The Geography Collective: The Accidental Geographer

Writing this first blog, I’m thinking about travelling …

Last year, my secondary school (c 1980–87) in Redcar, north-east England, was demolished. A shiny, ultra modern replacement had already been built just across the road, and the board of governors hosted a ‘reunion’ evening on the Friday before bricks tumbled, for all ex-pupils: the old place was filled to the rafters! (We were also invited to ‘bring a bottle’, but this story isn’t about the chaos and anarchy that ensued - another time perhaps!!) What I want to think about here is how, wandering around my old school, I was overwhelmed by the curious geographies that led me to where I am today.

I should tell you that I’m a lecturer in human geography at Northumbria University, in Newcastle, North East England. I should also mention that I didn’t study geography at school beyond third year senior (Year 9 I believe it is called now). I enjoyed the subject but not enough to choose it over others. As I walked the corridors that reunion night, I felt haunted by this gap in my education, and compelled to go to the geography classroom in which I’d spent little time. There was a large (and old) map of the world on the wall, which I didn’t remember being there. After I finished my A’ levels, I left England and spent a few years working my way across several continents, and I traced my travels across the map. What started out as a ‘gap year’ morphed into extended drifting, ‘education through experience’… which it most certainly was: I learnt how to read maps of all kinds for a start!

Then I spotted some geography textbooks, and flicking through I noticed the predominance of environmental issues. This made me smile. Both during and after travelling (living in London) I worked in the voluntary sector (homeless shelters, then mental health projects) because I’ve been passionate about social issues for as long as I can remember. My problem was that this ‘social work’ was rarely concerned with the environment - the focus was only on people, and I had a nagging feeling that place was important too. So I did a degree in environmental management as a mature student (Manchester), followed by some time in the community composting world (Lincoln then Kent). Then I stumbled across ‘human geography’ as a discipline through a friend, and knew I’d found a home! I did a PhD that combined my concerns regarding social and environmental justice, and as a lecturer I feel privileged to be able to work with these interests every day.

As I stood in the geography room that night, spinning the globe on the teacher’s desk, I was amazed at how far I’ve travelled (physically and emotionally) in the 20-odd years it’s taken me to get from school in Redcar to university in Newcastle - and a little astonished at the curious routes I’ve taken. My sense is that the geography curriculum and geography teaching has changed since I was at school, maybe if I was studying now I would take a more direct path to becoming ‘a geographer’. But my point, I guess, is that a passion for ‘geography’ can come in many disguises, and involve many journeys.

The GGiP (Give Geography its Place) campaign is formed of a group called the 'Geography Collective' who produce media, events, books and ideas to get people exploring and seeing the world differently... www.ggip.co.uk