1 What's in a place

Question 1

What is the key idea about places?

Answer 1

Places are multi-faceted, shaped by shifting flows and connections which change over time

Question 2

What are the 6 characteristics which interact to make the identity of a place?

Answer 2

• Demography
• Socioeconomic
• Cultural
• Political
• Built environment
• Physical geography (natural/physical environment)

Question 3

What is demographic?

Answer 3

Number of inhabitants
Ages
Gender
Ethnicity

Question 4

What are examples of physical geography which makes the identity of a place?

Answer 4

Altitude
Slope angle
Aspect
Drainage
Geology

Question 5

What are examples of socio-economic which makes the identity of a place?

Answer 5

Employment, income and family status, education

Question 6

What are examples of cultural which makes the identity of a place?

Answer 6

Religion, local traditions, local clubs and societies

Question 7

What are examples of political which makes the identity of a place?

Answer 7

Local, regional and national government, local groups such as resident associations

Question 8

What are examples of built environment which makes the identity of a place?

Answer 8

Age and style of buildings including building materials, density of housing

Question 9

What are the two case studies constrating place profiles at a local scale?

Answer 9

Lympstone, East Devon and Toxteth, Liverpool

Question 10

What is Lympstone’s demographic?

Answer 10

Top heavy age structure:
0-15: 19.8%
16-64: 55.6%
>64: 24.6%
Ethinically homogeneous and less ethnic diverse
Provided few jobs opportunities for immigrants in 60/70s (beginning to change)

Question 11

What are Lympstone’s socio-economic characteristics?

Answer 11

Selected statistics:
14.1% aged 16 and with no formal qualifications
66.1% owner-occupiers
12.7% no access to car or van

Question 12

What is Lympstone’s cultural characteristics?

Answer 12

Long-established culture based upon the Christian year with Christmas and Easter as key times in the calendar

Question 13

What are Lympstone’s political characteristics?

Answer 13

Has a parish council with eleven elected people serving on this local government body - focused on local matters e.g. express views on any planning applications
Power relatively limited
Part of an area that elects two district councillors and one county councillor
Parliamentary constituency that includes Lympstone has an electorate of 72,000 and returns one MP

Question 14

What is Lympstone’s built environment?

Answer 14

Undergone some change:
Former low-order shops have closed and been converted to residences
New housing
Heart of village has strict planning rules and local residents protect the architecture

Question 15

Where and what is Lympstone?

Answer 15

Small settlement on th east bank of the River Exe estuary, 15km south of Exeter

Question 16

What and where is Toxteth?

Answer 16

Part of inner Liverpool, about 1.5km south of the city centre

Question 17

What are Lympstone’s natural characteristics?

Answer 17

Occupies a small valley cut by Wotton Brook through the red breccia cliffs which mark edge of the Exe estuary
- Extensive tidal mudflats extend out into the estuary about 1.5km wide at Lympstone
- Small beach of pebbles and gravel runs along the foot of the cliff

Question 18

What are the natural characteristics of Toxteth, Liverpool?

Answer 18

Occupies undulating land rising up from banks of River Mersey
Stream flows from the northeast, dividing into two before discharging into the river
Mersey is fast flowing past Toxteth as its channel narrows so little foreshore at Toxteth

Question 19

What is the demographic of Toxteth?

Answer 19

Few elderly residents, majority aged between 16-64
Population density (persons/hectare)
0-15 13.9%
16-64 75.5%
>64 10.6%
Ethnically diverse as attracted migrants, large influxes of Irish during 19th century. Post WWII, employment and housing opportunities for migrants changed place profiles
Became destination for migrants from parts of Asia eg Hong Kong, West Africa and Caribbean
Port function created links

Question 20

What is the socio-economic profile of Toxteth?

Answer 20

24% owner occupiers
54.4% with no access to car or van
27.2% aged 16+ with no formal qualifications

Question 21

What is the cultural profile of Toxteth?

Answer 21

Cultural change
Muslim religious festivals (Eid and Ramadan)
Friday prayers in the Muslim community
Many from the Black African Caribbean community have distinctive forms of Christian worship which are different
Toxteth’s cultural diversity stretches back into the 19th century when a Greek Orthodox church was built there and a synogogue

Question 22

What are the political characteristics of Toxteth?

Answer 22

Part of Riverside Ward, one of 30 wards making up the Liverpool City Council, 3 councillors returned per ward
City council similar to county council for Lympstone - education and children’s services, and regeneration, housing and sustainability
Part of Liverpool Riverside parliamentary constituency with electorate of 73,000

Question 23

What is the built environment of Toxteth like?

Answer 23

Adapted by migrant communities - mosques and ethnic retailers
Many buildings have changed their use and new ones have been constructed

Question 24

Lympstone past: Who established lympstone? Who then took ownership of the area?

Answer 24

Saxons - forced out the original Celtic inhabitants from the region
Connections with the continent continued with the Norman Conquest when ownership of the area transferred to a succession of French families (eg the de Traceys and de Courtlands)

Question 25

Lympstone past: What started operating in the 13th century?

Answer 25

Small ports operating under the administration of Exeter with coastal and cross-Channel trading links

Question 26

Lympstone past: How did the port develop in the 19th century?

Answer 26

Kept its strong links with the sea as ship-building thrived into the 19th century
Scale of ships meant this industry ceased
Estuary was used for fishing and the shellfish industry especially mussels
Boats also went out into the North Atlantic from Lympstone to hunt for whales and fish cod

Question 27

Lympstone past: What did the tourism in the 1840s result in?

Answer 27

Attracted considerable numbers of wealthy families from Exeter and East Devpn

Question 28

Lympstone past: When did the railway get built and what was its effects?

Answer 28

1861
Improved connectivity regionally and nationally
Space-time compression allowed the shellfish industry access to a wider market and local residents too could travel more easily to Exeter

Question 29

Describe the shifting flows of people in Lympstone

Answer 29

Dormitory settlement for Exeter in the 20th century
Retained a strong sense of community, retained today, increasing private investment in the area