"Look at it this way"

"A superior way to navigate the landscape". It's 225 years since the first map produced by the Ordnance Survey. I've been privileged to be connected with the OS in a number of ways over the years. I worked on resources for Digimaps for Schools for EDINA and also MapStream and Digimap for Colleges - although they have now disappeared. I used to meet up regularly with the OS team at conferences through the early 2000s, and still meet up with Darren Bailey as he serves on the RGS Committee that I chair. I also wrote about the book ' The Map that Came to Life ' for the OS Magazine which used to be delivered to schools. This is a book that got me into maps. I've also seen this picture in real life at the Sainsbury Centre - one we used to represent our mapwork unit at King's. Hiking - James Walker Tucker (1936) I also worked as an Ordnance Survey Get Outside Champion from 2018-2021. This was great fun and allowed me to meet lots of interesting people who ...

Back in 2013, I drove along the Norfolk coast from Blakeney in the west to Happisburgh in the East - running out of time to get to Hemsby on what was a day off from teaching. It was the day after a storm surge which brought back memories of 1953 for some people and damaged Cromer Pier and beach huts further along the coast, entered homes in Blakeney and breached the sea wall. Now there is a film which explores that time, and the threats facing this stretch of coast.

Benedict Cumberbatch has explored some hopeful geographical stories for a new documentary which is now available to view on YouTube. There are some accompanying teacher resource and other materials to download if you are interested in using some sections with students.

A cross-posting from my GCSE Natural History blog. BBC's Countryfile yesterday came from the Westacre Estate. It sits in the Nar valley in West Norfolk, just a few miles from where I live. The River Nar is a chalk stream and flows within a few hundred metres of my house. On iPlayer. The estate manages 8500 acres in a large block, running up towards Gayton near King's Lynn.  A walking map is also available. The website provides details on their activity. Henry Birkbeck - used the estate for shooting and with farming and agriculture over one hundred years ago. Alex Birkbeck showed the presenters around the estate. He is the estate Manager. He took over when he was about thirty. The main house was sold off (to Anthony Gormley) in 2010. Rewilding efforts are taking place in the wet woodland areas of the estate. The drought affected this activity. There are lots of ponds on the estate (over 250) which help with water management and the biodiversity of the estate, particularly ...

I'm currently reading Nicholas Crane's new book on the history of Britain's footpaths: how they came about originally following the drowning of Doggerland , and were then refined by successive waves of change: horses, the Roman invasion etc. It's a dense and scholarly work, with plenty of points of interest and relevance to geographers exploring the connections between people and the landscape. He's taking his book on the road in a series of talks, with three confirmed so far. Here's the description for his talk at Stanford's book shop at the end of the month . He's also speaking in Exeter and Stamford. Walking is a cornerstone of British identity and the most popular form of exercise in the UK. But how much do we know about the paths that we walk? What is their history? Why do they follow the routes that they do? Are they permanent? Can we designate more of them?​ The Path More Travelled is a coast-to-coast history of footpaths from the stone age paths...

  A cross-posting from my Geography in/on Film blog. Check it out! A new film called 'Our Land' explores land ownership in the UK and the role of trespass. Free tickets are funded through the BFI Escapes initiative. Our Land dares to tread where few have trespassed before, asking the timely question of who has the right to roam in the English countryside? The UK is a wild and beautiful place, but the vast majority of it is off limits to the general public, with 92% of land and 97% of all rivers in England not legally accessible. At the same time, it is a landscape shaped by centuries of inheritance and tradition, with land held and cared for by families across multiple generations. Our Land takes us to the heart of the ‘Right to Roam’ movement as it embarks on a provocative trail of mass trespass, campaigning and education, while also exploring landowners’ concerns around environmental protection and the danger such widespread access could pose to a landscape already  under th...