1.
Evolution of the mouth of the Ouse: interactions between human and
environmental processes David Robinson
Over the past 10,000 years the mouth of the Ouse has undergone dramatic change as a consequence of the
post-glacial rise in sea-level, coastal processes of erosion and deposition, and of human activity designed to
improve land drainage, maintain port facilities and avoid catastrophic coastal flooding and erosion. At the
present day, the alignment of the shore and the landscape character of the estuary and coastal fringe are the
result of the past and continuing management activities interacting with natural processes of erosion and
deposition. We shall walk from Newhaven to Seaford (or vice-versa) along the shore, examining the evidence
and causes of some of the changes the area has undergone and discuss the continuing and changing
pressures on this environment in the 21st century and how they are currently being managed.
2. Rubbish Geography
Fae Dussart
The management, collection, transport and disposal of solid waste is one of the great challenges of urban life,
but one that, in wealthy countries at least, remains largely hidden from most of us. The task is classically
banal, yet typically involve logistics of astonishing complexity and highly sophisticated technical solutions. At
the same time, the results highlight political decisions that frequently reinforce existing patterns of inequality
and generate very substantial local opposition. Rubbish Geography offers a window onto key interactions
between society and the environment as well as fundamental processes of the perpetuation of social exclusion
and disadvantage. The City of Brighton and Hove and the surrounding area of East Sussex generates almost
half a million tons of rubbish every day, yet the last local landfill site closed some years ago. Major new
facilities serving the Brighton and Hove area involve large scale recycling, composting and (most
controversially) incinerating rubbish, but first the rubbish has to be transported to those facilities. We will walk
from Southease down the valley to Newhaven, past the recently opened Energy Recovery Facility (known
locally as the incinerator) and on to a redeveloped landfill site. NOTE: We will not be able to go inside the
Energy Recovery Facility, as they do not allow visits on a Saturday but for those who are interested I am
happy to arrange a visit later in term, during the week.
3. Impact Seaford: A regeneration framework? Or all words, no impact?
Ceri Oeppen
Walking from the station to the shops in Seaford, you can see an example of some of the problems facing
many small towns across Britain. However, Seafords history and geographical location presents a number of
interesting challenges and opportunities. In the Middle Ages it was one of the cinque ports, in the 19th century
it was a popular seaside resort, but now despite what the local council describes as a potential Massive visitor
economy, it is often considered more of a dormitory town, or somewhere people just pass through on their
way to the Seven Sisters coast. In order to access some of that potential, the council has enacted Impact
Seaford, a project to regenerate the local visitor economy. Well discuss this and walk around Seaford, trying
out some qualitative research methods to see what observations and short interactions can and cannot tell us
about a place.
4. Comparative micro-climate of the Ouse Valley and the surrounding Downs
Yi Wang
We shall walk along a hiking path from the Youth Hostel across the Ouse valley up on to the Downs and
return. As we do so we shall measure and plot a variety of climatic parameters such as temperature, humidity,
wind speed and solar radiation to detect how they vary with altitude and as the time of day proceeds. The
activity will introduce you to some simple climatic data collection techniques and we will discuss the reasons
for, and implications of, the microclimatic differences you detect. This will provide an introduction to climate
related processes that you may wish to pursue in greater detail in option modules related to climate change
sciences later in your degree.
5. The South Downs Way-historical and contemporary land use issues around the Ouse valley.
Geoffrey Mead
The settlement pattern and social geography of the lower Ouse valley and adjacent landscape is one of
changing agricultural practices, landownership patterns, industrial and transport developments. The rich
alluvial soils of the lower Ouse were historically held by major regional landowners, such as Viscount Gage
whose family settled here in the 15th century and still hold much land in the area. This walk will take us up to
the South Downs ridge, offering spectacular views across the valley and surrounding downland and enabling
us to see a human landscape as varied as interwar Peacehaven and historic Lewes; an area described by
historical geographers as a 'closed' environment. The walk culminates on the South Downs ridge above the
Gage ancestral home of Firle Place set in its classic parkland.
6. Lewes: A structured walk to unveil some contradictory aspects, past and present, of this
county town.
Carl Griffin
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex. Affluent, expensive, and outwardly a bastion of respectability and
order home to the County Council, the Crown Court, Sussex Police. As a gateway to the South Downs and
on the mainline to London, Lewes is also a tourist honeypot and beloved of besuited London commuters. But
other stories can be told that speak to different geographies and histories in the making of place. This
exercise, taking the form of a self-guided, structured walk through Lewes, asks you to think critically about
radical and connected geographies, past and present, to pay attention to detail in the fabric of the town, and
its signs and symbols, to help us in writing an alternative set of geographies. In so doing, we will explore such
topics as protest, custom and popular culture, human rights, and global lives.
7. Investigation of some water properties of the River Ouse
Tim Cane
A somewhat suck-and-see examination of estuarine processes and water properties across the tidal cycle of a
small estuary using a number of analytical techniques. We will work a short distance from the youth hostel on
the River Ouse where we shall set up a field laboratory to measure, amongst other parameters, salinity,
suspended particulate matter, flow and, if possible, water stratification in the form of pycnocline to examine the
estuarine hydrodynamics at the saltwater/freshwater tidal interface.
