Day 1 - Windermere
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Lake Windermere
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After an extremely long coach journey, which seemed to take an age, we arrived in the Lake District. The focus of day one was to look at tourism so we stopped at the popular tourist destination of Bowness in Windermere to carry out surveys on the public and take in the area, seeing how it provided for the tourist industry. It was a lovely town that sat on the edge of Lake Windamere, with frequent boat trips which focused on the wildlife and outstanding natural beauty of the landscape. In addition there was a high street with a mixture of chain and one-off local shops providing the needs of both residents and tourists like myself. There was a certain charm about the place and with previous snowfall still being on the ground, it was a lovely place to be.
In my group, we approached a mixture of people and asked several questions to determine how far they had travelled to the town, what they believed to be the strengths and weaknesses and why they had visited. In addition, we carried out a car number plate survey which showed the majority of visitors to have come from close proximity in the North-West of England, being aware that this method is not fully reliable due to the re-selling of cars. Our findings were that Bowness is typical of any British tourist honey pot site; there are peak seasons, which are heavily influenced by the weather, and there are sufficient services to provide enjoyment. The public said the main attraction to them personally was walking, however there are frequent boat trips, shops, and exhibitions such as that of Beatrix Potter who I must say seemed like a local iconic figure. However, despite me saying that Bowness fits the typical characteristics of a honey pot site, when compared with Blackpool which is also in the North-West of England, the two locations are quite different but follow the same story. If wanting to analyse this town any further, it could be placed on the Butler Model.
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Day Two - The River Eea
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The upper course of River Eea
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Our first full day was to be spent taking various measurements at four sites along the River Eea. Having studied rivers at both GCSE and AS level I was keen to prove that certain values changed downstream, which is demonstrated well by the Bradshaw Model and the Schumm Model. Measurements included the wetted perimeter, velocity, width, gradient that were amongst other features which were to change as the river travelled from its source to the mouth. In order to measure the velocity of the water, two methods were used. Firstly, a dog biscuit was put onto the river surface and was allowed to travel a set distance with the time being recorded. The equation 'velocity = displacement/time' was then used to calculate the rate at which the water was flowing. The second method was using a propeller which was rotated down a grooved spiral due to the force of the water and therefore the higher the velocity, the shorter time the propeller took to reach its limit. Of those two methods, the latter is more reliable and accurate as the dog biscuit became trapped and slowed by rocks. It was refreshing to be able to see characteristics and features with my own eyes that had previously been explained to me or read from a textbook and in the evening when we processed our data and presented it, I found myself linking ideas and understanding the topic to a new level.
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Day 3 - Sandscale Haws
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Sandscale Haws
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I have to say this was my least favourite day of the trip, possibly because of the repetitiveness of taking measurements or the British weather! Sandscale Haws is owned and managed by the National Trust and so due to human influence could be called a plagioclimax, however there is a rich biodiversity with 15% of the British Natterjack toad population being in this area. It was a similar goal to the previous day: gain data to analyse which will show how sand dunes develop as you move inland from the sea. Our hypothesis was 'Abiotic factors do not vary along the sand dune succession and Sandscale Haws does not fit the idealised psammosere model'. Coastal environments and sand dunes are a topic I have not covered at school, however I find it to be a very interesting topic and feel I was so oblivious before to think of sand dunes as mere 'piles of sand'. The measurements taken were a range of biotic factors, such as the percentage coverage of marram grass, and abiotic factors such as wind speed and soil pH levels. The aim was to see how these varied inland from the strand line to the climatic climax, which after a few hours was achieved. The landscape was beautiful and I was surprised to learn that sand dunes only cover 0.1% of the country, with the only other sand dunes I have ever seen being in Le Touquet which, coincidentally, was also on a school trip. If I were to investigate further, I could compare to the Studland sand dunes in Dorset to see if Sandscale Haws was unique in being a prograding landscape.
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Day Four - Coniston Copper Mine Valley
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The view from the top of the valley
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A tarn in one of the various corries
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This was by far my favourite day, as well as being the most strenuous. It was a steep assent all of the way but was made fun by snowdrifts, looking at sheep and enjoying the sunshine. We stopped regularly to look at features of glaciation which I previously had no concept of size and significance. I was struck most by the prominence of hanging valleys, which cut through the land and led into wide valleys once consumed by ice. I was amazed by just how big glaciers were and their presence in the landscape was obvious by the U-shaped valleys left behind all these years later. Though I enjoyed the walk, it was a relief to reach the tarn which was a very peaceful area although I would have liked to have known just how deep it was.
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And that was my trip. This is just a few moments and pictures which I enjoyed the most from an educational and fun experience.
Question: If another glaciation period were to occur, do you think mankind would survive and what adaptations to life would be most crucial?
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