Cultural Geography Blog

“Writing is a hypnotic act.” - Gabriel Garcia Marquez As it's the first week of the Christmas holidays, I've been diving into a series I've been anticipating for a while. I've also been re-reading some of the reviews and the genesis of this adaptation of a book that Garcia-Marquez himself felt was unadaptable. He said that any film of the book would need to be a hundred years long to do it justice... It's the Netflix adaptation of the classic 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' - a masterpiece. It tells the story of the Buendia family over five generations. It is dense and magical and powerful in its description of the growth of Macondo, a town which is founded by the Buendias and others, and slowly gets drawn into the politics of the country in a story as complicated as the family tree. I'm four hours in, and so far it's doing a good job of capturing the myriad storylines and set piece moments. Vanity Fair piece goes into detail on the production of th...

In 2025, I am going to be working on some curriculum projects. I think it's time for a change - a step in a new direction. Let's assume that you are going to be redesigning a KS3 curriculum. You don't need to keep anything that you already do. You don't need to do topics because they are in the GCSE specification and you want students to study them before they start their GCSE course. You have the chance to do something new, and get rid of something else to make space for it. I'd be really interested to see what sorts of geographical topics you would add in if you had the choice (which you probably do by the way) and what you'd drop to leave time for them (you've got plenty of curriculum time to play with after all...) Go wild.... or play it safe. I'll share a summary of the responses of course, and who know it might influence my curriculum making in 2025. Loading… Image: Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license

A nice piece in 'The Guardian' explores the legacy of 'Autobahn' . It's fifty years since the LP was released. Tim Jonze explores the legacy of this album and in particular, the main title track. Astonishingly for a 22-minute 43-second song about the German road network, it somehow managed to change the musical landscape forever. I remember my Uncle Stan playing me this album on his quadrophonic sound system - it must have been shortly after it came out. There is a connection with Köln here too, which I visited last month for Practical Pedagogies. For me the classic Keith Jarrett concert is the main connection I think of with the city. The story behind its creation is also fascinating. I'm working on something inspired by Matt Podbury's Music and Geography session at the conference. Check out his unit.

  I have a few programmes which I always sit and watch if they are on.  They are sometimes called 'slow TV' because nothing much happens in them, but they are also calming as as well as being informative. I am currently on Series 6 of one of them. It is called 'Canal Boat Diaries' and follows the life and travels of Robbie Cumming , who has lived for over ten years aboard his boat which is called the 'Naughty Lass'. He films his travels, which are accompanied by drone footage. I particularly like the winter scenes as well, when the wood burner is lit, and he settles in for the night. There's plenty of the country's hidden industrial heritage on show as well. Each series he takes a journey along a particular stretch of the network. There is plenty of the UK's landscape on show as well. There are 6 series of the programme, two of which are currently available to watch on iPlayer , and the whole lot can be watched for free on the U Player. This is free...

I missed this exciting additional option for creating visually beautiful towns as a mindfulness or creative exercise... Townscaper is a game created by Oskar Stålberg. I have the original STEAM game which was launched in October 2021. The game can also be played in a browser. The only restriction is a smaller grid and no save function – other than that you can let your imagination go wild. As the browser option has a smaller grid, your cities will not be as impressive as the ones you can make with the full version on Steam, which is still available for just a few pounds. Have a go, and thank me later :)

Take a look and all feedback is welcome. This is part of the development of the GA's new 2025-30 strategy. I was involved in the creation of the previous 2020-2025 strategy, and this is a lengthy process for the trustees. The GA is sharing this Geography for all our futures overview.  This sets out some of the key challenges and opportunities for our subject. Download as a PDF.

After a gap of a few years, I'm back working with European colleagues who I have worked with for many years. ERASMUS+ is sadly no more, but I've started working on a project which is funded by the Civics Innovation Hub. You can see what we've done so far on this project page on the Eurogeo website. Details of the project: The GEODEM-AI project aims to encourage a healthy, critical view of ethical issues related to the use of AI in Geography teaching and learning. GEODEM-AI addresses democratic principles, civic engagement, and social responsibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in geographic information, by offering interactive multimedia training materials for teachers and educators based on real-world civic applications, with the aim to foster active citizenship and civic participation. Main outputs: – A research report on AI and ethical issues in geoinformation – download and read  the report – A Civic Education training module (Web-based) – tested and piloted – A set ...

Daniel Raven Ellison has previously behind the making of a number of films, including: The UK in 100 Seconds  - narrated by the late Benjamin Zephaniah The UK National Parks in 100 Seconds  - narrated by Cerys Matthews The Netherlands in 100 Seconds See them here. He is now planning to release his latest film. Of the UK film, Dan said: "I don’t think anyone really has a clue what Britain actually looks like. It's just too big and complicated for us to get a proper sense of proportion. And that’s a problem when people are making decisions about how we feed ourselves or how much more affordable housing we can build. Or, crucially, how much more space for nature we can have. If we don’t have a proper sense of what the country looks like then how can we fix our problems?" His latest film is going to be his 'largest' yet: The Earth in 100 Seconds'. Here's a preview: What are we using planet Earth for?  Each second of this film reveals 1% of land and how we...

Leaving aside the obvious reply to this headline ... In Year 8, around Christmas time, we unpick the lyrics used for the different versions of this song. A new 40th anniversary recording has now been released. There has been a lot of coverage of the song, and also the criticisms of the lyrics. More to come on this...

 Every now and again I remember what a good piece of music this is.

Last Saturday night, I went to the Cambridge Union to see an event that had been arranged as part of the Cambridge Literary Festival. The weather was wet and windy due to Storm Bert , and there were also train issues due to engineering works, but the city was busy with Christmas shoppers.  The Union was packed and also very hot. Mackenzie has written and illustrated a short book - not a children's book - an interesting format really - imagining Nick Drak e coming to his house, and modelled on a book he remembered from his childhood. Drake signed to Island Records at twenty while still a student at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University. Marking the 50th anniversary of his death, the book is both a celebration of his memory and a heart-warming reminder of the impact a person can have on others, though they might not realise it. There was lots of interest in the detectorists of course, as not everyone was familiar with the music of Nick Drake. He was in conversation with Tom Gat...

  A new venture, and one I can certainly get behind... Two legends of international geography teaching, resource creation and training in the same virtual space: Richard Allaway and Matt Podbury have teamed up to offer some special support for teachers in international schools / teaching international qualifications. Their new website and opportunity is now live. They will start their new enterprise by offering three online workshops between now and May 2025, which can be booked individually or as an ‘all three bundle’ . Each workshop consists of two 90-minute sessions and then the opportunity to have a 30-minute one-on-one meeting with either Richard or Matt to focus on your specific topics of interest and questions. The workshops will happen on Saturdays, so most of you will not need to find cover for your classes. They will run from 10h00 CET to 13h30 CET, so you have enough time for a lie-in and a lazy breakfast, and everything is finished in time for a late lunch. The worksho...

Warning: includes a rude word....

I've been following Keir Clarke since the early days of Google Earth and he has always shared fascinating map links, many of which I have shared here and on my other blogs. His latest (ish) is a game he has been developing called Scrambled Maps. Go here to give it a go.

  Nick Drake committed suicide fifty years ago this year.  This month in fact. Mackenzie Crook has released a picture book which is called 'If Nick Drake came to my house'. In a couple of weeks' time I am going to the Cambridge Union to hear him speak about it. I'm looking forward to it very much. Mackenzie was on the One Show a few days ago talking about the book and his love of Nick Drake's music. Listen to this Nick Drake track to get a flavour of his particular melancholy tone...

Encountering cultural differences  is one of the benefits of attending overseas events. When in Rome (or Palermo or Helsinki) and all that.... I've been fortunate to have that opportunity due to ERASMUS+ - I sincerely hope that the UK will reconsider the decision to  One of the aspects of visiting cities is to explore them culturally. Last week, I had the chance to go back to Europe to attend the Practical Pedagogies Conference. I've blogged more about that over on the LivingGeography blog. These markings are important in German beer cellars. This one was called the Schreckenskammer. The beers are served in small 20cl glasses with plenty of froth. As each one is placed on the table, a mark is made on a beermat. The glasses are called stange glasses. Unless you say otherwise, a new glass will be placed on the table to replace any empty glass. Once you've had enough, place the beermat on top of the glass to signal you are ready to pay. It's also worth bearing in mind tha...

A cross-posting from my LivingGeography blog. I was heading for London on Wednesday to stay overnight so that I could get an early Eurostar train to Brussels. In the evening, I was due to go to an EXPLORE session as part of the RGS's exploration festival. I noticed that the Irish band  Clannad were playing at the Royal Albert Hall . It was to be their final concert. I was introduced to Clannad by their singles Newgrange and Theme from Harry's Game, from the album 'Magical Ring'. I also played their first few albums quite a lot including Dulaman (seaweed). In 1983-4 they produced the music for an essential series for me at the time: 'Robin of Sherwood'. Michael Praed played Robin, and a second series saw him replaced by Jason Connery.  The album has just been rereleased onto Spotify with a whole extra album of 'lost' music, which is mostly excellent. I saw Clannad quite a few times during the early to late 1980s when they were touring following this peri...

One of my favourite musicians is Aimee Mann . She has been a regular part of my listening life for over 30 years. Her first band and success was with 'Til Tuesday but she has had a long solo career... with her soundtrack to 'Magnolia' and recent albums being highlights. Today, she posted this message on Instagram which has resulted in quite a lot of excitement. Aimee Mann’s ’80s new wave band ‘Til Tuesday will reunite for their first show in 33 years (it’s billed as their first show with the original lineup in 35 years)  I spent the day with all her music on Spotify... 

 As per the previous post, here's a bit of TD with an Earth-related video projection they used...

Earlier this week I headed for the Barbican to see Tangerine Dream again. This time it was the 50th anniversary of Phaedra. A really excellent evening with a long semi-improvised session. Someone shot a video of one of my favourite tracks from the evening. Not great quality but you can see the energy and interactions between Thorsten and the others, and you have the inevitable people who use the evening as a pub crawl... sit down for the duration!

An RGS-heavy day today alongside my teaching. This post is a cross-posting from my dedicated RGS blog - please go and check it out if you haven't already.   It shares all the news linked to my role as Vice President: Education. This curriculum review will be one of the things I'm interested in for the next year or so. Joined a very interesting Zoom call followed by some emails related to the opening of the RGS' request for your thoughts as part of the 'call for evidence' of the Francis Curriculum Review. That request is now open as of lunchtime today. New on the RGS website is this call for your thoughts ahead of the Curriculum and Assessment Review for England, which is being chaired by Becky Francis. At the moment, the review is in a phase where they call for evidence. This evidence will inform later stages of the consultation. The Government has launched an open call for evidence to inform its curriculum and assessment review for England, which is being chaired ...

A cross-posting from my GeoLibrary blog which has hundreds of books recommended and with some information about where they might be used, and why they deserve a shelf on the GeoLibrary. This book is on the Booker longlist . It's a fiction book, but is packed with geography. It's about four astronauts and two cosmonauts in the International Space Station. The author said of the book that she wanted to write a 'space pastoral' The book follows one day, and the orbits they trace over the world. In between their routine jobs and exercise, we hear about them and their families and their thoughts as they stare down on the earth below - tracking the path of a super-typhoon with their privileged view of the world below. There are some truly wonderful passages, and it's definitely a geography book. The descriptions of each landscape and country as they appear are really beautiful. The section here is part of a chapter - they are all very short and this helps you subdivide t...

You wait ages for an album about Amelia Earhart and then two come along at once. The new album from Public Service Broadcasting: "The Last Flight"  comes out in early October and some tracks are already out. I'm looking forward to seeing some of them being played at the end of October. Meanwhile Laurie Anderson has released her own version of that last flight and it's very different to the PSB one, and excellent. It's the usual mix of recordings, sound and vocal effects and electronic music, and is a lot more accessible than some of Laurie Anderson's work. Available on the usual streaming services.

Spotify leads me to all sorts of new places musically. Through a series of links, I came across a 'genre' of electronic / ambient music linked to place... Here's a description of one of my discoveries: Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan 's new album, Your Community Hub, compellingly continues his sonic exploration of the New Towns movement. The issues the councillors, planners, and architects set out to solve still resound and echo throughout society. For the latest instalment in this unique project, Gordon Chapman-Fox turns his laser eye to focus on Community and the Community Centres that populated Warrington and Runcorn in order to provide all the facilities people needed within a five minute walk from their home. These planning ideas predated the current discussions of fifteen minute cities by fifty years. Those intervening years have seen a decline in our community centres and services: handy access to a GP or dentist, Post Offices, youth clubs, local sh...

  I was sorry to hear this evening of the passing of Norman Ackroyd on Monday: one of our very greatest landscape artists. He was a remarkable printmaker and artist . He shared the laborious process of making his etchings in several documentaries. Listen to this programme with Robert MacFarlane. RIP the great artist Norman Ackroyd (1938-16.09.24): etcher-magician who conjured weather & light from metal & acid; his work constitutes one of the great visual records of this archipelago’s edges. We travelled together—& I made this programme with him: https://t.co/Y5licHxpcP pic.twitter.com/8bQDR95Fph — Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) September 18, 2024 Here's the first part of a documentary on his method featuring some of his art...

This piece of music is important to me... 

A new(ish) resource which can be accessed and used by members of the Geographical Association. I am considering adding a section of this to my teaching this year. Sycamore Gap is a significant landmark in Northumberland where three distinct features combined: a natural and dramatic dip in the physical landscape about halfway along the 80-mile run of Hadrian’s Wall, itself an ancient monument and reminder of the power of the Roman Empire, and until recently, a lone, 300-year-old Sycamore tree. The site has UNESCO designation and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Arguably, it will still be known as Sycamore Gap because of its story. The tree has stood for hundreds of years, perfectly framed by the landscape, thrilling locals and visitors alike until it was deliberately cut down, under cover of darkness, sometime between the evening of 27 September 2023 and the following morning.  The loss of the tree has caused an outcry and reaction of public grief. These materials are designed to ...

The Max Richter album ' Sleep' is one that I've listened to many times. His new one is always going to appeal to my inner geographer as it is called 'In a Landscape'. I can also confirm that it is excellent and relaxing and an excellent soundtrack for a few hours spent writing.

I've just finalised the plans for a session for GCSE and 'A' Level teachers and students later this month as part of the programme of events offered by the GA Gloucester Branch. It's an upate of a session I created for the GA Oxford Branch last year. I explore some of the ways that teachers and students can research case studies they need to remember for exams to make them come to life a little more, and ensure they are a little more authentic, contemporary and relevant, as well as memorable for the exam when it comes to revising. Why not sign up? This will be one of my Worldly Wednesdays....

  I spent two days last week at Rayburn Tours' HQ in Derby. I work as a Field Studies Tutor (FST) for Rayburn, and go out twice a year or so to help students and teachers interpret the amazing landscape and culture of Iceland. After some delay because of COVID etc., the company was keen to gather us all together to meet each other face to face and allow us to meet and take us through some updates that would help us with our work. One of the sessions that we had as a group of Field Study Tutors was from Dr. Rhian Meara. Rhian has been researching the story of Heimaey , and the eruption that took place in 1973. Most papers and stories refer to the eruption and have a series of bullet points 'telling the story' except they miss out the 'actual' stories of those who experienced it, many of whom still live on the island. A series of papers have either been published or are being prepared for publication by Rhian. You can also hear Rhian talking along with Cath Rule and R...

The GA and the RGS will both be 'in the room' when the curriculum review discussions related to geography take place. The GA is collecting responses from teachers, who may not be in the room, but will be impacted by the decisions made by the review group.  The RGS is going to be doing something similar as the picture on the consultation becomes a little clearer. The Geographical Association wants to hear your views on the geography National Curriculum and GCSE and A level content and assessment. Steve Brace, GA Chief Executive, says  ‘We want as many teachers as possible to share your views about which aspects of the current geography curriculum, its GCSEs and A levels are working well – and where you’d like to see changes’. Click this link to go the form where you can enter your thoughts. Fill in the form by the 20th of September.

  I was asked to provide some feedback on the GCSE results which came out today on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. This became a press release from the RGS , which was also responding to a new survey on the way that climate change is taught. The Guardian also picked it up for their GCSE blog which was live for the morning as students received their results. Scroll down to 11.13 to read my comments.

  By the start of September 2025 and the new academic year, a full suite of resources will be available for Primary Geography on the Oak National website.   These will all be free to download. There are 6 units for each of years 1-6. 36 units all fully resourced with slide decks, worksheets, quizzes and videos. All units have been approved by Oak and will be appearing on the website in the next month. They have been developed from an original model produced by Paula Owens and Julia Tanner by a team of writers and reviewers and a production team at the Geographical Association. I am very pleased to have been part of the Oak Primary team. I wrote one unit, and helped shape a number of others through working as a reviewer. Some of my images were also used in units. Curriculum Explainer Our curriculum nurtures pupils’ personal and everyday geographies, sparking their curiosity about the world, and guiding them to explore places and processes beyond their existing knowledge. ...

A cross-posting from my relatively new blog: 'At the Home of Geography'.   This is a blog to share work around my work as Vice President:Education of the Royal Geographical Society. The GA's Fieldwork Festival during June has ended, but fieldwork can carry on at any time of course, and we hope that your summer travels may well involve some 'fieldtrips' AKA family holidays, or personal travels. These may be in the local area or further afield. Check out the detailed page on the RGS website which contains a wealth of resources for those planning fieldwork. One issue for teachers when consultations take place is to have ideas for fieldwork which are low cost (ideally free) and can be carried out in the local area. In terms of having ideas for fieldwork. The sharing of ideas in this area are particularly helpful. The RGS has added a useful form to their website. The form can be used to tell us about the fieldwork that you are undertaking, and help share examples of fre...