During the Lent Term, Year 12 geography students attended a long study weekend at Nettlecombe Court, an old stately home in Somerset run by the Field Studies Council.  The centre had a wide range of specialist facilities, which we were pleased to take full advantage of to hone our practical skills for AS coursework.	Nettlecombe Court, Field Studies Centre
Surveying the sand dunes at Braunton Burrows

Friday Immediately after our arrival we trekked down to Woodford Meanders to begin an investigation of drainage basin processes.  First we sampled the amount of buttercups using a point frame quadrat in order to test whether buttercups are more likely to occur on the river terrace, or on the floodplain.

Next we sampled the same two areas of land for their rate of infiltration.  We applied water using a constant head infiltrometer over measured periods of time.  Luckily Lucy had brought Haribo along to munch during the long and incredibly tedious time, nothing much at all occurred on the floodplain as the land was already fully saturated!  Then we made our way back to Nettlecombe for a well deserved tea.

Saturday Saturday was dedicated to urban geography, with the group visiting Taunton, a welcome return to civilisation!  The day involved walking 1km transects, stopping at designated intervals to carry out urban decay, traffic and pedestrian counts . The weather was miserable, and many of us ended up subsequently wet, the expectation of spending most of the time in the shops unfortunately coming to nothing.  Sadly the Monmouth School boys were less enthused about data collection and some, seemingly unaware of compass bearings, headed East instead of West, presenting us in the evening with some interesting results.

Sunday On Sunday, we travelled to Saunton Sands to study the Braunton Burrows Sand Dunes.  With the help of Mr Meek and Steve (Our tutor for the day) we recorded a mass of data on wind speed, temperature, humidity, soil moisture and pH, and vegetation cover.  We also collected soil samples to cook and measure organic matter and moisture content.  After an exhausting day, our spirits were lifted by hot chocolate and an exciting game of hide and seek.  Evening lessons followed where we compared data and represented it in graphical form before adjourning to tackle the difficult task of washing sand dunes out of our hair!

Monday The morning of our final day was spent undertaking studies of four villages in northern Somerset, two inside Exmoor National Park, and two located just outside its boundary.  Yet again it was raining!  The now familiar squelch of the wet geographer was ever-present, as we hopped in and out of minibuses to record information about the number and range of services and the environmental quality of each of the villages.  This allowed us to compare and contrast the nature and changing identity of the villages inside and outside the National Park.

In the afternoon we returned to Monmouth still smiling after an enjoyable weekend that helped us to develop both our theoretical and practical skills.

For further information on Braunton Burrows see the following websites:

Braunton Burrows – UK Biosphere Reserve www.countrysideinfo.co.uk

360 degree panorama of Braunton Burrows www.bbc.co.uk

UK’s first biosphere reserve article www.bbc.co.uk