Known for its beautiful sunsets and colourful cliffs striped with red (limestone), white (chalk) and orange (carrstone), Hunstanton is a perfect location for geographers to explore.
That is exactly what a group of Remove Form boys did when they spent a day at this seaside town, (the closest point on the UK coast from Bedford!) on 24 June. Setting off by coach in the morning, the boys were on the beach in New Hunstanton two hours later, where they enjoyed the opportunity to study the landscapes and processes that they have learnt so much about in the classroom.
They spent some time appreciating the scale of the recurved sea wall that protects the settlement behind it, saw first-hand the difference in height between two sides of a groyne due to sediment accumulation and discussed the factors responsible for the formation of the dramatically coloured cliffs.
The boys were tasked with carrying out a series of fieldwork methods to measure different elements of the beach environment. This involved them drawing field sketches, pacing the beach to determine its width, measuring sand height along a groyne to assess its effectiveness and measuring longshore drift at the shoreline with the use of a biodegradable float. To everyone’s amusement, the seagulls took a particular fancy to their choice of dog biscuit brand for this data collection method. Luckily, one or two floated, un-eaten, to generate some useful data!
Following a spot of lunch, the boys walked to Old Hunstanton over the cliffs, enjoying views of the sand dunes and beaches from an excellent vantage point. Before heading home, they were blessed with a warm and sunny afternoon to collect data to compare to New Hunstanton and to explore a sand dune environment.
