The Fens - some updates

 This year, we've been revisiting quite a few of the units which we've taught for a few years.

Natural England have a website which shows the different National Character Areas (NCAs)

The Fens are number 46.

Description from the site:

"....a distinctive, historic and human-influenced wetland landscape lying to the west of the Wash estuary, which formerly constituted the largest wetland area in England. The area is notable for its large-scale, flat, open landscape with extensive vistas to level horizons. The level, open topography shapes the impression of huge skies which convey a strong sense of place, tranquillity and inspiration. One per cent of the NCA falls within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty."

There's an interactive map to view, showing the outline of the Fens region.

In terms of farming:

There are over 4,000 farms in the Fens; enough wheat is grown here annually to produce a quarter of a million loaves of bread and one million tons of potatoes are grown here. In addition to traditional vegetables, exotics such as pak choi are now cultivated. Some 40 per cent of England’s bulbs and flowers are also produced in the Fens.

I also came across this excellent black and white image via Facebook as well, showing the flooded Fens as they used to be: a wild place, but one watched over by the bulk of Ely's fabulous Cathedral.

GA Conference 2025 - a flying visit

A cross-posting from my GA Presidents blog.

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.

Latest book

Editor copies of my latest book project project - my 32nd book that I've been involved with - written by Becky Kitchen of the GA arrived this week. 

They accompany the Student Book for iGCSE in the same series, and a Teacher Guide will be arriving shortly.

The book costs £12.99

Bonjour Paris!

I'm just back from the 2nd of my Easter trips: this time to Paris. 

It was a great trip, a real highlight of which was the David Hockney 25 exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. The building itself is stunning, designed by Frank Gehry and looking like the billowing sails of a galleon from the front. It's in the Bois de Boulogne, which is a Metro ride out from the centre: a lovely area. Hockney was there himself the day before we visited, which was the actual opening day of the exhibition. Room after room of Hockney over four floors.

The building of the Fondation Louis Vuitton - some Snapseed treatment which has made the reflecting pool of water at the top of a cascade a different colour in an unexpected way.

Bigger Trees Near Warter or/ou Peinture Sur Le Motif Pour Le Nouvel Age Post-Photograpique 2007, measuring 12m by 4.5m. Largest of Hockney’s paintings and made up of 50 smaller canvasses of a landscape near the East Yorkshire village of Warter.


Here's a YouTube teaser of what's on offer. 

If you get the chance... go....

Images: top - Alan Parkinson, bottom - Sally Parkinson - shared on Flickr under CC license.

Young Geographer of the Year 2025

It's that time of year again for the launch of the Young Geographer of the Year category. 

This annual competition is run by the Royal Geographical Society.

The Young Geographer of the Year is the Society’s annual competition which recognises the outstanding work of the next generation of geographers. With its age ranges spanning the primary years to A Level, the competition encourages thoughtful and creative answers to the competition’s theme which is set each year.

The Society encourages schools to run their own in-house competition and then send their top 10 entries into the international competition. The Young Geographer competition has been running for over 20 years and every year thousands of children across the world take part.
2025 competition

The theme for the Young Geographer of the Year competition 2025 is:

Understanding islands

Let’s take a closer look at the World’s islands.

It is estimated that our planet contains almost 670,000 islands, of which around 11,000 are permanently inhabited. Islands have a unique geography; their landscapes and coastlines vary massively – some are home to volcanoes; others are barely above sea level. Some are barren, deserts or rocky outcrops, others lush vegetation havens for a range of unique wildlife and plant species. There are islands seen by many as popular holiday destinations, and there are others that are inaccessible or many miles from civilisation. Every island is unique, and every island has its challenges.

The geography of islands is an interesting one. 

Some are threatened by climate change and issues such as sea level rise, and through this are embroiled in the geopolitics of the climate emergency and the mitigation strategies implemented through both international policies and local-level action. The people who live on islands face a range of socio-economic, cultural or historical challenges, from over-use of their towns and cities by tourists, to access to resources, clean water or adequate living conditions. The ‘ownership’ of some islands is contested; some are protected, others are fought over because of their geopolitical or strategic significance. In some places, islands are being created to meet the need for more space to satisfy our growing population. By exploring and understanding islands, including the island we live on, we can unlock a multitude of geographical themes and connections across people, places and environments.

The Society invites you to create a poster (Esri StoryMap or poster for KS5 entrants) to explore islands and highlight the geographical themes, challenges and solutions that connect across both human and physical geography to make islands unique. We are looking for eye catching, creative and informative posters and StoryMaps that delve into the socio-economic, cultural, political and physical aspects of a range of islands, showcasing their features and exploring how islands can be connected through the challenges that they face and the solutions they use to address those challenges. 

Your posters and StoryMaps should think about geographical themes across people, places and environments.