Early in the Summer Term as Year 12 Geography Students, we travelled to Bristol as a part of our fieldwork. Our main aim was to measure social inequality levels in varying parts of Bristol, investigating areas in the centre as well as those on the outskirts such as St Pauls. The trip allowed us to gain experience of collecting and presenting data before beginning our NEAs (Non-Examined Assessments) which account for 20% of the Geography A-Level.
On 21 May, we travelled West to Bristol. We started off our trip by visiting the M Shed Museum where we learnt about Bristol’s past and present connections. These connections included the slave trade as well as its economic journey through industrialisation in the 1800s, and later, deindustrialisation in the mid 1900s. The trip was very informative and allowed us to understand how Bristol has been shaped by its connections, and the effects it had on shaping the place it is today.
After visiting the museum, we moved to the other side of the harbour to continue our investigation into Bristol’s past. We were tasked with finding original buildings in Bristol that were shown in old photos (known as rephotography). We had to find the buildings and take photos of them from the same angle in order to demonstrate how Bristol has changed since the 1920s. The vast majority of these buildings were merely repurposed in order to pay respects to the city’s history, having been turned into cafes with modern interiors and old-fashioned exteriors. We undertook various other tasks throughout the day before stopping for ice cream and dinner at Pizza Express – all in all, it was a very fun and interesting day!
The next day gave way to more research and investigation into other areas of Bristol. We walked over to St Pauls with the intent of measuring the levels of social inequality in the area. The group experimented with various data collection methods including EQAs (Environmental Quality Assessments) and Crime Level Assessments before presenting the data in various charts. This gave us a real insight into what research methods and forms of data presentation we could use in our NEAs. We then returned to the centre of Bristol, visiting two shopping malls – The Galleries and Cabot Circus – comparing them through a retail index. After doing so, we were allowed to go shopping before all heading to dinner at Nandos – the day was ultimately a success!
Our trip to Bristol was very insightful and prepared us well for our upcoming NEA research and practical summer work.
By Ciara F and Madison F (Geography Prefects)
