Geography Camp - 2 of 5

I spent Friday and Saturday this week at the Geography Camp. This was the second time that the Geography Collective has organised a chance for Geographers to get together and discuss a range of issues and take part in a wide range of activities.

The details of some of the events that were planned can be seen here.
The event took place at Gradbach Mill on the edge of the Peak District which was a bit of a long way from home, so I made my way over via a few familiar places, but also took a route I hadn't been to before, which took me past my National Trust lunch stop: the Museum of Childhood.

I worked my way up through the southern edge of the Peak District, and then crunched my way through the ice to Gradbach, which was just below Flash: the highest village in Britain, and home to the famous primary school where there was an apocryphal story about the height of the school meaning that staff members would need a mountain leadership certificate to supervise the playground.

We had the whole of the mill to ourselves, so I got settled into my room and set up some of the communal spaces. We had around 30 people booked in, and I welcomed the first arrivals and we got settled in for a weekend of exploration. Dan's arrival with all the food for the weekend, and a packed car load full of props and equipment sparked a few hours of activity as we set up the creative spaces, and put up the calendar for the main days. There were boxes of Mission:Explore Food books - a copy was included in the fee for the weekend, costumes and wigs, board games, moustaches, inky pens and stamps and various other geography goodness.

Menah started on the soups for the evening meal, and the venue filled up. Conversations were starting quickly, and it was clear that we had assembled a wonderfully varied mix of people: therapists, artists, geographers, teachers, educators, PhD students etc.

The venue was out of mobile phone range and there was no wifi, which helped everyone to 'switch off' and tune in to the events that were planned.
The first evening was mostly about socialising and meeting people and starting to make connections. There were some excellent soups first of all, with crusty bread, and the wine and beer was flowing nicely.
There was a classroom space with a theatre-like ambience, and we set that up for a first meeting and introductions, and a pub quiz, which my team won of course ;)
I went for a walk up the frozen hillside to find a signal to phone home, and the grass was frozen and sparkling under a full moon. Watched planes on the approach to Manchester airport, and took a few photos. Really pleased with how some of them turned out....


I then went back to the Mill to drink and chat until the early hours, before heading for my top-bunk bed...

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