2012: Bob Digby

Bob Digby's name will be known to many from the numerous textbooks and other examination work he has been involved with over the years, and he is still a very active geographer within the subject community offering consultancy, online sessions and continuing to examine, as well as writing numerous textbooks and resources.

He has worked as a teacher, with a career in several schools to give him the grounding that he draws on in his other work. Bob has spent a great deal of time working with Awarding Bodies, and has written and co-written numerous textbooks and worked on other educational resources during that time, as well as leading fieldwork.

He has led many hundreds of days of fieldwork, particularly around the Olympic Park, along with John Widdowson and others, going back to a time before the Olympics.

This was the opening slide from Bob's Presidential lecture, which was themed around the Olympics of course. At the last minute, Bob decided that having taught about it for so long, he couldn't miss out on the once in a lifetime opportunity to see the ceremony that opened the games, and paid an as yet undisclosed sum for a ticket... That also means he saw what was probably Mike Oldfield's last 'live' performance into the bargain...

Bob kindly answered my questionnaire on the Google Form and filled in some additional details as can be seen below:

Bob was born in 1949, in Chelmsford, Essex
His family moved to Cornwall in 1960 shortly before he began his secondary education, which took place at St Austell Grammar School between 1960-67. Like many who have contributed to the Presidents' Blog before him, Bob told me that he owes much of his professional life to one man, Courtney Rice, who taught him geography - a kind and lively man, who was a firm socialist, having grown up in the Welsh valleys. 

Bob went to Keele University (1967-71), where he studied the four-year course; everyone did the same Foundation Year (FY) course cutting across all subject disciplines. He told me:

"I encountered everything from new (to me) disciplines such as astronomy, philosophy and sociology. I didn't make the most of it - who does, aged 18? - but 'FY' gave me a broader appreciation of academic subjects than I could ever have gained by studying a single-subject degree. My degree course consisted of Geography and History (everyone did dual honours at Keele), together with subsidiaries in Geology (which I still love now) and English. My teacher training at Nottingham (1971-2) was unusual at the time, but it determined my career path. I joined a group which trained in Humanities, and did my placement (one, full term at that time) at a new comprehensive school (Toothill, in Bingham) which explored links across the Humanities subjects. It gave me the experience that I needed to get my first job in teaching, which was again in a new school."

He describes his career (so far) as "A mix!"

"My first job was at John Smeaton High School in east Leeds (1972-80), which was a large 13-18 all-ability school drawing from a social cross section from suburban east Leeds to the south of the school, and Europe's largest council estate to the north in Seacroft and Whinmoor. The school was very informal, with no uniform, led by a former Brigadier as Head Teacher, for whom his staff would have walked on water had they the ability. I taught a wide variety of subjects (all in mixed-ability groups to age 16), ranging from integrated Humanities and Social Studies, to Geography to A level and Geology O level. At the time, schools could assess most of their intake through Mode 3 CSEs and O levels, so I was setting exam papers at CSE in my third year of teaching and O level by my fifth year. You wrote the syllabus, you set and marked the exam, all overseen by a Moderator who fed back at all stages. Teachers were trusted and annual meetings took place where teachers cross-marked each others work to moderate standards. It all worked rather well. 

My first Head of Department role was at Morley High School (1980-90), a former West Riding Grammar School in a small town SW of Leeds. Unlike John Smeaton, it was much more formal (staff addressing each other as Mrs or Mr even in the staffroom (that still happens in some schools now - why?) with setted classes. But it was a wonderful time to be a geography teacher. The 14-18 Bristol Project was well-established, and we began teaching that - again, a curriculum which individual schools wrote within the broadest and most basic of frameworks, and an assessment system which was 50% coursework (five items over the two years x 10%) and 50% exam. The Chief Examiner, Keith Orrell , set the most creative exam papers for O level that I've ever seen, then or since. 

See the previous post on this blog on Keith Orrell.

My years at Morley High laid the foundations for the thing which changed my life - the 16-19 Geography Project. Led from the Institute of Education by Mick Naish (a major influence in my career), the project curriculum fired me up like nothing had ever done at school or university. 

It had curriculum depth (fewer topics, taught and assessed in more depth), breadth (a max of core and option topics - there were 23 of the latter and if you didn't like them all you could write your own), and innovation (the first decision-making exercises came from 16-19, together with three coursework assignments which could be designed as you wished based on techniques research and timed essays. I became a Regional Moderator and Regional Co-ordinator for the Project in the Yorkshire region just as the demand and uptake was increasing rapidly. It gave me my first experience in leading CPD and in leading an annual 16-19 conference through Leeds University which lasted over 20 years. 

Thanks to that experience, I was approached to author materials for a new GCSE book (it never got off the ground but it got me noticed) and then a new 16-19 topic book 'The Geography of Health'. From that came Heinemann's "Physical Environment' and its human companion, with others following. I loved - and continue to love - writing, especially on things I'd taught and about places I'd been to 

(I once had a discussion with Margaret Roberts where we agreed that no author should ever write about places they don't know). I've had a few discussions with Margaret on a similar theme of authenticity.

In 1990, my career changed when I was appointed as Lecturer in Education / Geography at Sheffield University (1990-2) to work with Margaret Roberts. 

"I brought experience to the role, but working with Margaret made me raise my game. Her capacity for using frameworks for thinking - about what we teach, how we teach, about writing in geography, as well as her research into enquiry in geography - turned my 18 years almost on its head. I realised I had been planning and teaching almost intuitively without consciously being aware of WHY I was doing things. It was like having to re-learn. I loved it but my goodness it was challenging."

"I realised just how much I'd learnt from working with Margaret when I was appointed to what was West London Institute of Higher Ed (later to become part of Brunel University) to run my own course (1993-2001). 

I invited Margaret to come and run a day one year, and one of the students said to Margaret 'I've wanted to meet you because Bob talks about you all the time'. I did - and if you've read this far and read Margaret's work, you'll know why, and just how unimaginably lucky I had been to work with her."

There were a few other interesting experiences:

"There was a gap in 1992-3 - when I worked at Manchester University as Project Leader for National Curriculum, working with a team to develop what were to be (but were later abandoned) tests for children at 7, 11 and 14. All I'll say is that I should never have taken the job. I wasn't cut out for it, nor it for me; my fault, no-one else's. Don't ever take a job when your heart is shouting 'Walk away'. "

Of his time at Brunel:

"The Brunel years were enjoyable, fun and challenging - just what a job should be. I worked with Fran Martin and Graham Yates, each of whom I love dearly, across a range of primary and secondary courses: undergraduate as well as post-graduate. I worked with school colleagues from a range of school types which were as varied and as interesting as our students. I observed PE lessons (anyone who knows me will splutter at this point) as well as lessons in Geography, English, RE ... whatever teachers taught, I observed. The School of Education was like a school in that it was a real community. PGCE students spend nine months with you and they're gone; with four-year undergraduates you get to know them and how they think just as you would with students in a school. It was rich, exciting, and fun."

"Why did I not stay then? 

Brunel appointed a Vice-Chancellor who could not understand why a third of the Education budget had to be paid to schools, and why as a consequence the School of Education made a deficit. I don't believe in being the last one at a party so began job searching. I'd also had enough of Ofsted by then - 29 inspections across the courses we taught within six years. 

A job was advertised at University College School in north London. Its liberal ethos appealed together with the education freedom that goes with independent schools. I didn't then, and I don't now, support the existence of independent schools in theory, but nor do I support the idea of academy trusts without any democratic accountability. I believe passionately in academic freedom, and the professionalism of teachers to do their jobs without being micro-managed, either by an authoritarian academy management or by the State. I'm not against school inspections at all, but monitoring is very different from feeling that your every move is being watched - and judged. So I took the job at UCS (2001-07) and loved every minute.

When Bob became the GA President he was working as a freelance consultant and author

Bob's Presidential Theme was 'Looking to the Future'. He told me:

"I picked it because it seems to me that this is what we should be thinking about all the time - our students and the world they face, and the responsibilities and challenges they'll face as we hand over to them. I remember Mick Naish saying at the first 16-19 conference that I ever attended, that the purpose of a geographical education was political - that students should be in a position to vote when they are eighteen as informed and thinking citizens. That's our responsibility. 

It seemed that the theme would sit well with keynotes about climate change (a keynote given by Prof Terry Callaghan - I remember it well), teaching about controversial issues (given by Margaret Roberts - I remember that well too) and peace (given by David Hicks) would fit well with this. 

One of the features I was keen to introduce - and which has become a regular feature, I'm delighted to say - was the 'Future Geographers' parallel conference for sixth form students. I owe that thought to Sue Bermingham who brought along some school students to Manchester in 2012. 

I'd been a member of the GA since 1990. I'd attended conferences before that, for example at LSE. I attended conferences and ran sessions for the 16-19 Project during the 1990s, and then on curriculum change in both 2000 and 2006-7. When, in 2005, London won the bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I'd continued writing materials as I had on Sydney's and Athens' Games in 2000 and 2004. I took the voluntary post of Community Geographer with the GA in 2007 to develop materials on Beijing in 2008, and then on London. I started working with Pumpkin TV and obtained funding from the Learning Skills Council to place a free copy of a DVD 'Aiming for Gold' in every secondary school in the UK.

Bob is a huge supporter of the GA:

"I love the GA. I don't mean that to sound cheesy, but I love the fact that this is a thriving community of people who love geography and love education. It matters because it's a strong voice for the subject when we need it within the community of teachers, within the wider public and (especially now) in a political forum. My roles have been Community Geographer as a volunteer, and then since 2010 when I began my four-year Presidential cycle as a member of Governing Body (2010-14). I continued as a Named Trustee 2014-17 and Honorary Treasurer since 2017."

Of his time as President: Bob said:
"I loved it, and especially annual conference at Derby in April 2013. 

Conference is a wonderful occasion by any standards, and the feeling that you have helped create the theme and the list of speakers is powerful. I was touched by how many people that I valued and admired wanted to accept invitations to speak. It felt 'successful', whatever that means; a large attendance, including the first sixth form students and their teachers, real quality sessions as judged by the evaluations afterwards, and it was also a much younger conference - a trend which has continued since.

It's a great feeling to see PGCE and NQT students attending in large numbers. Then there was the Presidential Lecture. 

I guess every President will tell you that it's the thing that kept them awake at night the most. Good to know. I'd better get started on it soon. I decided to play to strengths with a reflection of the 2012 London Games. I wanted to speak about something geographical. It seemed to me (and still seems) that London's Games were groundbreaking, and I wanted to show why geographers would want to study them. I loved being there at that conference in that lecture room, and looking at the audience. It was and remains the honour of my life to be there, no question."

My Presidents blog project has certainly revealed lots of stories around Presidential lectures, which will form part of my own...

He has some good memories from that time, and of other Presidents as well:

"Above all, I remember Margaret's Roberts' year as the only Presidential lecture I never made it to. I reached the (huge) hall in Manchester at the right time only to find everyone had a far better idea and had used their coffee break to get a seat. So - no seats left. Margaret's lecture is to my knowledge the only Presidential lecture that had to be held twice, the second time on the Saturday morning! 

I was about to make this a firm appointment in the diary when I received a text from BMI with whom I was flying home to Newquay on Saturday evening to say that my flight had been cancelled and I could only get home by taking the morning flight instead. It took off as Margaret would have been starting to speak ..... 

Another lecture that stands out is Eleanor Rawling's at Southampton (I think) in 1992, where she spoke quietly and powerfully about how the geography National Curriculum had been framed in the later 80s / early 90s. It was a devastating insight into the political process. 

Every President brings something special. 

The GA has been fortunate to have had an array of talent from which to draw for its Presidents - teachers, primary and secondary educators, local authority geography advisers, university-based teacher educators, academic geographers, a head of field centre .. we are lucky indeed."

Generations of students have benefitted from Bob's advice and he remains a popular speaker in all sorts of circumstances including online of course over the last year or so.

Until the pandemic, Bob was regularly travelling up to London and other locations from his home in rural Cornwall where he lives with his husband Mike and several dogs. As the GA's Honorary Treasurer. he has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors and continues to hold a very important position in the GA. The last year has shown the value of his financial 'nous' and prudence, backed up by Richard Gill and Alex Forsyth.

This image was produced at the same time as his GA Presidential lecture, and presented to Bob.

References

Far too many books and digital resources to mention, but a few notable items include:

Digby, Bob. “This Changing World: The London 2012 Olympics.” Geography, vol. 93, no. 1, 2008, pp. 40–47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40574215. Accessed 15 May 2021.

There was also a special issue of 'Teaching Geography' on the London Olympics:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/i23753901

https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=ad1c557f-1158-4fdf-a4b4-084da2d72a69&lang=en-GB - a piece on the Olympics for the RGS

https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=bc40d439-8a25-4761-ad2c-74fda48cd525&lang=en-GB

Bob has co-written, written and edited for the GA's 'Top Spec' series.

He has written materials to accompany Pumpkin Videos.

Check out these textbooks:

https://www.waterstones.com/author/bob-digby/27415

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bob-Digby

Image at the top: copyright GA / Bryan Ledgard.

As always, if anyone has further memories of Bob please pass them through or add a comment.

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

L J Jay - more details

I posted earlier in the week about L J Jay, who worked as the former GA librarian, and who wrote a great many reviews and contributions to 'Geography' - his initials were repeated many times in the journals across the decades. This has been substantially brought up to date with some new information from my former colleague at Solly Street: Frances Soar.

As we get nearer to the present day, you will see further contributions with a credit for the contributions of Frances Soar. She has very kindly offered to help with some updates as we get closer to her own time working at Solly Street.

Frances found a lot more information about L J Jay. Sometimes known as 'Jim' Jay.

Leslie Joseph Jay, born 25 Aug 1917 in Aston, Warks.  Parents Joseph Jay, described in 1939 as 'Inspector Engineering', and Martha (nee Green).

1936: Successful in the First Examination, Geography Dept, University of Birmingham (B'ham Daily Gazette, 2 Feb 1936)

1938: Awarded Geography Degree (II2) by the University of Birmingham (B'ham Daily Gazette, 30 Jun 1938)

1939: Passed the written examination for the Degree of MA (Birmingham Daily Post, 29 Jun 1939) 

1939: Living with his parents at 58 Caldwell Road, Birmingham.  Described as 'student, intending te[indistinct]'.  Possibly 'teacher' (From the WW2 Register, 1939)

1943 (25 Jan): Royal Navy 'Schoolmaster Candidate (entered for Hostilities only)' (Navy Lists for 1943ff).  Served at HMS Nabsford, a base in Australia for Royal Naval Aircraft maintenance.  [I've learnt more about RN ranks in the past hour than I ever thought I would need to know!]

1943: (4th quarter) Married Hilda Seal in Birmingham

1949: Awarded Master of Arts by University of Birmingham (Birmingham Daily Gazette, 30 Jun 1949)

1986 (24 Jan): Died Sheffield, having been living at 14 Overglade Gardens, Dore, Sheffield, leaving wife Hilda and children Heather and Paul 

He served in Australia during the war. While in Australia, he used his 'schoolmasterly' skills to edit and create a newsletter called Nabsford News.

The newsletters make entertaining reading if you take a look - lots of in-jokes for sure.
The newsletter copies were provided by L J Jay's son Paul.

You can also see several galleries of photos on the site, and one of them features L J - front row, first left.


29th April 1945: "The J6 Crowd" L to R: back row: Lt. (S) George Baker RNVR, Lt. Ted Folkard RNVR, Lt. (Sp. Br.) Bill Grant RNVR, Sub-Lt (A) Peter Bearcroft RNVR. Front row: Schoolmaster Jim Jay, Sub-Lt (A) I.Thomas RNVR, Sub-Lt (A) J. Pinch RNVR, Commissioned Store Officer Reg Goodhue.

An appreciation of L J Jay was printed in 'Geography' in 1986, written by former GA President Michael Wise. It turns out that he went to school with Michael Wise. There is a good mention of his geography teacher Mr. Cotton and also a mention for R H Kinvig

He wrote a humorous book on geography teaching called 'Geography teaching with a little latitude' which I've seen before, and was published in 1981. In it he said:

 "there is a ample scope for... an element of humour in the teaching of geography".

He taught at Wellingborough School apparently after the war before joining the University of Sheffield.

He joined the GA in 1943 and joined as Honorary Librarian in 1954. He stayed with the GA until 1973, also serving on the Council and Executive Committee. He was involved in the transfer of the library from Duke Street to Fulwood Road. He compiled the Dudley Stamp Index of 'Geography' articles with Hilary Todd.

He classified the work of Herbertson and wrote an appreciation of his work which I have previously added to the blog.

Before retirement he oversaw the transfer of the Fleure library to the University of Sheffield. A manuscript for a booklet for the GA called 'Starting to teach Geography' was completed just before his death.

The appreciation by Michael Wise ends with these two paragraphs:

One sentence there is a reminder for all teachers:

"he knew that gifts as a teacher were not sufficient without a continuous replenishment of the mind, without experimentation in method, without respect for pupils..."

Source:

Wise, M. J. “The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 71, no. 2, 1986, pp. 169–172. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40571093. Accessed 31 July 2020.

JAY, L. J. “A. J. Herbertson : His Services to School Geography.” Geography, vol. 50, no. 4, 1965, pp. 350–361. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565960. Accessed 1 Aug. 2020.