I came across the work of George Tooker at a number of art galleries in New York when I visited a few years ago. I was instantly taken by the style and the subjects. He was born in Brooklyn so was a 'local' artist. The first image I saw was 'Government Bureau'. They produce a mysterious and unsettling "sense of place". What other artists' work has a similar effect on you ..read more

 Another Wednesday means it's time for another Worldly Wednesday - the final one of the year. I started the day with a Zoom call about a possible curriculum making project. This has the potential to be very exciting, and occupy a lot of my time in the next year. I can't say more than that. These are exactly the sorts of projects that I would like to do more of, but I also want to remain teaching. It's very important to be able to practice what I preach. The decision to move from one to the other full time is an important one that is still to come. This was followed by a number of meeti ..read more

OK, a small milestone reached but we're properly up and running with my special RGS blog as I've just posted my 100th entry since I started it back in May, when I was able to announce my role as Vice President Education. It's designed to sit alongside and support my current role as Vice President: Education of the Royal Geographical Society and share some of the activity that might be of interest to geography educators in particular. You have some catching up to do if you are new to the blog. Feel free to use the Search box. Go here to visit the blog. I'll be blogging my encounter with Tim M ..read more

I am very proud to currently have the role of Vice President: Education of the RGS-IBG.  I chair the RGS' Education Committee and have a place on the RGS Council for the duration of my term.  The responsibilities of the Education Committee shall be to guide both Council and the Senior Management Team in work concerning the education of compulsory school-age students and to promote good practice in geographical education. For the avoidance of doubt all references to education in this document refer to education of compulsory school-age students in any setting. We have just been ..read more

Thanks to Brendan Conway for sending me a link to a BBC Future page. Some years ago, I wrote a book about Ötzi the Ice Man. I've since posted regular blogs when a story appears which updates the knowledge that we have about him. The BBC Future article looks at the archaeology being revealed by melting glaciers. There is even an Alpine German word for the process of things emerging from glaciers: "ausgeapert", meaning something is exposed by melting snow or ice.  However, as global warming and record hot summers have sped up glacier loss, the melting ice has exposed an unprecedented, huge ..read more

A feature of the GA Conference for some years now is the chance for young people to attend. Details are below. Sign up on this page. GEO Live: Future Changemakers will take place on Thursday 17 April 2025 at the GA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Oxford. This programme, designed specially for students aged 14–18, will enthuse them about geography and its wide-ranging applications, enable them to think beyond school toward university and possible careers in geography. Teachers can bring up to six students each to the GA Annual Conference on Thursday 17 April, where they will take p ..read more

Just been browsing an exercise book of mine from 1976. Interesting to read what I wrote when asked the question: "What is Geography ?" (Don't quote me on this...) "Geography is the study of the earth and what goes on underneath it. There are things that go on underneath the earth that affect the shape of the earth, such as volcanoes and earthquakes, there are also things that go off on the surface of the earth that affect the shape of the earth. There are two main aspects of Geography, one is physical Geography and the other is Human Geography. Things on top of the earth affect the actu ..read more

Australian site 'Science of the Surf' contains some useful information on coastal processes ..read more

Earlier in the year I visited Manchester. At the Imperial War Museum North, one of the exhibits featured the original books and screenings of the original videos of 'Protect and Survive', along with a copy of the booklet that was sent to homes at the time. There was also a copy of Raymond Briggs' 'When the Wind Blows', which was made into a film in 1986. This story on the BBC News was connected in a way, and reflects a growing fear of further Russian incursions. There are historical precedents of course.  When I visited Helsinki for ERASMUS meetings, there was always a reminder of this ..read more

It's the old joke about geography of course. We just do colouring in... We call it polychromatic rendering. In recent years, colouring in books have been reclassified in some cases as mindfulness. There is a range of books out there. There's been a lot of coverage recently of the appearance of a whole range of colouring books based on geographical areas and cities. They have bright yellow colours and you may well have seen them advertised on your social media pages. They were featured on a number of TV programmes over the last few weeks. Colour your Streets is the name of the company. You c ..read more