'A river ain't too much to love' – AS Geography fieldwork

On Wednesday February 24th, 22 keen AS students – together with Kate, our Head of Geography, and Hannah, our Social Organiser – set off to Juniper Hall field centre near Guildford. The weather was cool and wet but the mood happy and purposeful.


Day 1
In the afternoon, the students collected data regarding flood risk management. This involved the collection of land use data and percentage use of the land within selected sample sites. In the evening the results were processed using GIS to show the flood risk hazard on the floodplain of the River Wey in Guildford.



Day 2
After a class-based session giving background information of river channel changes, students went to three different sites on the River Tillingbourne to collect data such as river width, depth, velocity and gradient. This was a long and very wet day but everyone worked hard and with enthusiasm against the demands of the British weather. Write ups in the evening involved graph and analysis work to see the patterns and changes from source to mouth. A major Charades tournament followed, on the combined theme of film and geography. So teams found themselves acting out some challenging terms – 'sub-aerial weathering' and 'the Holderness Coastline', for instance!

Day 3
Morning involved work in the centre grounds to assess the changes made to interception and infiltration with different land uses and vegetation types. Form this, storm hydrographs could then be produced and analysed.



Arriving back at d'Overbroeck's on Friday afternoon were 22 tired and muddy students – hopefully equipped with more geography skills and knowledge to take with them into the summer exams.

A successful and fun trip was had by all – including Hannah, who is now a first-class geographer, though still a city girl at heart.

– Report written by Kate Palmer, Head of Geography

Below, a slideshow of more photos from the trip (see slideshow on Flickr)