Human Geography Fieldwork

Question 1

What is the aim of your human geography fieldwork?

Answer 1

Aim: To assess the impacts of tourism on Grasmere, an upland glaciated area in the Lake District National Park..

Question 2

Where is the location of study?

Answer 2

Grasmere is a village and tourist destination in the centre of the Lake District National Park, Cumbria.

The village is set in a valley (a glacial trough), at the head of Lake Grasmere.

It is surrounded by the steep grassy slopes of the Lakeland Hills.

It is located on a wide, flat valley floor on the river Rothay which flows into Lake Grasmere, about 0.5 km to the south.

The village is overlooked from the north-west by the rocky hill of Helm Crag, popularly known as The Lion and the Lamb.

Question 3

What is the site (land Grasmere is on) and situation of Grasmere?

Answer 3

Site:

• Flat land, on a valley floor.
• On River Rothay.

Situation (nearby):
-Surrounded by steep slopes of the U shaped valley. Situated near lake Grasmere and A51.

Question 4

Why did we choose Grasmere?

Answer 4

It is a small place which we could survey in 1 afternoon.

It had to be a glaciated environment- lakes is a glaciated tourist site.

We new there would be tourists- honey pot site.

Question 5

What were the risks of this fieldwork?

Answer 5

Risk assessment in Grasmere:

• GETTING RAN OVER- Grasmere had very busy roads-lots of traffic. When we got there we looked at the roads, made sure everyone knew to cross safely, found safest places to cross- pedestrians and not blind spots.
• GETTING LOST- We made sure to stay together in groups of no less than 3. We knew where to get bus and we had phones and the contact numbers of teachers if we got lost. Teachers did a head count regularly.

Question 6

What method was used to collect land use survey data?

Answer 6

We walked around Grasmere and marked down on our maps wether the buildings we saw where houses, shops, cafes, hotels and open space.

Question 7

Why did you do this?

Answer 7

Tells us how the land is used, for tourists and residents. This informs us if Grasmere caters well for tourists.

Question 8

What were the limitations of land use survey data?

Answer 8

We were only able to record the ground floor of the buildings, so our results may not provide an accurate view of land use in Grasmere.

Question 9

What method was used to assess footpaths?

Answer 9

We measured the width of an assigned footpath using a tape measure and ruler to measure the depth every 10 cm.

From our measurements we were able to find out the depth across the path and if it had been eroded away.

Question 10

What could be observed from carrying out a foot path survey?

Answer 10

Tells us if the footpaths are being eroded or damaged and if they are being managed.

Question 11

What were the limitations to this footpath survey?

Answer 11

The measurements taken may not be accurate as the path was very uneven.

Difficult to identify the start and end of footpath.

Also there could have been human error in reading and noting the results.

Question 12

What method was used to collect data from questionnaires?

Answer 12

We walked around Grasmere and asked 5 people including both locals and tourists a variety of questions . These questions included where they lived, how they got there, the purpose of their visit, and if Grasmere caters well for tourists. We then wrote our results on our questionnaire sheets.

Question 13

What did we find using questionnaires?

Answer 13

The questionnaires provide us with an idea of how well Grasmere caters for tourists and provides us of an understanding of the problems affecting residents.

Question 14

What are the limitations of our results from our questionnaires?

Answer 14

Our results could be biased as we could’ve asked people who looked approachable to answer our questions.

When we asked our questionnaires the weather was very warm and sunny, this could have resulted in a more positive response than if our questionnaires were conducted on a cold, rainy day.

Also we could have asked one person the questionnaire more than once as Grasmere is only a small village.

Question 15

How was land use data presented?

Answer 15

Land use mapping.

Question 16

What are the positives of this land use mapping data presentation technique?

Answer 16

• Easy to read and see what is the dominant land use.

- It shows size in area of land use and not just the number from a tally.

Question 17

What are the negatives of land use mapping data presentation?

Answer 17

-Can only represent one floor of buildings. In our case the ground floor. Upstairs may have a different use which is not shown.

Question 18

How was footpath data presented?

Answer 18

Footpath cross section.

Question 19

What are the positives of using a cross section to present data?

Answer 19

-Cross section is visually good for one site.

Question 20

What are the negatives of using a cross section to present data?

Answer 20

• To see changes across a large section of footpath you need to draw lots of cross sections which is time consuming.
• It doesn’t show difference along a whole section.

Question 21

How was questionnaire data presented?

Answer 21

Bar charts and pie charts.

Question 22

What are the positives of using bar charts to present data?

Answer 22

• Easy to read and colours can easily be represent categories.
• Can also label percentage for detail.

Question 23

What are the negatives of using bar charts to present data?

Answer 23

• Gives only proportions and not actual numbers.

- So cannot judge reliability of data (which is often based on number of questionnaires).

Question 24

What were the results from the land use survey?

Answer 24

29% Houses

30% Shops

21% Cafes

10% Open space

10% Hotels

There are a similar number of shops and houses at around 30% each. There are a high number of cafes at 21 %.

Question 25

What did the data land use results conclude?

Answer 25

From our land use survey we found that there are a similar number of shops and houses at around 30% each. There is a high number of cafes at 24%.

I was surprised to find that there is nearly an equal amount of shops as there are houses, since Grasmere is only a small village with a population of around 1000 people. However, it implied that Grasmere is a honey pot site as in order for their to be a large percentage of shops, cafes and hotels, 61% in total there must be many tourists visiting.

There are many cafes and shops which is good for both tourists and locals and provides a variety of places to visit and jobs.

Question 26

What were the results from the footpath survey?

Answer 26

We found that footpath erosion was deepest at the centre of the footpath, up to 18 cm in some places. The footpath width varied and was up to 160cm in places. Here the width of the footpath had increased and there were multiple footpaths present.

Question 27

What did the footpath data results conclude?

Answer 27

This data presented significant erosion which could be due to a number of both physical and human factors.

Human factors impacting on the footpath could include the level of use and the large popularity of the route was mainly by tourists visiting Grasmere.

The high level of use caused the centre of the footpath to be eroded largely, which caused it to become more slippery and muddy, or large groups therefore people walked on the opposite sides of the path increasing the width.