Norwich: a fine city

Norwich has taken top spot in the Sunday Times' best place to live in the UK list for 2026.

My daughter lives there, and it's one of the places that I am considering with my wife for where to retire to. So don't tell everyone how nice it is... too late...

Here's a BBC article suggesting seven reasons why it's such a good place to live.

Here's a Radio Norfolk clip on BBC Sounds.

One for our Y7 unit explaining what makes places feel like home.... 

Will Fry on The Fens

Will Fry's Changing Places Substack had a recent post on The Fens: the location for King's Ely. It explored the way that places are represented in order to justify colonising or changing them.

e.g.

William Camden’s Britannia (the Lonely Planet guide of its day), written in 1586, depicted the Fen-dwellers as “a kind of people according to the nature of the place where they dwell: rude, uncivil and envious to all others”. This is an early example of the idea that the nature and character of a place can shape the people in it.

It refers to James Boyce's excellent book 'Imperial Mud' which looks at the landscape of the Fens.

Sense of Place in the Fens

I came across this project via a potato farmer account - as you do.

Place, Community and Connection in the Fens.

It's an Open University research project which has been interviewing people living in the Fens.

Dr. Dan Taylor is leading the research.

To get a deeper understanding of place, infrastructure and community here, we’d like to talk with as many people living in Wisbech, Boston and Peterborough as we can. We want to hear from you the experts about what the strengths and challenges are of where you live. We believe that the rest of the UK can come and learn about the good things happening here as well as the policy solutions we might need to adapt to a changing world.

Imagine you were taking the Prime Minister on a walk around where you live. What makes this place a good place to live? What challenges do you encounter day to day? What can we do about them, together? What can government, local and national, do to help? What power would you like to have in your life, and in your communities, to make things better?

We’re planning to produce a report and short film at the end of 2024 and we’d love your input.

I look forward to seeing the outcome.

NIMBYism and geographies of our home

 

Thanks to Alasdair Monteith for a link to a new resource from the FT's Education support: FT for Schools.

It has an excellent illustration as well by Darrel Rees.

Geography class: Inside the mind of a Nimby https://t.co/Ipfbm3CokH

— FT for Schools (@ft4s) July 8, 2024

It's written by Julian Baggini, who wrote a book which was one of the key inspirations for my EverydayGeographies conference theme with his exploration of life in the "most average postcode" in the UK: S66 where I grew up. 

This would be good for those studying the 'A' level Changing Places topic.

Also good on indigenous connections with landscapes such as rivers in New Zealand and the importance of a sense of place and belonging. I can see myself returning to this one for a number of different topics.

Also (re) introduced me to the late Roger Scruton's idea of oikophilia

Perhaps the most interesting element of Scruton’s brand of conservatism was his emphasis on the love of home, what he called “oikophilia.” Oikos, from which we take our word economy, means the household and names the order and guidance of a home. It is the private world of a family, but by extension also of a village, a people, or an ethnicity. In Scruton’s use, oikophilia is a principle of value for the small, the local, and the private that stands against universalism.

Source: https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/oikophilia-2020-01-29

Fenlandia

This project came my way via Facebook.

Fenlandia is a visionary interdisciplinary initiative, committed to celebrating, preserving, and interpreting the rich cultural and environmental heritage of the Fenland basin in the United Kingdom’s East Anglia region.

This initiative integrates diverse artistic platforms – including visual arts, music and heritage projects – in both conventional and unexpected locations. Unlike district-specific initiatives, Fenlandia seeks to draw upon the entire Fenland basin, representing its rich heritage and ecological significance in a holistic and all-encompassing manner.

Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Hunstanton Fieldtrip

Off to Hunstanton a couple of weeks ago for a fieldtrip. 

The booklet has been tweaked again and the students enjoyed the experience of visiting this seaside resort, which has been welcoming visitors since Victorian times.

Thanks to colleagues Helen and Kathryn for their work on the day.

Hunstanton aerial image - very hot Sunday 25th June #Hunstanton #aerial #image #Norfolk #coast #aerialphotography pic.twitter.com/s97kVa0QFx

— John Fielding Aerial Images (@johnfielding001) June 26, 2023

Image: Mrs. M

Our Place in Space

I've been following the latest installation by Oliver Jeffers. It allows people to find out their Place in Space: to put Earth into its context.

"The only place where... stories are told."

Astronauts have the 'overview effect' when they look down on the planet and Oliver wanted to show the scale of the Solar System.

Oliver has created a walk way which runs through the city of Derry and is shortly heading for Cambridge.

See more details here. 

If you can’t get to Belfast or Cambridge this summer, there is a free app which allows you to follow the walk virtually. Download it from this link.

One of the aims of the walk is to consider scale – an important idea in geography too. 

 There are also teaching resources to download exploring some of the ideas, which may be of interest even if you don’t follow the trail. Let us know if you take part with your class, or perhaps your family.

The trail is about humanity's place in the solar system.

It's going to Cambridge after Belfast. The route will take it through Cambridge.

What's done is done, what's yet to be is clearly yet to be. In other words, sandwiched as we are between the "everything" that is behind us and the "zero" beyond us, ours is an ephemeral existence in which there is neither coincidence nor possibility.”

Haruki Murakami

There's a lovely free illustrated app by Oliver Jeffers as well, where you can take a virtual route if you can't get to the location where the walk is installed.

Listen to Oliver taking a walk with Clare Balding on her programme 'Ramblings'.

GeoGuessr

I've just sorted a PRO subscription to the GeoGuessr site for the department. Several students requested it a while back.

I used to play this when it first came out in 2013. It was developed by Anton Wallén, and was originally free, but has moved to a subscription based model and now has a thriving community and a whole range of boards and challenges, including trying to identify countries in a streak as well as a daily challenge.

There is also the option to create your own map using the Map Maker tool.

There are lots of sites giving tips on how to identify countries from a range of clues.

It also makes use of Google Street View, which doesn't cover the whole world of course. A map of the coverage is here.

Interestingly, the game gained a lot of additional popularity during lockdown when people started playing it as a way of 'travelling the world'.

This article looks at the value of playing the game, particularly during lockdown.

There are some very sophisticated groups out there such as GeoTips, who have their own Discord server for keeping track of activity and World Record attempts.

There are also Twitch streamers who play the game live, perhaps in Battle Royale mode, where you compete against other players to identify locations the soonest.

Any other GeoGuessr tips and ideas welcome.

Cultural Geography of the Fens

Thanks to Steve Brace of the RGS-IBG for letting me know about this new addition to the Caught by the River website.

It's a short film which has been made by Rowan Jaines as part of her work on the Cultural Geography of the Fens. It focuses on the Cambridgeshire Fens, through which I travel on a normal work day and have done for the last eight years.

This video essay is part of a four-year research project exploring the cultural geography of the Fen region in the East of England. 

The film is made up of a bricolage of clips of the Fen region, scavenged from the internet and put together in a piecemeal fashion so that the images on screen both intensify and disrupt the linear arc of the narration. 

This is a film that aims to show the Fens as haunted by both the past and those things that have not yet come to be.

Fens Biosphere Project

 

I am currently putting together an updated unit on the Fenland landscape.

Elements of this will be used in 2021.

This image here is of the 'famous' leaning tree in Ely which I've photographed many times over the years.

The Fens Biosphere project has received funding to support its work and has a new website. It aims to have the Fens declared as a biosphere.

A Biosphere is a special status awarded by UNESCO to a unique and valuable landscape. Biospheres connect people, economies and nature to create a secure future we can all look forward to. They are about developing new ways of living, exploring new ideas and working together.

The key characteristics of the area are suggested below:

The geographical boundaries of the Fens Biosphere have been built around the following key aspects of this landscape:

The peat soils, the ‘black gold’ of the Fens. Within the proposed boundary the dominant soil type is peat, intermixed with silt soils. Peat has become a scarce resource due to ongoing peat loss through shrinkage and fen blows caused largely by intense drainage and farming regimes; there is an urgent need to preserve remaining peat soils.

An important food-producing area dominated by Grade 1 and grade 2 soils; farming and food production are at the beating heart of the Fens. There is a need to ensure farming and the food sector remains vital to the local economy.

Extensive ditch and waterways network: Ditches, the ‘upside-down hedgerows’ of the Fens are renowned for their high biodiversity value, the area being a stronghold for many rare species such as spined loach and water voles.

Internationally important lowland wetland habitats (core areas on map), including Nene Washes, Ouse Washes, Wicken Fen and Holme Fen.

Multiple wetland vision projects, such as the Wildlife Trust’s Great Fen Vision, the National Trust’s Wicken Fen Vision and the expanding RSPB Ouse Fen reedbeds.

Several partnership-led initiatives for landscape-scale conservation in the arable landscape, including the Ely Nature-Friendly Farming Zone and Thorney Nature-Friendly Farming Zone.

Big urban populations acting as ‘gateways’ to the more rural Fens landscape: Cambridge; Peterborough; Wisbech

Historic market towns / small cities in the heart of the area: Ely; March; Chatteris; Whittlesey and Fen Edge towns that will feature in the transition zone such as St Ives, Soham, Ramsey and Downham Market. 

Cutting-edge R&D, digital industries and innovative high-tech and agri-tech businesses – some of which also operate in the Fens – in Cambridge, the internationally recognised centre of academic research, and the Cambridge – Peterborough enterprise zone. 

The number of academic and businesses dealing with sustainability, climate change and agri-tech developments is vast and still growing.

Ely - 1943

An excellent British Pathe film from 1943
Some familiar locations which look just the same now in and around the school.
We will be exploring ideas of place and changing place in the new academic year when we are able to get back into the classroom.

Thought for the Day

"I think you can travel less and travel better.

If we have to be confined to travelling in the UK, it's not a bad place to travel - there are all sorts of wonderful places - and different landscapes and different sorts of atmospheres - Northern Scotland, Cornwall.

Go to places and learn more about them, enjoy them more….

Look more carefully

Look more thoroughly

Learn to enjoy your own country.”

Michael Palin, 3rd May 2020

IB DP Webinars

During this term of lock down, Richard Allaway and Matt Podbury have been doing a double act to support the global IB DP community.
Think 'Reeves and Mortimer' rather than "Laurel and Hardy'....

Richard's site: Geography all the Way has a fantastic range of materials for teaching a whole range of age groups. Most areas of the site, which has built up over many years, remains free, and the IB area is one of the few areas that is subscription based, but well worth the small amount to gain access - think how much money you're saving by not using glue sticks, photocopier etc.

Similarly Matt Podbury has a wonderful site: GeographyPods which is largely free, but has a relatively new IB area which is behind a paywall to help support the development of further new materials for the wider teaching community.

Both sites are well worth paying the small subscription fee from departmental budgets.

You can watch a repeat of each webinar on this link here. 
You will also see that there are links to the earlier webinars and associated references.

It was good to see so many people joining in. I managed to speak to colleagues from France, Switzerland, Guernsey, UK, Brazil, Poland, Canada, Qatar, North Cyprus, Hong Kong, Singapore, Netherlands, Philippines, Cambodia, Norway, Switzerland, Ghana, India, Poland and Kazakhastan.

For ease, here's the first run through of the slide deck, which I think was the best one.
I didn't realise I'd be seen alongside the slides on the recording so excuse any gurning...



Feedback welcome.

The Slides themselves can be viewed here.

Full disclosure: as I contributed resources / ideas to both sites, Rich and Matt have kindly given me a free subscription to access their sites, which has allowed me to see their contents and comment on their usefulness for IB colleagues.

Six Inches to the Fenland Mile

The Places of Poetry website has launched today.
I mentioned it earlier in the year when I first heard about it.
It is collecting poems which are written about places, which can then be pinned to an interactive map. Click the menu icon top right on the home page for all the details and to add your own poem.

Read about the project on the OS blog here. There is a link with the Ordnance Survey.

The project has been developed by Paul Farley and Professor Andrew McRae, who says:

“Poetry has been used across the centuries to reflect on places and their histories. We’re using modern technology to reinvigorate this model, and we hope that as many people as possible get involved. We are excited to see where people pin their poems, and what they say about the places that matter to them.”

I went on this morning and added my own poem to the map.
You can view and read it here, just outside of the city of Ely.
My poem also has a link to the Ordnance Survey, as it describes the survey of the Fens that was done in 1916, and imagines the challenges facing the surveyors of capturing this fluid and flat landscape with its shifting rivers and streams, only to find that an old Fenland boy spots a mistake. Fast-forward 100 years, and students on a geography fieldtrip, using their smartphones, notice a missing stream on their digital maps...



Why not write / add your own poem to the map to contribute.
The map is open for contributions until October, and I look forward to seeing more poems appearing over the next few months.

Here's the poem for those who might like to read it and haven't already...

Six Inches to the Fenland Mile by GeoBlogs on Scribd

Cathedral walk

A distinctive element of Ely's built landscape is the cathedral, the 'Ship of the Fens'. Here's an image from our weekly walk to the cathedral which has been edited with the PRISMA app.
Can you reimagine a familiar place?

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

Arcadia at Glastonbury

Hunstanton South Beach regeneration

Wayne Hemingway has been involved in a number of regeneration projects over the years, including a flat block in King's Lynn. He has now been asked to get involved in the South Beach area of Hunstanton: an area I know well.
A consultation questionnaire is currently live on the Hemingway Design website (where you can see other projects they are, or have been, involved in)

We have also visited this area each year with Year 7s, to explore what makes Hunstanton a special place.
The South beach is the area south from the Green. Year 7s will be familiar with this area.

Hunstanton is a unique place with a distinctive character and rich Victorian heritage. The aim of the redevelopment is to enhance the seaside resort by re-enlivening its leisure and tourist attractions and restore its once-strong personality. This could be a driver of really positive change for the town, its economy, culture and profile and for us do this we would like your help.



Image copyright: https://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk/hunstanton-south-beach/  

An online portal is open for the next couple of weeks.

Worth a look from those planning their NEA or exploring coastal change.

Ely from the air...

Young Geographer of the Year Competition

Students have had some time to choose their favourite place after short-listing, now it's time to start some research. Here's a presentation to help you...

YGOTY Part 2 from GeoBlogs

UK County Word Cloud project

I've made quite a few word clouds of places over the years... they are a nice way to capture the thoughts of a group of people on a place, or something else... There are plenty of ways of making them, including WordFoto (one of my favourites), Word Art, Wordle (of course) and Tagxedo... (and that's just a few from many...)
Earlier today, I made a word cloud of Cornwall to go along with a writing project which I had started to develop. This was made with WordArt (formerly known as Tagul) and was based on the thoughts of around 40 people on Facebook and Twitter who shared about 250 words describing the county.

It occurred to me that it would be good to construct the UK (each of the counties) and put them all together to make a huge word cloud construction of the UK. At first, I thought I might just work my way around the country, starting with Cornwall and moving onto Devon. I started this process, and have some words in hand for Devon already.
I realised this would take me quite a long time to do (although it would be quite good to think about each county in turn...)
Instead, I worked out a method using a Google Form which would allow for anyone to choose any particular county. The responses to the form are then placed into a spreadsheet, which can then be filtered, and organised appropriately, and this will help to construct the set of word clouds in due course, which will then be added onto a county outline shape.

This is also going to be helpful to provide some guidance for those who might be putting together an entry for this year's Young Geographer of the Year competition by providing ideas for the physical, human and cultural geography of the UK's counties...

I will let this form run for a few months - I won't have time to construct the word clouds until the summer holidays, so will leave it for about 8 weeks and keep reminding you that it's around.
Thanks also to those who have already retweeted and shared the form.
You can enter your ideas into the form below, or go to the form separately here.