Year 10 Geography Field Trip to Dorset
Forty Nine Year 10 Geographers – together with the Geography Department and Mr Thorogood- happily spent their first three days of the recent half term enjoying the coastal delights of Dorset’s Jurassic Coastline.
If it wasn’t the breezy (and very damp) cliff top walk along The Foreland where pupils marvelled at the sheer splendour of Old Harry Rocks which made the trip worthwhile, it was the truly awesome sight of Lulworth Cove and Stair Hole from a vantage point high on a inclined outcrop of Portland Stone.
Geographical phrases and terms such as ‘Boulder strewn wave-cut platforms’, hydraulic action, the Purbeck Beds and even slumping were heard at every turn. As if the discordant and concordant coastlines of the Isle of Purbeck were not enough, pupils also took great delight in sketching and understanding how the tombolo Chesil Beach was formed with its perfectly graded stones which steadily increase in size from west to east.
Urban fieldwork played second fiddle to the impressive coastal landforms but investigations into Dorchester’s land use, CBD and sphere of influence nonetheless took place while the site, situation and changing functions of the fairy tale setting of Corfe Castle were sought. Dorset cream teas, fish ‘n’ chips by the seaside, the occasional soaking by a bigger than expected wave and too many other experiences to mention made the trip not only great fun but also educationally and socially very valuable.