Chris Durbin and SLN - 1997

A letter from Chris Durbin was published in the January 1997 issue of 'GA News' (No. 46)

Chris worked for some time with the BBC on a series of programmes in the futuristic sounding 2000 series e.g. Japan 2000 (an excellent series) and Brazil 2000, both of which were on heavy rotation in my classroom around that time. Cue the big telly being wheeled in from the office and the curtains being closed...

Chris was also one of the co-founders of the SLN Geography Forum which was behind a great deal of the innovative practice that started to be shared into the early 2000s. I've mentioned SLN Forum in a previous post. This was the Staffordshire Learning Network. It was co-founded with Kate Russell, and Andy Holt.

I know that there will be many teachers whose practice was influenced by this bulletin board, and will remember the supportive atmosphere it engendered.

I had a chance to meet Chris at the GA Conference in Canterbury, 2004, where he was presenting, and also met up at a later GA conference as well which Chris attended.

From the SLN Wiki:

The SLN Geography Forum began on 7th Sept. 1999 when Chris Durbin posted the first message. A week later he replied to his own message. On 16th Sept. Kate Russell posted her first message - no-one replied! That same day, the first of the local Staffordshire teachers, Richard West, posted a message. Chris Durbin provided the only reply. On the 21st Sept. Kate had a second try - no-one replied!

Chris now lives in the Netherlands, and would normally be travelling in his role inspecting schools around the world.

An article on SLN in TES provides this quote on its evolving nature:

"is a bit like a shanty town - it grows and changes with the people who do things".

References

SLN Wiki Page: http://geolinks.pbworks.com/w/page/11412793/FrontPage

The Forum link now tries to sell you Hemp Oil

https://www.tes.com/news/staffordshires-learning-net-unites-geographers-world-wide-web

Memories of SLN are welcome - I am sure there are many teachers of a certain age who remember being part of this community.

Landshapes - Channel 4

Do any readers remember this series?

It involved two former GA Presidents: Denys Brunsden and Andrew Goudie, as well as Rita Gardner and David Jones.

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.