Do any readers remember this series?
A Channel 4 TV series called Landshapes, which I remember using when I first started teaching as I had the series on video. It also involved Rita Gardner - former Director of the RGS-IBG. I also had the book for a while but it went to the second hand shop some time ago.
It was presented by Tim Preece I believe.
It was made in 1988.
A series of seven programmes looking at the geomorphology of Britain and Ireland.
Part 1: The stiperstones of Shropshire, which are representative of some of the most ancient rocks found in the British Isles.
Part 2: The landscape created since the last Ice Age, concentrating mainly on Norfolk where the sands and gravels represent some of the youngest and weakest rocks of the British Isles.
Part 3: How the ice sheet influences land shapes in the mountainous regions of Britain, showing the glacial cradles of North Wales and the rivers estuaries of Ireland and Cornwall.
Part 4: The landscapes created by the melting waters of the Ice Age. Shows some spectacular scenery such as Devil’s Dyke, Cheddar Gorge and the waterfalls of Teeside.
Part 5: The erosion of the coastline caused by the sea undermining the soft rocks. Concentrates on southern and eastern England where land is being reclaimed by the sea.
Part 6: Because the British Isles lie on the edge of one of the earth’s plates, the 10,000 miles of coastline are very varied. The shoreline is shaped by the constant battle between the waves and the rocks.
Part 7: The effects of man’s actions on the landscape since his earliest ancestors used ‘slash and burn’ techniques to clear the ancient forests. Soil erosion caused by agriculture in places where the forest was completely felled created the wetland landscape. Human activity has thus changed the landscape sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
The episodes in bold are ones I remember using in my teaching. The music was very memorable as well.
Does anyone remember using this in their own teaching?
I was contacted by Mark Worthington in 2006 who wanted to copy my VHS copies onto DVD, and produced one for me as well. It's around somewhere, and will share some screenshots when I find it.
