On the chilly morning of Monday 19th January, the Year 12 Geographers set out on a field trip to Slapton, South Devon, to investigate crowded coasts and the rebranding of coastal towns in preparation for their upcoming AS examination. After a scenic drive down winding lanes, we finally arrived at the Slapton Field Study Centre, where we would be spending the next couple of days.
Upon arrival we were introduced to our guide, Hannah, and shown around the accommodation before returning to the classroom to begin the day’s work. The first day was spent at various locations along the coast of Slapton bay looking at sea defences. We began at ‘Start Point’, at the Southern end of the bay, from where we were able to see all the coastal settlements we would be visiting that day. We were told the weather in that area normally consisted of only wind and rain, so we were very fortunate that the sun shone with clear skies, and only a very gentle sea breeze, allowing us a stunning view of the bay and the deep blue sea beyond. When travelling along the bay, we saw and learnt about the defences in place to prevent the destruction and erosion of the houses in the area such as sea walls with rock armour, rip rap and gabions. We were able to see the differences between the areas that used these defences and those that didn’t through measuring the sediment on the beach. When we visited Torcross, a small town in the middle of the bay, we were able to see the destruction caused by the storms of February 2014; half of the bays in the car park had collapsed, windows were boarded up and the sea defence had broken in some areas. When we returned to the centre we had a short lesson then began to relax for the evening with a game of ping pong, retiring early in preparation for the following day.
Day two was spent in Plymouth looking at city rebranding. Throughout the day we focused on the questions; Why did Plymouth need to rebrand?; how did it rebrand itself?; how successful was it? We visited several areas that made the day very diverse, and while we were there we interviewed people to find out their opinions which was invaluable to our research. We were also able to look at old pictures to see for ourselves how Plymouth has changed over the years. Unfortunately, we were not quite so lucky with the weather on this day and suffered regular showers.
On the final day we departed from the centre in the morning and first visited Riverford Farm Shop; a small farm shop just off the main road selling organic, local and fair trade goods. The aim of the farm shop is to encourage people to buy the local produce, and we were astonished at how successful it was. We learnt that they started by providing ‘veg boxes’ for the local area and this has now expanded to a national scale, creating a multimillion pound business. We then moved on to Torquay, where we looked at how tourism had affected the area. We assessed various aspects including the use of the local premises and looking at historical maps to see how the uses have changed over time and if they have become more tourist related. We then conducted some final interviews to find out which areas residents thought had changed the most. That afternoon, we said goodbye to Hannah and headed back to Bristol, glad to have had this opportunity.
Ms Morgan
