Wymondham College Magazine 1972 (Amalgam)

Michael is at present a member of the JuniorInternational three-positional training squad whichmeets at Bisley once a month . They hope to providea team for international matches in this new sport,one that is so physically demanding that Michaeltrains hard to keep himself in peak condition .This physical capability goes hand in hand withan exacting mental fitness, much of which is builtby regular practice . Dry firing (without ammunition)can be done in the home, with some air rifle and airpistol practice in the garden . The live target-shootingon the camp range at Coltishall, where he lives, isthe best practice, so he visits it whenever he can .Michael's prospects look bright for the future, andwe wish him every success with his chosen sportand his Olympic chances .Simon Abbott .HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP,EASTER 1972The field trip this Easter was for the first timeattended by both historians and . geographers. Theparty stayed in a Hall of residence of NewcastleCollege of Education; both the food and livingquarterswere first-rate. Evening activities consistedof an hour's hard work and then an exodus to thetown's amenities to shed the stresses of the day .The work undertaken by the geographers wasgenerally demanding . It necessitated the scaling ofnumerous walls, steering clear of cows and sheep,and trying to avoid (often unsuccessfully!) severalbogs, in an attempt to move in a straight line fromA to B . Luckily the first day proved exceptional,as less strenuous activities such as looking at thegeomorphology of the coast of Northumberland,taking land surveys, and interviewing shoppersfollowed. The areas visited covered much of bothDurham and Northumberland . At Teeside we lookedinto the geographical importance of some of theheavy industries based there and the problems ofpollution they have brought about . However,pollution in the North-east was not as intense andwidespread as we had at first imagined . The northcoast of Northumberland and Holy Island provided .plenty of scope for examining the geomorphologyand geology of the area, but unfortunately the tidetimes prevented us from staying on Holy Island aslong as we should have liked . On the fourth day wewent to Durham, where we took land-use surveysand looked into the question of Durham's sphere ofinfluence over the surrounding countryside . This wasdone by detecting over what areas services such asnewspapers, bus services and emergency servicesoperated . The last two days of the trip were spentlooking at the dying iron and steel industry atConsett, and the new town of Peterlee, whichprovided a distinct contrast for studyingsettlement geography .The history side of the expedition was found justas interesting as the geography . Much of our time wasspent examining Roman sites to gain an appreciationof the purpose and extent of the Roman occupationof northern England . Most of us when we went toNorthumberland thought that the only thing to beseen was the wall that Hadrian built . We were evenunaware that the wall itself had several componentparts, and that the defence of Roman Britain was socomplicated and well organised . On the first day wehad a gruelling time walking five miles along theWall ; this was by far the most spectacular of theexcursions . The next day we had an excellent guidedtour of Chester's Roman fort, probably the mostinteresting of all the Roman forts because so muchof it has been excavated . At Vindolanda we sawwhere the civilian settlement around the fort is beingdug, and we also visited the forts at Housesteads,Birdoswald and Bewcastle, as well as a Roman supplybase at Corbridge .The rest of the week was divided betweenexamining the growth of castles and the developmentof church architecture . Unfortunately the minibusbegan to give problems at this stage, and someplaces on our itinerary had to be cut out . However,we studied the castles at Norham and Dunstanburgh,and also examined the excellent Elizabethan townwalls of Berwick-on-Tweed ; this helped us to gain anunderstanding of the changes that took place in castledesign during the middle ages .The final part of the trip was concerned withchurch architecture in the area . We visited churchesranging from the near-perfect Anglo-Saxon exampleat Escombe to the magnificent cathedral at Durham,but found the priories at Finchale and Lanercostrather less interesting .Overall the week was a great success, and wewould like to thank Mr. Wilson, Mr . Beaumohl, MissBryanton, Mr . Barwell and Mr. and Mrs . Jones fororganising the trip and helping to make it soenjoyable. Our thanks also to the driver forconveying us safely and for being so cheerful in allcircumstances .Judith Harwood (Geography)Graham Hitchcock (History)