Year 12 Geographers find Wales is not always wet!

Leaving Redland High with lots of energy and enthusiasm, a group of Year 12s embarked on a three day residential trip based in Abergavenny. After arriving they immediately started to study local rivers. With a brilliant blue sky the students put theory into practice - including several pupils finding out how cold the water was!

Day two and unfortunately cloudier skies restricted the views. Undeterred, a morning mountain climb culminated in the students learning about geomorphologic mapping and how to interpret a glaciated landscape. The afternoon was spent at the world heritage site of Blaenafon discovering how successful heritage tourism has been in regenerating the region.

Day three was spent investigating the changes in rural villages and the impact this has had on local people in terms of service provision. Farm diversification was discussed at Llwygy Farm where the farmer now makes most of his living keeping birds of prey for research into their flight by Oxford University. This research has been incorporated into the new Airbus wings, making them more aerodynamic. The final activity was investigating urban land use change in Abergavenny.

Throughout the trip the students were keen to contribute and learn and were great fun to be with, responding with enthusiasm to each new activity. The centre staff appreciated the willingness with which the students applied themselves and the intelligent questions that they asked.

Both physical and human aspects of geography and its applications were experienced and enjoyed by everyone along with a great deal of fun!