Keeping Cheddar Gorgeous ?

“This is the equivalent to trying to build a cable car in front of Buckingham Palace. Cheddar Gorge is of international importance. There are better ways of driving business without destroying the very asset people come to see. It is far better to retain the uniqueness of the place.”

Helen Bonser-Wilton, assistant director of operations at the National Trust.

Year 7 explored the plans to build a cable car in Cheddar Gorge.

Over half term, this has come into the news once again (it looks like we were ahead of the game here), and here are a few links that you could follow to bring the story up to date.
We may take a look at this in the next week or so, although we have other things that we have to do before we move into the exam week, which will be on us before we know it.

First, there's a clip from West Country News.... (may only work for a limited time)
A few different opinions expressed here...

Also an article from the Daily Mail, which shows some mocked up images of how the cable car will look, and describes the plans.

Also an article in the Independent

Followed by two local papers:

- the Cheddar Valley Gazette
- the Weston Mercury

The National Trust and the CPRE are both against the planned development in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
CPRE have produced a report on what they call 'England's Threatened Landscapes'
Click HERE to download a report and also map and other materials relating to this report.
Cheddar Gorge is included on the map of threatened landscapes...

Comments

Making Space for Sand

Making Space for Sand is a project I was made aware of recently. The ‘Building Community Resilience on a Dynamic Coastline by Making Space for Sand’ project (also known as Making Space for Sand or MS4S) is one of 25 national projects funded by DEFRA as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCRIP). The programme will drive innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate. The project website has an excellent section outlining the formation of Sand Dunes, particularly within the located context of Cornwall. Sand Dunes are an important part of the coastal defences in the locations where they are found. I am particularly familiar with the dunes on the North Norfolk Coast at places like Holkham. I've previously carried out fieldwork on those dunes with both GCSE and 'A' level students, and also Atkins has provided GIS support and created some visualisations of future landscapes.

Landscape in a Box - more student examples

Thanks to Jack Marsh for sending me some examples of 'landscapes in a box '. Landscapes in a box is one of the ideas that seems to have gone down the best of the things that I've shared over the years. The basic idea is to create a landscape within a box, perhaps a burger box (but could also be a shoe box) This was featured in 'Teaching Geography' in 2009. Jack used the activity with his groups, and has sent me three excellent images of contrasting images from the students: an Antarctic scene, New York's Central Park, and Paris... Outstanding work !! If you've used Landscape in a Box, why not share your students' work too...

Landscape ideas...

Some nice ideas for exploring the rural landscape from FACE. Some from my GA colleague Paula Owens here. Go HERE to download your own copy.

"Look at it this way"

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