Remembering Peter Haggett

In the Summer 2025 issue of GA Magazine.

Dudley Stamp and his influence

Dudley Stamp was the President of the GA in 1950, 75 years ago this year.

I posted previously about a display at the RGS of one of the 24 plaster relief models that was produced to be used for photographic plates in his 1951 book 'The Earth's Crust".

You can also watch a talk that George gave on the link here. Part of the 'Be Inspired' series. 

This post is a review of the talk linked to above, which is well worth watching.

• Admitted to KCL at the age of 15
• Active service with Royal Engineers during the War
• Masters in Geology at the time
• University of Rangoon

Geological advisor to oil company, and worked with Arthur Holmes in Burma - oil company later folded.

Had a knack for breaking down concepts and making them clear.

Worked with Longman for years, to produce books such as 'The World'.

Left to become Professor at LSE - not an academic researcher as such

Champion of geographer.

Prolific output "if you really believe in your own work, publish and be damned"

Land Utilisation Survey - first set out at GA Conference in 1929 (E. Field in Northamptonshire had done a smaller project)

Interest in land use was prompted by the survey in 1931. Led to him travelling all over the country. Hoped to produce a series of 3D models from photographic slides.

Gave many lectures and spoke at debates and appeared in the media.

Appeared on Desert Island Disks.

Saw incrasing geographical awareness as being of national importance.

Popularised geography - also through the 'New Naturalist' series. The final contribution was published posthumously.

Served as President of RGS from 1963-66 (the former being the year of my birth) and his portrait hangs in the East Staircase.

Models are in the RGS collections - made by Thomas Bayley. The talk goes back to their origins, some examples - many of which are in storage due to their fragility and the development of modelling itself.

Well worth a listen...

Dudley Stamp's 3D models

I was down at the Royal Geographical Society earlier in the week, and they had a display of Dudley Stamp related items including one of his plaster relief models. I'd seen these in storage when I had a tour of the Society's HQ about 6 months ago, and it was good to see some of them now out in one of the display cases near the Map Room. They are the best collection still existing.

The book with an image of the model.

An oblique view of the model. Thomas Bayley made this, and 23 others for use in photographic plates in Dudley Stamp's 1951 book 'The Earth's Crust'.

Vertical image of the model of the Peruvian landscape.

The models formed the basis of PhD research by George Tobin which is described here.

You can also watch a talk that George gave on the link here. Part of the 'Be Inspired' series.

More on this in a separate post...

Images: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license on Flickr.

The Stamp Archive

Sussex University holds the Laurence Dudley Stamp archive.

This holds 53 boxes of papers linked to Laurence Dudley Stamp.

I'm interested in the unpublished autobiography that is in one of the boxes.

I've renewed my British Library readers card, so hoping I can start to do a little more relevant research as my time becomes less tied to the school academic year.

The RGS offers a Dudley Stamp Memorial Award.

A nice description of him here:

His lively and genial personality, reinforced by a supreme breadth of knowledge about the world and those who wrote about it, by a formidable energy and capacity for work, zest for travel and an accurate memory, was indeed widely appreciated. 

His accomplishment in developing studies of land utilization, starting from the great survey of Britain that he initiated in the depths of the 1931 depression, was justly honoured. He was one of the first members to join this Society, and while his travels in his later years more commonly took him to the great cities of the world rather than the silent ice, he retained his sympathy with the aims of a new and developing branch of the earth sciences.

GA Conference 2025

A few things from the GA Conference 2025.

Rewatch the GAConf25 Keynote lectures

Public lecture on The Whispers of Rock: Stories from the Earth by Dr Anjana Khatwa Presidential Lecture on Connected Geographies by Hina Robinson, GA President 2024-25 Keynote lecture on Nairobi National Park – a case study of connected geographies by Paras Chandaria Keynote lecture on Meaning Making in the Primary Geography Curriculum by Rebecca Leek

If you attended the conference, visit the official Flickr album to see if you were captured by the official photographer.

Free spiralised fieldwork resources from the GA

There is always a need for fieldwork resources and ideas.

The GA and FSC have teamed up to produce some and share them freely.

The GA fieldwork survey told us that:

• teachers want new ideas for carrying out fieldwork within their school grounds and local area
• they want to embed these ideas within their current curricula
• they want resources that non-specialists can pick up and deliver
• they want resources that will build progression and don’t just repeat the same techniques but in a different context

The sets of spiralised fieldwork resources were created to support teachers by creating a starting point for fieldwork that can be done in the school grounds and local area. They can be embedded in schemes of work, but also can provide suggestions for activities during transition days or simply when the sun is shining and you want to get outside!

There are four sets to get you started; two themes based on water and trees and woodlands and two techniques, Environmental Quality Assessment and questioning techniques. However, we will be adding more over the coming months.

Jon Cannell, GA Primary Curriculum Lead said:

‘The GA and FSC are extremely excited to release a brand-new collection of FREE resources to support the integration and progression of fieldwork through the geography curriculum. Each set of resources provides easy to use activities connected to key themes from across the geography curriculum as well as introducing geographical ways of thinking and understanding.’

GA Conference 2025 - a flying visit

I was only due to be at the GA Conference for one day, which meant an early start for the drive over to Oxford from Norfolk. It's a real cross-country faff. Luckily I'd made some arrangements for parking which was easy enough to reach and close to the main social event of the trip.

I was there for the Long Standing members meal. This is an annual lunch which is paid for by a previous member which allows those who are going along to the conference to meet up with former Presidents of the Association and network.

Here's a picture taken at the restaurant where the meal was held. The food was delicious. There are quite a few former Presidents in the image. How many can you name?

After that, it was a taxi up to Oxford Brookes University: the conference venue.

I didn't plan to attend any sessions other than one... and I arrived too late for that one, but managed to speak to David Lambert who was presenting it.

What I really wanted to do was spend the four hours-ish I had there to catch up with as many people as possible. I managed to catch up with lots of former GA colleagues and the team that helped me when I was President, and current RGS colleagues, Primary legends such as Sharon Witt, Anthony Barlow, Stephen Scoffham and Steve Rawlinson and many more besides. Particularly nice to chat to John Wilkinson and David Balderstone, Andrew Lee and Hermione Miao. 

I also met up with Tom Collins from the Environment Agency who I worked with on a forthcoming project for over a year but had never met in person, and folks from various publishers and lovely to see Cath Rule from Rayburn Tours as well.

There were at least 20 other people I chatted to, you know who you are - they include teachers, publishers and other geographers :)

After that, I got the bus back into the centre, and got off outside Christ Church College, where the GA began in 1893, and then to the Rose and Crown where I had a drink and chat with Phil from Wychwood School, who had kindly provided the parking place for me. Good to catch up and have a drink before the return journey which was going well until I found that the A47 was closed overnight... ideal...

Next year is Sheffield. I look forward to seeing what the venue is along with theme etc.

A few things from the tweets:

Some videos on GIS.

And also a tree carbon calculator.

This is my tree Carbon calculator that I shared at my talk. #GAConf25 🌳
Have a go! Good for in the field crunching. https://t.co/3KmZi3jm3D pic.twitter.com/Y1kDvk6xKM

— TeachGeogs 🌍 (@TeachGeogs) April 17, 2025

A reminder of Teal Tool.

And this session looked really good... 

#ConnectedGeographies epitomised by a fascinating live link up with Alex of @detroitography from the USA-Canada border in @alicelouisegrif's session 'Moving beyond the Drosscape: insider perspectives on Detroit' @The_GA #GAConf25
e.g. hand model of #HubAndSpoke urban morphology pic.twitter.com/ozWlvBW78L

— BC (@mildthing99) April 17, 2025

Check out Detroitography.

Reminds me of Rebecca Solnit's three American atlas projects, which I have copies of.

GA Strategy 2025-2030 consultation open

While serving on the GA Governing Body I was involved in lengthy discussions as we developed the 2020-2025 Strategy and the language around supporting educators and developing the work of the Association.

The discussions for the next five year strategy are underway, and there's a chance for you to be involved.

The @The_GA launched a consultation our developing 2025-30 strategy at #GAConf25. & everyone is invited to contribute on the link below. We've already had loads of feedback & welcome your comments too.

More info & how to respond ⬇️https://t.co/Sw0TqZuDBf...

— Steve Brace (@SteveBraceGeog) April 19, 2025

You have until the 16th of May at 4pm to answer the questions.

Here are the questions:

 

Presidential 'shift'

The last few years has seen a significant and overdue shift towards teacher Presidents. I was the first for a while in 2021-22 but since then, we have now seen the beginning of four female state school Presidents in a row...

@geography_DAF the immediate past president @GeogMum the current vice president and next years president @RobboGeog the current president
And me, the incoming vice president in September.

4️⃣female classroom teachers in a row.
4️⃣mums.

Making the mountain taller.#GAConf25 pic.twitter.com/JIplqULxB0

— Fiona Sheriff 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧🌍 (@fiona_616) April 18, 2025

Elected Trustee roles - deadline 9th May

When I was going through the GA Presidential cycle I served as a Trustee for 4 years. Prior to that I had spent fourteen years serving on the Secondary Phase Committee.

Both of these are options if you want to get more involved in the running of the Association.

The Geographical Association has a chance for you to get involved as a GA Trustee - an elected trustee.

The current Governing Body is here.

The deadline is in early May.

GA Cambridge Branch GeogMeet 2025

This June, the GA Branch is running another GeogMeet.

This will be the seventh Geog-Meet; held online in June this year. 

Deadlines for submission proposals are on Friday 28th March. 

Successful submission proposals will be asked to produce their presentations by the end of May.

 The evening event will be held in June. If you are new to the Geog-Meet process and would like some guidance in putting forwards your students for the first time, please get in touch with James Riley (jriley@perse.co.uk) who would be happy to assist.

50 years of Teaching Geography journal

I've previously blogged about the origins of Teaching Geography journal under its first editor Patrick Bailey.

The current editor: Richard Bustin reflects on the 50th anniversary of the journal and how it has changed in the most recent Spring 2025 issue.

It includes a nice summary of the development of the journal by former GA President Richard Daugherty.

We are all Gravesian

 Earlier this week was Norman Graves' 100th birthday, as mentioned in a previous post.

John Morgan has written a piece on the enduring importance of his work for those involved in curriculum design and teacher education for the GERECO blog. This blog has infrequent posts, but they are always worth reading.

GEReCo is the Geography Education Research Collective / UK Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union

Members are listed here. Some very well known names there, including former GA Presidents.

Primary Geography Journal - Spring 2025

The theme for this issue, edited by Ben Ballin, is the Geography of Togetherness. 

I am very pleased to have an article in this issue on this theme. 

Thanks to Ben for asking me to contribute some time ago. 

Subscribers can now download the digital issue and print copies will be arriving shortly. There are some other excellent pieces in this issue too as always, including a lovely contribution by Sharon Witt and Helen Clarke and also a personal piece from Steve Rawlinson on the loss of the Sycamore Gap tree.

In my article I talk about rural and urban ex/inclusion of certain groups and offer some suggestions of projects that might be of interest to explore this topic with pupils.

RGS / GA Festival of Geography

Do you like festivals? Course you do...

Like geography? Of course - love it!

How about a Festival of Geography! Yes please!

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 (Chloë 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)
• 16.15 - Close

Full details and a booking link can be found on this link.

I hope to see many of you down at the 'Home of Geography' for this special event...

It's really good to have a joint event again. 

I was part of the Action Plan for Geography team - at a time when we used to work more closely together.