Area reference to Rural Geography Study Group

Transcription

Area reference to Rural Geography
Study Group
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(1974). Rural Geography Study Group. Area, reference unknown.
(1978). Rural Geography Study Group. Area, 10 (1), 73.
(1979). Rural Geography Study Group. Area, 11 (1), 25-26.
Extracts:
(1974). Rural Geography Study Group. Area, reference unknown.
Rural Geography Study Group
Details of the new committee appear on the inside back cover of 7 (1975), 1. Symposia are planned at
Birmingham in September ('Themes in Agricultural marketing') and at Lanchester in January 1976 (Socioeconomic problems in rural planning). Offers of papers will be welcome, and should be addressed to the
secretary: Dr A. Lemon, School of Geography, Mansfield Road, Oxford OXI 3TB.
In addition to arranging a successful symposium at the Hull Conference, the Group arranged a meeting in
September 1977 which was held at the University of Lancaster. The theme was' Rural settlement and landuse planning ' and the meeting was attended by nearly 40 participants, including local planners from outside
the Group's member ship. Seven papers were given on social changes in rural settlements, key settlement
policies, development control, housing, and the influence of changing agricultural patterns. A lively informal
discussion on the general theme of rurality was organized by the Group's Chairman, Alan Williams, for the
evening session. The University kindly provided a sherry reception for the conference and thanks are due to
Gordon Clark (Lancaster) for organizing the meeting.
The Annual General Meeting of the Group considered plans for a meeting in September 1978, probably
based at the University of Nottingham and considering aspects of land management and planning. The
meeting also reviewed the theme for the Manchester IBG conference in January 1979 and it is probable that
a symposium on landscape evaluation in planning rural areas will be mounted. A register of members'
research interests will be produced in 1978, updating the previous publications.
Alan Rogers
The Group's first venture into publishing was a conspicuous success. The papers and discussion from the
Hull symposium on' Urban growth, farmland losses and planning' (£1.00 from the Hon. Secretary) have sold
well and were well reported in the press. The Group also produced a register of members' research interests
and thanks are due to G. Clark (Lancaster) for editing this publication.
A successful meeting on the topic of ' Land management and planning ' was organized in September
by P. T. Wheeler and held at the University of Nottingham. Twin themes of agricultural management and
recreational management were combined over the 2 days with visits to a display area in Nottingham and to
country parks nearby. The Symposium organized by the Group at the Manchester conference is reported
elsewhere. Future meetings include a September meeting at the University of Birmingham on ' Impact
studies in rural planning ' and a joint meeting with the Geography and Planning Study Group at the next IBG
Annual Conference on the theme of National Parks.
The Group's chairman since 1974, A. F. Williams (Birmingham), retired at the AGM held in
Manchester and we are grateful to him for his work over the last 5 years. He is succeeded by V. B. Proudfoot
(St Andrews).
Alan Rogers
The intended conference in September 1979 on ' Impact studies in rural planning' which was to be convened
in Birmingham had to be cancelled due to lack of support. However, no such problems faced our joint effort
with the Geography and Planning Study Group in mounting a symposium on planning in National Parks at
the Lancaster Conference, convened by M. Blacksell (Exeter) on behalf of both Study Groups. All copies of
the report of the 1978 symposium on urban growth held at the Hull Conference have now been sold. The
report of the Manchester symposium on landscape evaluation is still awaited from the Landscape Research
Group.
Alan Rogers
The emphasis during the latter part of the year has been on a revitalisation of the Group's activities. This
process was begun with a lively and stimulating symposium on Social problems in rural communities
organised by Ian Bowler and Gareth Lewis at the Leicester Conference. It is evident from papers given at the
symposium that rural research flourishes, particularly with important policy applications forthcoming from the
research of rural geographers. Plans are now well advanced to publish a broadened edition of the
conference proceedings.
At the AGM, the Group's programme for 1981 was discussed. A residential conference on The study
and use of British woodlands has been organised by Philip Wheeler (to be held at the University of
Nottingham, 10-12 July) and a further mid-term meeting is planned for September on the general theme of
experimental solutions to social problems in the country side. In addition, information on current rural
research is to be collected and distributed to Group members. A joint symposium with the Geography and
Planning Study Group on the theme of Local scale planning is proposed for the Southampton conference
and offers of contributions to this symposium or other areas of the Group's activities will be gratefully
received by the committee.
Paul Cloke
The 1981 Annual General Meeting of the Group served as a forum for searching questions as to its activities
and validity as a separate organisation. Our 1982 programme has thus been pursued in a spirit of
invigoration and innovation in an attempt to revitalise rural geographical interests within the IBG. Generally
speaking, the efforts of the Committee have been matched with an energetic response from the membership
and the foundations have been laid for a variety of activities over 1982/3.
Three major symposia have been sponsored by the Group over the period to be reported. In January
1981, Ian Bowler and Gareth Lewis organised a topically important session on ' Social problems in rural
communities' which represented a very useful outlet for some of the many geographical research
programmes which are currently investigating rural social problems and their management. The papers from
this seminar are available from Ian Bowler (Leicester). In July 1981, Philip Wheeler (Nottingham) convened a
weekend conference on 'The use and study of British woodlands' which was well attended by
representatives of woodland owners and managers, and of local and national authorities concerned with
woodland management, as well as the other group members. Again, papers from this session are available
from the convenor. The third symposium took place in January 1982 on the theme of 'Management and
compulsion in the countryside'. Contributions from the Nature Conservancy Council, Country Landowners
Association and Hampshire County Council were a useful complement to papers from geographical
researchers. The session did not unduly suffer from the Ministerial failure to attend, although it has been
suggested that collusion between government and weather formation was used in an attempt to gag the last
two modules of the symposium! The collected papers from this session are available from Paul Cloke
(Lampeter). In addition to these general meetings, the group has attempted to establish a series of regional
group meetings, with localised gatherings to discuss rural topics being held regularly in some areas. It is
hoped that more regions will become active in the organisation of these meetings during 1982. Details of
regional organisers can be obtained from the group's secretary.
Apart from symposia papers, the group has involved itself in two further areas of publication. First, a
Register of Research in Rural Geography, 1981, has been compiled by Gordon Clark (Lancaster) which
gives a useful and very encouraging indication of the breadth and depth of research currently being
undertaken by group members on rural topics. Second, an IBG Special Publication is being prepared by
Brian Ilbery and Douglas Lockhart with the title of The future of the rural landscape. It is hoped that this
volume will encompass the wide variety of interests of group members and establish the Group once again
as an important agent for publication of rural research.
The revitalisation process mentioned earlier is further evidenced by proposals for 1982, which are
worthy of note in this context. In March, the group will be holding its first research training programme for
postgraduates and other research workers dealing with rural topics. This theme will be developed by a
separate Young Researchers Meeting which is designed to present an opportunity for a wide dissemination
of research results from this section of the membership. In September 1982, the group goes international: a
joint venture between RGSG and Rural Geografisch Overleg for a three day seminar on ' Living conditions in
peri-urban and remoter areas in northwestern Europe' will be held at the University of East Anglia from 3-5
September.
Despite the ever increasing financial difficulties caused by falling conference allowances available to
group members, the RGSG does appear to retain a very crucial role both as an initiating body for ' rural '
symposia (even if these are to become more localised) and as a focus within the IBG for the study of various
aspects of the countryside. Thanks are extended to a conscientious committee and active membership for
placing the group in this position.
Paul Cloke
Rural Geography Study Group The last year has been another successful one for the Group. Activities
have again focused on major symposia, regional meetings, postgraduate training and publications. The joint
meeting of RGSG and Dutch rural geographers and planners (Rural-Geografisch Overleg) at the University
of East Anglia in September 1982 brought together some fifty participants and during the three-day meeting
thirty-five papers were delivered. The theme of the conference ' Living conditions in peri-urban and remote
areas in northwestern Europe' was exhaustively researched in a wide range of papers dealing with rural
planning, village studies, population change, housing, accessibility problems and deprivation. Since the
conference, the papers have been revised under the editorial guidance of Gordon Clark (Lancaster), Jan
Groenendijk and Frans Thissen (V. U. Amsterdam) and will be published as The countryside in an urban
society by Geo Books, Norwich.
The joint symposium with the Historical Geography Research Group at the Annual Conference at
Edinburgh appropriately examined Scottish rural settlement patterns. The meeting was characterised by a
pleasing blend of reports on ongoing research by graduate students and papers by established researchers.
Themes discussed such as crafting, landholding changes and planned villages are already familiar to
students of Scottish historical geography, however papers on comparatively new topics, notably multiple
estates and medieval and early modern settlement patterns, were also presented.
Two mid-term meetings were arranged. The first, convened by R. H. Buchanan (Irish Studies,
Queen's Belfast) and P. Jess (OU in Northern Ireland) on ' Planning and change in the countryside ', was
held at Magee College, Londonderry on 9-11 September. On the Friday evening, the conference began with
a keynote address by Michael Dower (Darting ton Amenity Re search Trust) on 'Rural planning in the British
Isles: review and prospect '. On the Saturday morning, there were papers on economic and physical
planning in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, while the afternoon session on strategies for the
future examined integrated rural development in western Ireland and Scotland, and community development
and co operation in Ireland. Saturday evening was given over to a lively discussion of research issues while
the concluding session on Sunday morning was addressed by a local authority development officer and the
manager of a rural co-operative. The second mid-term meeting, held jointly with the Rural Economy and
Society Study Group, took place the following weekend at the University of Keeled. The theme of the
conference was ' Deprivation and welfare in rural areas' which opened with a review paper by Brian
McLaughlin (Chalmers Institute). There followed sessions on political economy, methodology, accessibility
and service planning. The conference was attended by an interdisciplinary group of researchers from
planning, sociology, economics and political science departments, however it is pleasing to be able to report
that RGSG members played a prominent role in keynote and supporting papers and in the conference
organisation.
In addition to these major symposia, several local meetings have been arranged. As usual the
departments in the East Midlands have been active and seminars introduced by P. Wheeler (Nottingham) on
'Country parks ' and A. Jones (Leicester) on 'The changing agriculture of the prospective members of the
EEC' were held, while a. meeting in the North West on 'Field work and data analysis' is planned for the
Autumn. It is hoped that further seminars will be held in these and other regions in 1984.
The second postgraduate training meeting was held in the Geography Department at University
College, London in April and was organised by Richard Manton (UCL). The meeting was attended by twenty
graduate students and six lecturers who chaired and introduced sessions on research design, secondary
sources, questionnaire preparation, data analysis and writing up results. Among the encouraging features of
the seminar were the stimulating papers and replies by graduate discussants, and the sustained flow of
critical comments from the group. The RGSG Committee are grateful to the IBG Study Group and Research
Fund for financial support. The success of the meeting, and indeed that of the first course held at
Birmingham in May 1982, have been encouraging enough to suggest that further meetings should be held at
regular intervals.
Looking to the future, the Committee look forward to meeting colleagues at the symposium on
'Contemporary issues in rural planning' to be held jointly with the Planning and Geography Study Group
(Conveners: Ian Bowler, Leicester and Mark Blacksell, Exeter) at the Annual Conference at Durham. It is
anticipated that the AGM agenda held during the symposium will include several items relating to the
Group's publication programme, namely a progress report on editorial work for the proposed special
publication The future of the rural landscape, a proposed monograph series similar to that of the Historical
Geography Research Group and the preparation of the fourth edition of the Research Register. It is hoped
that a large proportion of the membership will attend the Durham conference and give their support to RGSG
activities throughout 1984 so ensuring that the Group remains a major focus for debate on countryside
research.
Douglas Lockhart
1983-4 has been another active year for the Group. Three symposia were held; the first at Magee College
Londonderry in September was organised in conjunction with the Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's
University of Belfast and debated 'Planning and change in the countryside' (reported in Area 16, 97). On the
next weekend about fifty members of RGSG and the Rural Economy and Society Group combined forces at
Keele University to discuss 'Deprivation and Welfare' (report in Area 16, 180-1).
The session on 'Contemporary issues in rural planning' at the Annual Conference, convened by
Mark Blacksell (Geography and Planning Study Group) and Ian Bowler (RGSG), attracted a particularly high
level of interest and certainly justified the Committee's decision to encourage joint meetings with other study
groups.
Further joint meetings are also planned. In September 1984 the Industrial Activity and Area
Development Study Group and RGSG have arranged to meet at Coventry (Lanchester) Polytechnic to
examine industrial developments in rural areas and the industrialisation of agriculture while in summer 1985
the Canadian Rural Urban Study Group and RGSG are collaborating with the IGU Commission for Food
Systems to host a conference at the University of Guelph, Ontario, which will contain a strong section on
rural resource management. Provisional agreement has been reached with Croom Helm to publish the
proceedings.
A full program is also planned for the next IBG conference at Leeds, including symposia on ' Rural
accessibility and mobility' (jointly with the Transport Study Group) and a research forum for young rural
geographers.
Substantial progress has been made in the last twelve months with the Group's publication program.
The changing countryside incorporating revised papers from the British-Dutch meeting held at UEA in
September 1982 has been published by Geo Books who will also be publishing The future of the rural
landscape, a research monograph by members with interests in the British countryside. Our Irish colleagues
have produced a volume of proceedings from the Londonderry conference while the papers presented at the
Annual Conference at Durham have appeared in print in the ' South West Papers in Geography ' series.
A major new monograph series has been commissioned under the editorship of Richard Munton
(UCL). The initial response from the membership to contribute the results of their research has been
encouraging and already a number of abstracts are being considered by referees and publication should
begin in the later half of 1985. Members wishing to offer monographs should contact Dr Munton. Finally,
Tony Martin (Strathclyde) is presently editing the revised Research Register and any members who have not
yet sent details of their research interests and recent publications should write to Dr Martin.
New members of the Study Group are always very welcome. Our financial year begins on 1 October
and membership fees are currently £2.00 for members of IBG and £4.00 for non-members, including the
subscription for two research monographs per year. Anyone wishing further information about the Group's
activities should contact me at Department of Geography, University of Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG (Tel:
0782-6211 11 Ext. 458) or at the next Annual General Meeting of the Group which will be held during the
IBG Annual conference at Leeds. I hope that as many members as possible will attend the AGM to make
their views known about future meetings and publications.
Douglas Lockhart University of Keele
The Group has had another busy year. It has organised three meetings, two of which will lead to the
publication of collections of essays. The last twelve months has also seen the publication of Planning and
development in rural areas (Belfast) edited by Pat Jess et al., which resulted from a conference organised in
conjunction with the Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University of Belfast, in September 1982. The two
conferences from which publications are forthcoming were on ' Industrialisation of the countryside' (Coventry,
September 1984), which was a joint venture with the Industrial Activity and Area Development Study Group,
and the symposium on ' Rural accessibility and mobility ' held jointly with the Transport Geography Study
Group at IBG Leeds. Leeds also witnessed the Group's first submitted papers session for postgraduates and
its success will lead to a similar meeting at the next IBG Annual Conference.
The Group can look forward to a full programme during the next twelve months. In July, there is a
meeting on 'Rural resource management' with our Canadian colleagues at Guelph University, Ontario. At
IBG Reading our main symposium is 'Agriculture and the CAP' while the second British-Dutch seminar on
the theme 'Planning and the future of the countryside' will be held in Amsterdam in September (details from
Gordon Clark, Lancaster). Further publications are at an advanced stage, including a new Research Register
and the volume of essays on 'the future of the rural landscape', both of which should appear in print in the
next six months. Finally, the first volumes in the new Research Monograph series (edited by Richard Munton,
UCL) should be distributed to subscribers towards the end of the summer vacation. These are I R Bowler,
Agriculture under the CAP: a guide to the literature and N Walford, Flexibility in fixed resources: changes in
land, labour and machinery on large farms. Members are reminded that an annual subscription (£2.00) to
cover the production costs was introduced in session 1984-5.
Douglas Lockhart University of Keele
1985-86 has been another active year for the Study Group with three symposia taking place. Two of these
were held during the IBG Annual Conference in Reading. I Bowler (Leicester) convened a meeting entitled'
Agriculture and the CAP ', which took advantage of the fact that the conference was taking place at Reading
University to include agricultural economists as well as geographers among the speakers. The Group's
second ' Graduate Students Research Meeting ', organised by D Lockhart (Keele) and T Marsden (South
Bank Poly), was also held during the Reading Conference. This meeting provided a useful opportunity for
young researchers in the rural field to present papers and to talk about their work. The third symposium Uuly
1985) was a joint meeting with Canadian rural geographers at Guelph University, Ontario. In addition to
these thematic meetings, the Study Group also held a meeting in March 1986 (at UCL) to discuss current
and future research directions in rural geography. The discussion was used as a basis for preparing the
Study Group's submission to the SGRC.
A number of meetings are already being planned for the coming year. In September 1986 the
second Anglo-Dutch Symposium on rural geography is to take place in Amsterdam and it is envisaged that
publication of the papers will occur in due course. For the IBG Annual Conference in Portsmouth, P Cloke
(Lampeter) is convening a full-day session on 'Concept, theory and rural geography' which has attracted a
number of important papers. Looking further into the future, preliminary plans are now being made to hold a
joint meeting with French rural geographers in September 1987.
During the last year publications arising from the Group's activities have continued to appear. A
collection of papers from the Leeds IBG Conference entitled Rural accessibility and mobility has been edited
by P Cloke (Lampeter). Geo Books are publishing two books edited by members of the Study Group. The
first, The industrialisation of the countryside (B Ilbery and M Healey), appeared in January 1986 and the
second, The future of the British rural landscape (D Lockhart and B Ilbery), is scheduled for publication
before the autumn. The collection of papers on Agriculture and the CAP presented at the Reading
Conference became available in July 1986. One disappointing and frustrating factor that has affected the
Study Group's publication plans is the decision by Geo Books to change the terms under which it was
prepared to publish our research monograph series. This decision was annoying for the Group as a whole,
but was especially so for the editor (R Munton, UCL) and contributors to the embryonic series, several of
whom had already prepared typescripts. The production of a revised Research Register is now in hand and
G Robinson, who has assumed responsibility for the task, will be contacting the membership in the near
future.
The Study Group is always happy to welcome new members. Our financial year runs from I October
to 30 September and membership fees are currently £2.00 for members of IBG and £4.00 for non-members,
including a subscription for two monographs a year. Anyone wishing for further information about the Group's
activities should contact N Walford (Secretary, ESRC Data Archive, Essex) or B Ilbery (Treasurer, Coventry
Poly).
N Walford ESRC Data Archive University of Essex
The Study Group has continued to provide a forum in which geographers who are researching rural topics
can find an outlet for their work and for carrying on debate about the important issues that are now being
faced in the countryside. The principal means by which members make their work known remain the
conference and publications. During the past year the Study Group has supported two conferences. The first
of these was a joint meeting with Dutch rural geographers, which took place in Amsterdam in September
1986, where the theme was 'Planning and the future of the countryside '. This proved to be a very successful
meeting with 17 of the Group's members joining a similar number of Dutch participants. The Study Group is
particularly grateful to Dr Gordon Clark (Lancaster) for his single-handed organisation of the British end, and
also for offering Lancaster University as a base for another joint meeting in two or three years time. Two
publications are planned following this Conference, which will be distributed to those who participated. The
second symposium of the Group took place during the Annual Conference of the IBG at Portsmouth. In this
case our thanks go to Dr Paul Cloke (St David's Lampeter) for assembling a very interesting and stimulating
collection of papers around the theme' Concept and theory in rural geography '. The papers provided a
welcome opportunity to debate important theoretical questions; and the quality of the discussion and the
number of people attracted to the session reveals the current ascendency of rural geography in the discipline
as a whole. The majority of papers from this symposium are to appear in the Journal of Rural Studies. At the
Annual Conference in Loughborough the Group is holding a session on technology and rural change and a
postgraduate forum.
In addition to the two books arising from the Amsterdam Conference, the main publications with
which the Group has been involved are a volume for the IBG Special Publication Series entitled The Future
of the British rural landscape (edited by D Lockhart and B Ilbery); and Deprivation and welfare in rural areas
(edited by T Bradley, P Lowe and S Wright) published by Geo Books. The contributions to this book arose
from a joint conference with the Rural Economy and Society Study Group which took place at Keele
University in 1983. The Group's plans for a Monograph Series, which were thrown into disarray in the
autumn of 1985 by the takeover of Geo Books by Elsevier, were the subject of much discussion by the
Committee. of the RGSG during the last year. The issue was also discussed at length during the Annual
General Meeting of the Group in Portsmouth, when it was decided to abandon plans for the Group to publish
its own series in the light of proposals emanating from IBG Council. It is hoped that the proposal to publish
through Sigma Press will enable some or all of the four typescripts that are ready for publication to see the
light of day.
Many members of the Group are actively involved with other academic organisations. Particularly
useful links have been made with the Rural Economy and Society Study Group of the British Sociological
Association. The RGSG is also fostering links with the Contemporary Agriculture and Rural Land Use
Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, and we are particularly pleased that one of
CAARLU's members has been invited under the Young Research Worker Scheme to the next Annual
Conference by the IBG Council. Dr Guy Robinson (Edinburgh) has also started work on updating the Group's
Research Register during the last year and it is expected that this will be distributed during the autumn of
1987.
The Study Group is always pleased to welcome new members and anyone wishing to receive further
information should contact Dr N Walford (Secretary, ESRC Data Archive, Essex University) or Dr B Ilbery
(Treasurer, Geography Dept, Coventry Polytechnic).
N Walford ESRC Data Archive University of Essex
The last year has been a period of consolidation and forward planning after considerable dynamism in the
work of the Group. At the annual conference two sessions were convened: one by Nigel Walford (ESRC
Data Archive, Essex) developed the overall conference theme in terms of' technology and rural change'; the
other by Keith Hoggart (KCL) took the form of a Postgraduate Forum which was well supported. We were
pleased to welcome Duane Nellis (Kansas State) to the first of these sessions under the Young Research
Worker Scheme. His paper on the application of remote sensing techniques to the irrigation needs of the
American High Plains contributed to the international flavour of the papers which included research on North
Africa, Israel and the Gaeltacht areas of Ireland. The September conference took place at Ripon with our
thanks going to Patrick Hart and Margaret Atherden (College of Ripon and York St John) for organising a
rewarding meeting. In addition to papers on the theme of the role of institutions in countryside management,
two valuable field seminars were held on the Nidd Gorge Countryside Management Project and the North
York Moors National Park; the seminars involved detailed discussions with 'managers' drawn from the
Countryside Commission, NYM National Park, Forestry Commission and Harrogate District Council.
During the year a further edition of the Register of Research by Group members was published; the
Group is grateful to Guy Robinson (Edinburgh) for collating and seeing the material into print. Any member
requiring a copy should write to Edinburgh. The papers from the September 1987 conference will also be
published later in the year although, regrettably, the Group has had to abandon its plans for a series of
monographs.
Planning for the future has been put in hand: an Anglo-French conference in Caen in September
1989 and a joint conference in London in the summer of 1991 with rural geographers drawn from the
Contemporary Agriculture and Rural Land Use Speciality Group (CAARLU) of the Association of American
Geographers and the Rural and Urban Fringe Study Group (RUFSG) of the Canadian Association of
Geographers. Publications are being planned based on these and other meetings; details are contained in
the Group's Newsletter, which is circulated to members twice a year, and anyone wishing to be placed on the
mailing list, either within Britain or elsewhere, should write to the Group's secretary, Nigel Walford. Finally
our warm thanks have been extended to Richard Munton who completed his term as Chair of the Group in
January. During his period of office the Group has extended its activities in the fields of publications and
international conferences, thus helping to carry forward the active research work of rural geographers in
Britain.
Ian Bowler University of Leicester
The Study Group continues to provide various opportunities for members to present papers based on their
research and actively encourages participation by younger as well as more senior members in the Group's
activities. Dr Ian Bowler (Leicester) convened the mid-year conference at Loughborough University with
assistance from David Evans (Loughborough), which enabled the Group to review and discuss some of the
major research initiatives in rural geography that have taken place in the last few years. The meeting
provided the opportunity for the results of projects to be presented and for some initial steps to be taken
towards defining a research agenda for rural geography. For example, Richard Munton talked about the work
of the Rural Studies Research Centre at University College London and Peter Humphreys discussed some
of the current projects at the Northern Ireland Economic Research Centre.
The annual conference of the Institute provided the second main forum for rural geographers to
assemble and discuss their research. Two sessions were organised for the Coventry gathering of the
Institute. The RGSG is always open to suggestions for joint sessions with other Study Groups and at the
Coventry we teamed up with the Population Geography Study Group for a full day of discussion about
People in the Countryside organised by Charles Watkins (Rural Studies Centre, Royal Agricultural College,
Cirencester) and Tony Champion (Newcastle). An introduction to the session was given by Malcolm
Moseley, Director of ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England). The substantive papers were given
by a mixture of rural and population geographers and included presentations on journey patterns of the
elderly and disabled (Gant and Lewis, Kingston Polytechnic), rural in-migrants (Harper, Royal Holloway and
Bedford New College) and women in rural labour markets (Little, Bristol Polytechnic). The second session at
the annual conference, organised for the RGSG by Martin Parry (Birmingham), was another in our very
successful series of Postgraduate Fora. Seven papers were presented as a potpouri of current postgraduate
research in rural geography and ranged from an examination of 'Present day interpretations of 18th Century
designed landscapes' (Seymour, Nottingham) to a Mid-Wales study of' The impact of land abandonment on
soil' (Phillips, Birmingham).
Several members of the Study Group had books published during the course of the last year and the
proceedings from the September 1987 conference in Ripon appeared as The role of institutions in
countryside management edited by Patrick Hart and Margaret Atherden (College of Ripon and York St John).
Plans are advanced for the publication of an edited selection of the papers presented at the joint Population
and Rural Geography session at the annual conference.
During the course of the last year the Study Group has continued to strengthen its links with rural
geographers in other countries. These endeavours have resulted in plans being made for a number of joint
international conferences over the next few years. The first of these is the British French conference in Caen,
September 1989, for which the RGSG has received a grant from the IBG. In August 1990 there is to be a
roving three centre conference of British, US and Canadian geographers in London, Leicester and Exeter.
Preliminary plans have also been made for a third British-Dutch conference to be held at Lancaster
University in 1992.
Nigel Walford ESRC Data Archive University of Essex
The academic year 1989-90 has been a busy one for the group. The September meeting was held at Caen
and was a joint meeting of French and British geographers. This was organised jointly by Ian Bowler and
Nigel Walford from the RGSG and Professor Pierre Brunet of the University of Caen. There were about 15
members from the RGSG, including a number of post-graduate students, and a similar number from France.
It is hoped that a second British-French conference will take place in 1993.
As usual, the RGSG was involved with two sessions at the annual IBG conference at Glasgow. The
first session, which was convened jointly by Guy Robinson of the RGSG and Gareth Jones of the BGRG was
entitled ' Land use changes and the environment in the European Community'. This was a wide-ranging
session with contributors from Scotland, Italy and the Netherlands. The topics covered included changing
agricultural policies; land use changes in the rural-urban fringe and conflicts between tourism and the
environment. The second session, organised for the RGSG by Sarah Harper, continued the successful
tradition of young research workers' sessions and consisted of six presentations covering subjects such as
countryside imagery in the media and counter-urbanisation. The final paper of the session was given by the
RGSG guest research worker, Rob Rooren, of the University of Amsterdam, who examined issues of
planning and housing provision currently of concern in the Netherlands.
Future meetings include two sessions at the Sheffield IBG in January 1991. The Young Research
Workers Session is being convened by Robert Gant (Kingston) and the second session is being convened
by Andrew Gilg (Exeter). The late summer meeting is being held on 27 and 28 September at the University
of Leicester: Gareth Lewis has arranged a conference entitled 'Rural mobility and housing: from theory to
practice'. In addition plans are well underway for the UK-Canadian-USA conference to be held in Britain in
August 1991.
Charles Watkins Centre for Rural Studies Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester
The group has continued its policy of arranging a series of meetings and conference sessions. The late
summer meeting of 1990 was held at the University of Leicester. Gareth Lewis arranged a conference
entitled 'Rural mobility and housing: from theory to practice'. Papers dealt with themes associated with
counter-urbanisation, second homes and the rural aged.
At the IBG Conference in Glasgow the group convened two sessions. Six papers were presented to
a well-attended Young Research Workers' Forum. These related to three broad themes: concern with
countryside image and heritage; new settlement planning and rural land economy. It was a stimulating
afternoon demonstrating the diversity of interest and healthy status of postgraduate research in Rural
Geography.
The restructuring of the countryside is a key area in current rural research and Andrew Gilg (Exeter)
convened the group's session on this theme which included 13 papers. The session was very well attended
with up to 70 in the audience. Many of the papers had a strong environmental theme and several took the
form of progress reports on research in hand, particularly that under the aegis of the various countryside
initiatives from the ESRC. A panel of outside discussants included speakers from Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fishing, the Countryside Commission, Council for the Protection of Rural England, the Country
Landowners' Association, the Peak District National Park and the Institute for European Environmental
Policy. Their commentaries added a policy dimension which was sometimes missing from the academic
papers.
The Canada/UK/USA Conference of rural geographers convened by Ian Bowler (Leicester) is being
held in August 1991. This is a travelling meeting with paper sessions held in London, Leicester and
Birmingham. At the Swansea IBG the group is again involved in two sessions. One is called Gender issues
in rural society and is being convened by Jo Little; the other is the RGSG young research workers session
which is being arranged by Gordon Clark.
Charles Watkins Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester
The past year has been a particularly busy one for the RGSG. In August 1991 the group was host to an
important international conference on the theme of the contemporary social and economic restructuring of
rural areas. This very successful meeting, which was convened by Ian Bowler (Leicester), consisted of a
combination of paper sessions and field seminars based around three centres: UCL, Leicester and
Birmingham. Field visits were made to London's urban fringe, arable farming areas of Cambridgeshire, the
Peak National Park and the Cotswolds. Fifteen participants were drawn from each of the rural geography
speciality groups in the UK, USA and Canada. The forty-five papers presented have been edited by Ian
Bowler, Christ Bryant and Duane Nellis and will be commercially published later this year in two volumes.
(Contemporary rural systems in transition: Agriculture and Environment (Vol 1); Economy and Society (Vol 2)
CAB International).
At the 1992 Swansea meeting of the IBG the RGSG was involved in two sessions. As usual the
young research workers session was very well attended and provided an excellent opportunity for
postgraduates to present preliminary results of their studies. The joint session between RGSG and WGSG
on gender issues in rural society organised by Jo Little (Bristol Polytechnic) was well attended and generated
an interesting discussion. Three of the papers presented achieved considerable publicity with press reports
in The Times, The Telegraph and The Guardian and national and local radio coverage.
The proceedings of two conferences held by the RGSG were published this year. Gareth Jones
(Strathclyde) and Ken Sherwood (Nene College) have edited Rural mobility and housing which is available
from the Department of Geography, University of Leicester and Gareth Jones (Strathclyde) and Guy
Robinson (Edinburgh) have edited Land use changes and the environment in the European Community as a
joint monograph of the BSG and RGSG.
At the 1993 Annual Conference to be held at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, the RGSG
will be involved in three sessions. Nigel Walford (Kingston) is convening a session on rural geography and
uneven development; Gordon Clark (Lancaster) is convening the young research workers session and the
group is organising jointly with HESG and IAADSG a session on teaching economic geography. At Lancaster
in September 1992, Gordon Clark is organising the third British-Dutch symposium on rural geography.
Charles Watkins University of Nottingham
The past year has been both busy and successful for the RGSG. In September 1992 the group hosted the
highly successful Third British Dutch Rural Geography Symposium on the theme ' 1992 and the European
Countryside'. This meeting, organised by Gordon Clark (Lancaster), combined paper sessions and field
seminars around site visits to the Lake District. A selection of the papers from the conference are to be
published shortly in Netherlands Geografische Studies.
The RGSG was involved in three sessions at the Annual IBG Conference at Royal Holloway and
Bedford New College. Nigel Walford (Kingston) convened a session on ' Uneven development and the
countryside' which included a wide range of stimulating papers. Mick Healey (Coventry) convened a joint
session with the Higher Education, Industrial Activity and Area Development Group and the RGSG entitled
'Teaching Economic Geography 'which included papers, a workshop and a poster session which explored
recent developments in teaching methods, course content and teaching quality. As in previous years, the
Young Rural Geography Researchers (convened by Gordon Clark (Lancaster)) proved to be very successful
attracting a range of interesting contributions from students engaged in doctoral research in rural geography.
Two publications based on RGSG sessions appeared during the last year-Brunet's 'Rural France
and Britain' and 'Contemporary Rural Systems in Transition' edited by Ian Bowler (Leicester). Further
publications are planned from the British Dutch symposium (above) and the RHBNC sessions.
Andrew Gilg (Exeter) is convening the Second Franco-British Colloquium on Rural Geography at the
University of Exeter in September 1993. This follows the successful meeting in Caen two years ago and will
include papers on the European rural space, peri-urban agriculture and the diversification of the rural
economy, and an excursion to the neighbouring Dartmoor National Park. Brian Ilbery (Coventry) is
organising a session on 'Processes of Rural Change: culture and economy' at the Nottingham IBG and
Nicholas Evans will convene the Young Researchers workshop. Members of the Group will also be involved
in the IGU Study Group session on the ' Sustainability of Rural Systems ' in Montreal in August this year.
Steven Martin Aston Unversity
The past year proved to be both a busy and productive one for the Rural Geography Study Group. the
Second Franco-British Colloquium on Rural Geography, organised by Andrew Gilg (Exeter), attracted over
forty delegates and twenty three papers including several joint presentations which reflected the increasing
trend towards inter-disciplinary work and greater international collaboration. The success of the event was
reflected in widespread support for a proposal to hold a third conference in Nantes in 1997.
The Group had the pleasure of welcoming a number of colleagues from overseas, including Lisa
Harrington (USA) who was supported by the Institute's Young Researchers Scheme, to its sessions at the
Annual Conference in Nottingham. All the sessions proved to be very successful with the response to calls
for papers, the quality of those presented and the very high attendances being symptomatic of a continuing
resurgence of interest in rural geography, particularly among post-graduate researchers. The Young Rural
Researchers' Forum organised by Nick Evans (Worcester), attracted a large audience for papers organised
around the two broad themes of agricultural restructuring and the rural economy. The full day session on '
Processes of rural change ', convened by Brian Ilbery (Coventry), was similarly well attended. It attracted
sixteen papers which offered perspectives on issues of culture and economy in rural areas of the UK,
Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, Estonia and Australia.
The Group supported a number of other international conferences/seminars during the year
including the AAG meeting on ' Feminist perspectives on capitalist agriculture ' in April in San Francisco, the
35th EAAE seminar on 'Rural Realities' in June and the conference on ' Societies in transition ' in Edinburgh
also in June. ' The Retreat: rural land use and European agriculture ', based on a selection of the papers
presented at the Group's 1992 British-Dutch Rural Geography Symposium and edited by Gordon Clark
(Lancaster) (with E Bolsuis and J Groenendijk) was published in December 1993 and is available from the
Royal Dutch Geographical Society and the University of Amsterdam.
The Group has detailed plans for a range of future events including a conference on 'Accessing the
countryside ' to be held in September 1994, three sessions at the 1995 Annual Conference, a conference on
'Migration and rural areas ' to be held in the Spring of 1995, a joint conference with North American rural
geographers in North Carolina in the summer of 1995 and the first British-Spanish Rural Geography
Symposium in 1996. Members of the Group also participated in the IGU Commission on sustainability which
met in Berlin/ Bradenburg in August 1994 and a seminar being organised by Arthur Morris (Glasgow) on
'Rural Planning policies: a protected or productive countryside? '. In January the Group elected Brian Ilbery
as its new Chair and Keith Halfacree, Carol Morris and Catherine Kelly as new committee members. Thanks
are due to retiring committee members Clive Potter and Harriet Emerson and especially to Gordon Clark
who, as Chair, has led the Group through three extremely successful years during which it has built up a
range of new and exciting international links with rural geographers in a number of other European countries.
Steve Martin Local Government Centre, University of Warwick
The last year has been another busy and productive one for the Study Group. In September Charles Watkins
and Suzanne Seymour (Nottingham) convened a two day conference at Nottingham University on
'Accessing the Countryside '. This attracted a wide range of very interesting papers (many from researchers
and practitioners who were contributing to the Group's work for the first time) and included an excellent
Guest Lecture from Marion Shoard based on her latest book. The Group organised two major sessions at
this year's Annual Conference. Nick Evans (Worcester) convened an extremely well attended session on
'Rural Europe ' and Carol Morris (Chester) convened our Young Rural Researchers' Forum which, as in
previous years, attracted a large number of excellent contributions from postgraduates working in rural
geography. The Group also co-sponsored a session on 'Nature, Environment and Landscape: European
attitudes 1920-1970', convened by Denis Cosgrove (Royal Holloway, London).
In March Keith Halfacree (Swansea) and Paul Boyle (Leeds) convened a major conference on
'Migration Issues in Rural Areas'. The Group also supported the Scottish Geographer's Conference on 'Rural
Planning and Policy' in May, organised by Arthur Morris (Glasgow), and the conference on ' Societies in
Transition: social change in the city and countryside ' convened by Alan Murie (Birmingham) in June. The
Group is continuing to see increasing interest in rural geography among young researchers and, in response
to this, Catherine Kelly (Kingston) and Annie Hughes (Bristol) organised a Postgraduate Workshop in May. A
number of post graduate members were also involved in a visit to Cirencester to celebrate the 150th
anniversary of the Royal Agricultural College, organised by Brian Ilbery (Coventry).
The Group has a number of future events planned. Fifteen invited UK participants will be attending
the Anglo-Canadian-US Rural Geography Symposium at the University of Charlotte in August. The Group is
convening two sessions at the next Annual Conference and supporting a joint session on 'New geographies
of food' organised with the EGSG and SCGSG. In September 1996 it will host a joint UK-Spanish Rural
Geography symposium (we would be delighted to hear from anyone willing to assist with translation!), and in
1997 the Group will be holding the Third UK-French Rural Geography Symposium in Nantes. At this year's
AGM Nigel Walford (Kingston) was re-elected as the Group's Treasurer and Suzanne Seymour (Nottingham)
as a member of the committee. Annie Hughes was elected as the Post-graduate member. We are grateful to
them, the rest of the committee, the convenors of our seminar sessions, workshops and conferences, and to
our many active members for ensuring that the year was such a successful one. We also extend a warm
welcome to our new members, particularly those from the RGS who have joined since the merger.
Steve Martin University of Warwick
Young Rural Researchers The conference saw another highly successful presentation by postgraduate
students of ongoing research, attesting strongly to the health of current ' rural ' research. Proceedings
kicked-off, in a session chaired by Liz Hyde (Bristol), with a paper by Charlotte Andrews (Chester) on '
Cultural sensitivity in agri-environmental research '. Charlotte is adopting a qualitative methodology to
explore Cheshire farmers' constructions of environmental meanings. Lise Saugeres (Manchester
Metropolitan) took us to southern France for 'The modern farmwoman versus the traditional farmwoman '.
We saw how male farmers are having to come to terms with demands from their partners for greater levels of
(economic) independence, breaking with the imagined ' natural order '. Tourism and sustainability, areas of
considerable current interest, were explored by Judith Selman (Reading) in 'Tourism, rural livelihoods and
sustainability in coastal Kenya '. The coastal people are increasingly excluded from ' traditional ' lands
through pressures of tourism-led development, a change threatening the ecologically-sensitive tropical
wetland system.
The second session, chaired by Emma James (Swansea), began with Rachel Spooner (Bristol)
discussing ' Rurality and " race " in England '. Rachel outlined the ' whiteness ' of the ' rural idyll ' from a
gender-sensitive perspective, as reproduced by organisations such as the Women's Institute. Drawing on
fieldwork in Ireland and Brittany, Moya Kneafsey (Liverpool) presented a theoretically robust account of '
Place, identity and tourism in the rural periphery ', where our ' need for place ' is problematised in the
constructions of places performed by the tourist industry. Stepping-in as a late replacement, Steve Toole
(Swansea) described his work with small farmers in Barbados in ' The political ecology of small-scale
agriculture in the eastern Caribbean '. Steve's research concentrates upon farmers' decision making in the
context of global scale economic, institutional and climatic changes. Finally, Victoria Hatton (Nene) described
' Public participation in village appraisals ' in Northamptonshire. Whilst appraisals have burgeoned since the
1970s, this self-help process ranges from the genuinely cooperative to more formalised approaches.
Keith Halfacree University of Wales, Swansea

Area reference to Rural Geography Study Group

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