Last Thursday, Lower Sixth geographers visited rural Shropshire to undertake fieldwork as part of their A level studies. They investigated the branding of Ludlow, a small market town, as a centre of national gastronomical importance, studying the links between this and changes to agriculture in the surrounding countryside. Working collaboratively, the girls assessed the extent to which promoting Ludlow solely as a ‘food town’ was too narrow a theme for economic and social development. The visit revealed, in fact, significant social inequality in a town often perceived as uniformly affluent and idyllic, and that the town’s ‘foodie’ reputation is perhaps beginning to wane. The quality of data collected through questionnaires, residential surveys and mapping exercises, as well as information gained through qualitative fieldwork methods, should see the girls very well prepared for both topic follow up work and the independent investigation component of their A level. It was fascinating also to see evidence of the recent flood events that have so blighted parts of Shropshire and other parts of the West Midlands.
The great Easter Debate: a sweet, chaotic showdown
If you were expecting a serious, well-structured debate at this year’s Easter debate, you were in for a surprise. What unfolded was less of a formal argument and more of a theatrical masterpiece – complete with flying chocolate, wild accusations and a speaker who somehow turned it into a human rights campaign for sugar.
