A busy week for 64 of our Lower Sixth, Geography students, who had a great time during their Fieldwork residential to Morecambe and South Cumbria, based at the Castle Head Field Studies Centre at Grange-Over-Sands.

Over a period of 6 days, two groups of Geography students developed a range of field data collection skills and structured their own Geographical investigations, as part of their preparation for their ‘Independent Investigation’ A-Level coursework.

Group 1 started their trip by measuring contrasting beach profiles, changes in sediment and an examination of the impacts of coastal processes.

In addition, they enjoyed a windy day at Morecambe Kite Festival before they prepared to investigate regeneration further in Morecambe at the ‘Tern Project’ on the Stone Jetty, the Waterfront and the immediate urban area of Morecambe.

After a couple of days hard work in Morecambe, the fieldwork moved to South Cumbria, to investigate Ecological Succession on sand dunes at Sandscale Haws National Nature Reserve, measuring changes in sand dune gradient, micro-climate and the changing structure of vegetation communities.

Group 2 arrived in Morecambe and started their trip by using levelling equipment to measure the changes in beach gradient, and investigating the links to coastal processes and sediment particle size, in addition to the environmental impacts of contrasting sea defenses.

On the second day, the weather was not so kind, but it did not dampen motivation and students successfully completed are range of questionnaires and surveys to investigate the relative success of regeneration strategies in Morecambe, between the Westend and Central Waterfront.

After drying out overnight, the final day brought another race against the weather, investigating plant communities on the sand dunes at Sandscale Haws NNR  by the time the heavy rain came in off the Duddon Estuary, our Geographers had complete transects up to 150m in distance, a stunning achievement!

All students did an outstanding job, working in unseasonably wet and windy conditions. Mission completed, kick-starting our preparation for the ‘Independent Investigation’ coursework, with the support of the team from Castle Head Field Studies Centre and under the watchful eye of ‘Chester’, our Geography Department mascot! 

What a fantastic trip! Well done #TeamGeog!