I shall therefore be taking on the role of Vice President: Education at the RGS and have a place on RGS Council for a four year term of office.
Thanks to the fine people who proposed me for the position, including a Polar explorer and some very excellent geography teacher colleagues.
Thanks also must go to my predecessor as VP Education: Mel Norman, who has also been closely associated with the Geographical Association. She Chaired and was Co-Chair/Secretary of the GA's Education Group and was also editor of 'Teaching Geography' for a lengthy period.
She taught PGCE Geographers for many years - I visited her cohorts a few times while working for the GA - and is also closely associated with the organisation of the Charney Manor Primary Geography Conference. I'm hoping she will pass on more of her wisdom, much as she did when I started my GA Presidency. Speaking of which, Mel is one of those people who has not been GA President (yet) but would be fantastic in the role. She has received awards from the GA for her work in a range of spheres.
If you're going to be at the AGM / Awards or reception in the evening it would be fantastic to catch up.
I shall be back with more requests as I get started on the role in the summer.
I look forward to working with all the various Council and committee members, RGS staff and the new incoming President Professor Dame Jane Francis, who received the RGS's Patron's Medal in 2022.
There is work to be done to ensure that all the ongoing support that the RGS offers for teachers meets their needs, and continues to be responsive and inclusive to the changing needs of the profession. I'm excited to offer my support in various ways.
The Geographical Association (GA) is delighted to announce that Steve Brace has been appointed as its new Chief Executive.
Steve is already well known to the geography education community having previously been Head of Education and Outdoor Learning at the Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) (RGS (with IBG)). He started his career as a geography teacher at a London comprehensive, moving on to roles at the charity Action Aid and the Commonwealth Institute, before joining the RGS (with IBG). Whether via social media or through regular contributions to the Times Educational Supplement and other newspapers, Steve has become an important and trusted spokesperson for geography.
Professor Alastair Owens, the GA’s Chair of Trustees, commented:
‘Steve Brace is a leading figure in the geography education community, and I am thrilled that he will be joining the GA. He brings deep experience of supporting geography teachers from primary to A level, has been influential in shaping education policy relevant to our discipline, has built many partnerships and raised funds to develop new initiatives, and has played a key role in making geography more diverse and inclusive.
Steve’s energy and strategic vision will enable the GA to address the needs of its members in responsive and imaginative ways and ensure that it continues to be a powerful voice in advocating for the relevance and value of a geographical education in a rapidly changing world. The GA and geographical education are in very good hands.’
Steve Brace said:
‘I am delighted to be joining the GA as its Chief Executive and to lead the organisation at such an important time for our subject. My first GA conference was in 1989. Since then, I have worked alongside many GA colleagues, its trustees and members – and long admired its work.
The GA, and our subject community as a whole, have much to celebrate. There have been significant improvements in geography teaching across primary and secondary schools. Exam entries have increased and geographers are receiving greater public recognition.
However, there is more work needed to strengthen the supply of subject specialist geography teachers, to protect and develop fieldwork, advance equality, diversity and inclusion and better connect geography’s value to all young people’s aspirations. The GA, through its own work and in partnership, has a vital role to play in addressing such challenges. I am pleased to be joining during Denise Freeman’s Presidential year and look forward to working with her, Vice President Hina Robinson, the entire GA community and its collaborators to address these priorities.’
Steve will join the GA staff on 25 March 2024 in good time for the Annual Conference and Exhibition, themed ‘Geography for Everyone’, which takes place at the University of Manchester, 4–6 April 2024.
šCongratulations to Steve Brace, our former colleague, on his appointment as CEO at @The_GA.
We are all looking forward to the opportunities to collaborate more closely between our organisations. https://t.co/QVRn31OzGg
— Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (@RGS_IBG) March 14, 2024
We scanned Dudley Stamp maps & compared them with modern satellite data to record the extent of land-use change across Britain in mid-20thC. Our map outlines land conversion for every 10km x 10km sq. @andysuggitt & @AGAuffret#geographyteachers#NEAhttps://t.co/UIEk3Sw9Lj
Our answer was to use the detailed maps that a huge army of volunteer citizen scientists (many were schoolchildren!) collected under the leadership of Sir Dudley Stamp in the 1930s/40s. His team visited every county of Britain, noting down the land-use of the time... šŗ️(3/17). pic.twitter.com/2PVljhHbA2
The outcomes are reported in this research paper. (Open Access at the time of posting).
We estimate that roughly 90% of lowland meadow and pasture has been lost. Land was converted either to arable farmland, which saw a 22% increase, or to agriculturally improved grassland, which now occupies 27% of Britain’s land area.
Urbanisation saw the nation’s built area expand from 4% to 5%. And woodland cover doubled from 6% to 12%, largely due to a concerted effort to increase the country’s reserve of timber. For better or worse, the nation’s land use became less mixed and more consolidated.
All of this environmental change is thought to have had a profound effect on biodiversity. According to the recent State of Nature Report, the abundance of UK species has declined by an average of 19% since 1970. Some 1,500 species (or 16% of those analysed) are now threatened with national extinction.
The full piece outlines further changes affecting particular species.
Our answer was to use the detailed maps that a huge army of volunteer citizen scientists (many were schoolchildren!) collected under the leadership of Sir Dudley Stamp in the 1930s/40s. His team visited every county of Britain, noting down the land-use of the time... šŗ️(3/17). pic.twitter.com/2PVljhHbA2
I hope that in the blog I have flagged up some important female geographers who played a significant role in the development of the GA. Quite a few of them are featured in this book, which can be downloaded in full from the link below.
Bonus points if you can name the three ladies on the front cover.
I posted my 12 000th post over on LivingGeography a month or so ago: a blog I started when I heard that I had been appointed as the Secondary Curriculum Development Leader, working for the Geographical Association at Solly Street and around the country.
The job lasted for just three years until funding issues meant my post was made redundant and I moved on to other things - such as unemployment, AKA freelance consultant.
In September it was 15 years since I originally left teaching and started work for the Geographical Association at Solly Street. And I've now been at my school for ten years, which seems crazy.
2008 was a time when the Action Plan's work was underway, and I recently revisited that time when I came across a few pieces on the state of school geography at the time, with the advent of a new curriculum, government intervention and a lack of support for what came to be called 'curriculum making'.
I feel very proud to have been part of the team, along with others, to deliver on the Action Plan for Geography.
John Lyon responded to the criticism in a letter which was published in January 2008. I later had the great pleasure of working with him when he was the Programme Director of the Geographical Association.
I was pleased to hear yesterday that I have been awarded one of the Fawcett Fellowships for 2022-23
Fawcett Fellowships are awarded each year by the UCL Institute of Education.
Edith Fawcett endowed annual Fellowships in the Department of Geography at UCL in 1987 in memory of her father, Professor C B Fawcett, who was head of the department between 1928 and 1949.
Charles Bungay Fawcett had a link with the early years of the Geographical Association in that he joined the staff under A. J Herbertson at the then-new School of Geography at Oxford University. He was later a lecturer at University College, Southampton, and Leeds University. In 1928, he was appointed Professor of Geography at University College London, where he remained until his retirement in 1949.
The Fellowships were originally designed to enable UK-based teachers and other professional geographers in mid-career to spend a sabbatical term studying at UCL. The teaching Fellows continued to be paid their full salary and the scheme funded replacement geography teaching.
In 2018, a second option was added, which provided a format based around twilight workshops and a focus for research rather than the sabbatical term. Fellows are given access to research libraries and the experienced staff of UCL IOE.
I wrote a statement outlining my proposed focus of Everyday Geographies and their place within the curriculum, to allow me to pursue the thinking I had already completed in preparation for my GA Presidential year, the lecture and related sessions through that year.
This classic book by C B Fawcett is still in print. He also wrote a Political Geography of the British Empire first published in 1933.
I shall be sharing my progress and thinking here, so that others can see what is involved and perhaps considers putting themselves forward for a Fellowship next year.
While researching a number of updates for other Presidents I came across the papers of Charles and Frank Fenner and their travels to the UK.
Describing a visit to the BAAS Section E committee in the 1930s...
2 to 3 September 1937, Nottingham, BAAS Meeting
Professor Fawcett (London) gave his Presidential address on World Movements of Population. He stressed the fact, and supported it with unanswerable figures, that the Southern Hemisphere could never be of any great importance in world history. Have often stressed to my students the same thing, based on the same facts, but presented differently. He brought out many other remarkable facts about world tendencies in population. It was a very fine effort, indeed, one of the best I’ve heard at any time.
I am just back from the Geography dinner. A most excellent and pleasant meeting. I was seated by the President as an honoured guest, with Mrs Haile, wife of the Trent waterworks engineer, who has made all those wonderful flood models, on my right. And Mrs Roach, sister of Brigadier General Winterbottom, who has had charge of surveys all over the world, on my left. Both were very pleasant and we talked freely so that the hours went by without noticing. Next on the left was Dr Bews, of Natal, South Africa, who has written a geographical book that I must get hold of.
Next on the right was, of course, Professor Fawcett.
Fawcett, London, is a very fine man, and I have told you of his excellent Presidential address. Opposite was Dudley Stamp, who has written geographies of all the world, and all its countries. We talked of possible Land Utilization mapping in Australia. He it was, I suspect, who gave the President material for the remark in his speech of the quiet-spoken man from Australia whose books they knew and who had lately travelled 35,000 miles at the rate of 150 miles per day. A bit of a stretch of my figures. Just before I left a young man of the London University came up and said he must meet me, as he gave two lectures every year from my books! And, in general, everyone was very friendly and nice. Saw Stevens and Maclaren to say goodbye. General Winterbottom is the most charming fellow, fine after-dinner speaker.
"to
advance the interests of geography, and is made up of all the main organisations of
geographers and geographical educationists in Britain."
Prominent among its
initiatives in the educational context has been the recent COBRIG-inspired
Geography into the Twenty-First Century (Rawling and Daugherty, (1996)), which
has at its heart the central issue to which this article has been addressed: putting the geography back into geographical education. This offers the basis of a fruitful
agenda as represented, among other things, in Haggett’s delineation of ‘the central
and cherished aspects of geographical education: a love of landscape and of field
exploration, a fascination with place, a wish to solve the spatial conundrums posed
by spatial configurations’ (Haggett, 1996, p. 17); in Johnston’s advocacy of a
refreshed, dynamic, and distinctive place geography (pp. 73-4); and in Jackson’s
concern for developing sensitivity to place connections at a variety of scales (p. 91);
or, as Allen and Massey have put it:
‘We live local versions of the world and in so doing we have to locate ourselves
within a wider global context. We only understand the changes taking place in our
own backyard when we begin to understand how changes taking place elsewhere
affect our world’ (1995, p. 1)
Neil Simmonds and Eleanor Rawling were originally involved from the GA's perspective, along with Richard Daugherty.
COBRIG previously ran seminars for geographers as well through the 1990s in particular.
This meeting was held at the Royal Geographical Society - the first time I'd been there for about three years and it was good to be back in such a historic location.
It was lovely to meet some old friends - particularly Erica Caldwell who was representing SAGT / RSGS, and also to make new acquaintances.
The Global Learning Programme was a delayed iteration of an earlier project which was due to take place in 2011, but the funding was delayed as a result of government intervention ahead of a General Election. One unfortunate outcome of that was the loss of my job at the GA, which I had worked towards for many years, and had completed just three years before the trustees
The Global Learning Programme (GLP) ran from 2013 to 2018 and was funded by the UK government. It achieved a great deal of success.
The GLP in England (GLP-E) was managed by a consortium of partners:
Pearson (lead),
Geographical Association,
UCL Institute of Education,
Oxfam UK,
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG),
SSAT and
Think Global. I applied for one of the senior positions on the project, and had an interview lined up when I received an offer of a teaching position, which I am still in, and which has outlasted the Global Learning Programme.
Aims of the Programme
To help young people understand their role in a globally-interdependent world and explore strategies by which they can make it more just and sustainable.
To familiarise them with concepts of interdependence, development, globalisation and sustainability.
To move them from a charity mentality to a social justice mentality.
To stimulate critical thinking about global issues both at a whole school and at student level.
To promote greater awareness of poverty and sustainability.
To enable schools to explore alternative models of development and sustainability in the classroom.
I came across this article which amusingly explored the idea of the sandwich course.
This was a phrase used some years ago to describe a course which included a year in between studying for an overseas placement, or an industry placement to add a vocational element. Several of the degrees at Huddersfield Polytechnic followed this structure.
This is an article from 1981 which takes the idea of how the phrase might be misunderstood, and is written by David Barker from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, who thought it interesting that Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry was offering:
"the only sandwich geography degree courses in the UK"
It wonders what the content of such a degree course might be, and what jobs graduates might be expecting to get when they finish.
There is some historical geography perhaps on the origins of the sandwich, and an exploration of what is called 'gastrogeography'. There could be a look at regional dialect variations on the phrase. My grandad would take his 'snap tin' down the mine with him. There's also the 'dagwood': the name for a multi layered sandwich. You could also consider national variations such as the Scandinavian open sandwich.
This would then move onto the social relations of production of the sandwich.
The Rank Size Rule is also brought into this, and it finishes with the hexagonal sandwiches preferred by Christaller.
Source
Barker, David. “Sandwich Geography: A Bread and Butter Course?” Area, vol. 13, no. 3, 1981, pp. 242–244. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20001731. Accessed 5 July 2021.
For several Presidents, their period of office coincided with the Action Plan for Geography. This ran from 2006-11
Several of the GA Presidents mentioned this in their Presidential lecture. Keith Grimwade told me: "The big curriculum initiative during my Presidency was the Action Plan for Geography.
Lord Adonis was a great supporter of geographical education but could not understand why we had the RGS/IBG and the GA - politicians prefer dealing with just one organisation. Negotiating and securing the GA’s distinctive role was, I think, one of my biggest achievements, much of which went on behind closed doors and could not be broadcast.
I keep a letter from Lord Adonis acknowledging my work, and recognising the GA’s contribution."
Not a GA President, but someone bound up with the work of the Association in many ways is David R Wright. He produced a series of best selling map books and atlases, and also worked as a PGCE tutor at the University of East Anglia, which was where I first met him in the early 90s. As you can see from the article below, he was also another geographer associated with St Catharine' College (and always remember to spell that with an 'a' by the way...) and to have Gus Caesar as a tutor. Gus was very much connected with a whole range of former GA Presidents including Margaret Roberts.
He contributed to a range of GA publications and articles, always on the theme of mapping.
The last time I saw David was at the Royal Geographical Society in 2008. He was receiving an award, as was I. He was unwell at the time, and sadly died the year after.
The following text and the accompanying image are copyright RGS-IBG
David Wright, who died on 20 November 2009 after a battle with cancer, was a geographer and author whose work inspired children around the world.
David graduated from Cambridge University and then trained as a teacher, undertaking an MA in Geography in Education from London University, Institute of Education. He taught in Stevenage and Pittsburgh before moving to Norfolk in 1969 as a lecturer in Geography at Keswick Hall College of Education, which was later merged with the University of East Anglia, where he worked for 12 years. He took early retirement in 1994 to further his research and writing, becoming a self-employed author, school inspector, adviser and consultant.
Throughout his career David was a champion of the use of equal area maps in teaching and in publications of all types and his (W)Right World Map was launched in 2007. He also advocated the use of stamps in engaging young people with an interest in places and examples of a virtual journey using stamps can be found on Discovering the Arctic
I have this pencilled in for an activity in my new KS2 Schemes which I am developing with colleagues in a unit called 66 North.
Throughout his career David’s concern has been to stimulate children’s interest in the world by creating pupil-orientated approaches to teaching geography and innovative ways of linking geography, environmental and sustainable development education, all rooted in his experiences of many different parts of the world.
David was a past chairman and president of the Norfolk branch of the Geographical Association and his contribution to geographical education was acknowledged in 2007 when he was awarded the accreditation of ‘Chartered Geographer’ by RGS-IBG. In 2008 he was awarded the ‘Ness Award’ by RGS-IBG for his work championing the wider understanding and popularisation of geography through his work with children.
David's obituary on behalf of the Geographical Association was written by Margaret Roberts and published in 'Geography'. It has often been the job of GA Presidents to have that sad duty.
David also wrote a book in the GA-published series 'Theory into Practice'.
The Geographical Association's 2004 Annual conference on "Images in Geography" was held at the University of Kent, Canterbury, April 5-7.
A series of professional development units includes: Thinking geographically: place-based teaching (key stages 2-3); and professional development for PGCEnewly qualified teacher delegates (early years-KS2 and KS3-4).
Attendees receive a GA-endorsed certificate, supporting material and module accreditation with the London University Institute of Education Diploma in Teaching and Learning.
Fee: from £85 (includes conference admission). Pre-registration conference fee: £50, pound; £30 members; on the day £70, pound; £50 members. Students free.
Accommodation is available.
2004: The Geography Development Fund announced at the Canterbury Annual Conference by
Schools Minister Stephen Twigg.
This was funding to support Primary Geography.
Read more about it here. (PDF download) in a report on a conference for Primary Schools held at the RGS-IBG
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.
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.
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.
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.
