GCSE Geography Trip - Student Report

For our GCSE field work, students studying geography from Year 11, went to Juniper Hall for a three-day trip, which is based in Surrey.   On our first day we headed into the town of Leatherhead where we were split into small groups.  Our task was to find out and evaluate if the regeneration (which is still to be completed) of the town centre, will make it more sustainable.

To do this we used a range of methods such as an ‘environmental quality assessment’ which involved scoring categories and using artistic impressions to see whether Church Street, Bull Hill Park or Riverside are more sustainable before or after. We also conducted questionnaires with members of the public asking their thoughts on the regeneration and whether they thought the area was more sustainable because of it.  We looked at the shop types and found that the majority of shops were chain stores making it a clone town. 

After a busy afternoon we returned to Juniper Hall, where we ate delicious cake.  Then collated and evaluated the information we had gained turning the data into graphs and charts, supporting the fact that regeneration has in fact improved sustainability in Leatherhead.  Then it was time for a well-earned rest after a busy day.

The next day we investigated how the flow of the River Tillingbourne changes with distance downstream, I really enjoyed this day as we were able to get muddy and walk in rivers! We visited 3 main sites: Crossways Farm, Abinger Hammer and Gomshall. At all of these locations we had to measure the width, depth and velocity of the River Tillingbourne. We used various methods including using a hydroprop to measure the velocity. Then we had to use various equations with the data we had found out to work out the cross-sectional area, float distance and float velocity all of which play a huge role in helping us see if the flow of the river increases with distance downstream.

However, after we collated our results, we found out that this wasn’t the case.  This may be due to various engineering techniques used in the river, such as channel straightening and adding walls to stop erosion.

We then headed back after a very fun, muddy afternoon. Once back at Juniper Hall we again ate delicious cake which energised us ready to evaluate and draw graphs on our findings.

Before we knew it, it had come to the end of the second day. We woke up on the third day, sad, as we knew it was our last. We spent most of the morning in the classroom finalising our methods and results.

Then we had to get back on the coach and head back to school after a very fun and exciting trip to Juniper Hall.  Thank you to all of those involved in making this trip possible.