Geography Field Trips

On Friday 11 June 2010, Year 5 went out of school to study a local river. We found a spring near Cotton and followed the water downstream in order to carry out various measurements as the stream twisted its way down the valley. The children worked in two groups to record the depth and flow speed at different points across the stream. This data will form the basis for further work in the classroom during the rest of term. We then travelled along the Churnet Valley through Dimmingsdale to Alton and back to school, looking at the meanders and undercutting of the river banks. In a week or so we will continue to follow the Churnet to its confluence with the Dove.

On Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 May 2010, the Year 8 Geographers travelled to the Yorkshire Dales National Park to study ‘Surface Limestone Features’. This work had already been covered in detail in school and the visit set out to reinforce from first hand experience features such as resurgent streams, sink holes, dry valleys and v-shaped valleys. On Monday the students split into three groups and completed a short two mile walk, visiting ‘Janets Foss’ and Gordale Scar. ‘Janets Foss’ is a small waterfall and plunge pool which also features a tufa curtain formed when soluble limestone is re-deposited over the top of mosses. The walk in to Gordale becomes increasingly impressive, looking similar to the landscapes filmed in ‘Lord of the Rings’. As the students turned the final corner in the Scar, the valley becomes very narrow and the footpath rises through a short waterfall, which had to be climbed to complete our circular walk. On Tuesday after packing the minibus we headed to Malham Cove, which is a huge Limestone waterfall formed by melt water following the last ice age. Fortunately the water has long since stopped falling over the top of the cove, leaving behind a 70 metre overhanging wall of rock. Here it was possible to see the ‘resurgent stream’ at its base and discuss how water percolates through the permeable limestone. Following an ascent of 426 steps we travelled across a huge limestone pavement, and then a dry valley, eventually finding where our stream disappeared to, then reappear at Malham Cove. The visit was very successful and the weather was very kind. Watch out for the video on the web site. Mr G Stockton - Head Of Geography