Selected Themes in the Historical Geography of TransportAuthor(s): David HalsallSource: Area, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1986), pp. 66-67Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20002269 .

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66 Annual Conference

Indeed, Sir David Hancock urged geographers to focus their loyalties on their discipline above their institutions: there could not have been a clearer invitation to divide and be conquered. It revealed to me how deficient sociologists have also been in this respect, encouraged by our belief-I'm not sure how accurate-that sociology is uniquely and perennially under threat.

We hardly, as yet, have the institutions to defend social science more broadly, or higher education in general; but we must, I believe, develop them and try to orientate our defence at those levels.

Dan Shapiro Dept of Sociology, University of Lancaster

In the right place at the right time?-a research student's view My expectations of an IBG annual conference varied. In an idealistic moment I thought of the discovery of new ideas and developments, of meeting other people interested in my work and of stimulation about geography and its contribution to society. Then pessimistic realism returned to remind me of never-ending sessions in stone-cold rooms, huge crowds of unfamiliar academics and, worst of all, the awkward question, 'is that really geography? '!

The first opportunity to break through this pessimistic outlook came via the formal sessions. After immersion in a specific topic for much of the year, it is refreshing to be able to attend papers on wider geographical issues. The papers themselves varied widely in presentation and the amount of discussion they prompted. Generally, I felt the attempt was made to fit in too

many papers to the detriment of discussion-that vital element in provoking and sharing ideas so often missing in the everyday working environment of the postgraduate. The best sessions

were those with a coherent set of papers, followed by at least half an hour of discussion. But the formal sessions were not the only potential source of reinspiration for the pessimist.

It is often said that the really important discussions are those that go on at other times. However, to benefit from these arguably exclusive social gatherings, the research student must be adept at latching on to the ' informal ' lines of communication. This is a somewhat daunting feat but it can be helped by the supervisor in another facet of her/his already much discussed role. One introduction can-or perhaps I should say ought to-produce the desired ' chain reaction '.

Any new-found optimism may, however, receive a fatal blow when the nature of geography and its relevance is raised. The list of session topics reveals several attempts by the discipline to achieve relevance. These include studies of agriculture and the CAP, job growth, nationalism, and a whole selection of developing world topics. However, relevance relates not only to the subject being studied but also to the approach adopted. This important issue of approach was raised in the session on decoding documentary films which culminated by questioning the

whole notion of ' reality '. An awareness of different ' levels of reality ' may cause difficulties in problem solution but unless geographers are critically thinking people, their findings will be invalid.

This year's conference had the potential to inspire the research student with a stimulating paper or an interesting conversation but whether this actually happened depended very much on being in the right place at the right time.

Susanne Seymour University of Nottingham

Selected themes in the historical geography of transport

Members of the Historical Geography Research Group and Transport Geography Study Group met in what seemed to be the coldest room in the Palmer Building, exposed to fresh

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Annual Conference 67

south-easterly winds as a series of oncoming frontal troughs advanced. The bleak conditions were however ameliorated by the first two papers, both on roads. Owen Silver (St Andrews) pursued a fascinating discussion of pre-Turnpike management of Scottish roads with particular reference to Fife. He compared the effects of the 1555 Statute Labour Act on road maintenance and construction in England and Wales with the Scottish situation after the 1669 Act, and demonstrated the early commitment to road improvement in Fife. Brian Turton (Keele) examined the initiation and growth of the Turnpike network in Staffordshire up to 1840, research completed with Tony Phillips (Keele). He demonstrated the similarities in trends of adoption in Staffordshire and nationally before utilising the much more restricted data on traffic and income between 1820 and 1830 to examine variations in traffic distribution.

Fortified by hot coffee, the meeting focused attention upon contrasting elements of railway development. Hans Werner Wehling (Essen) analysed the growth of the extremely complex and dense network of railways in the Ruhr. Railways, industry and settlements grew through a series of phases of expansion, competition and co-ordination until the decline of traditional industries and associated railways after 1945. David Halsall (Edge Hill) concluded the morning

with a discussion of the services and facilities offered by the London Midland & Scottish Railway Company and its predecessors in north Wales. Timetabled passenger and freight services and changes in infrastructure capacity demonstrate a response to developing traffic pressures. Further publicity of tourist facilities increased the strain upon a system grossly overloaded during summer weekends. Sadly the visions of tourism and holiday traffic along the

Welsh coast did little to ease the prevailing cold. David Halsall

Edge Hill College of HE

Agriculture and the CAP This session was particularly timely, taking place in the same week as the European Community (EC) opened its doors to Spain and Portugal. Indeed the problems of Mediterranean agricul ture and the likely aggravation of levels of surplus after enlargement were themes raised during the session. The session itself attracted a curious mixture of rural geographers, agricultural economists and rural sociologists all providing different insights into the problems of agricul tural surpluses in the EC. J S Marsh (Agricultural Economics, Reading) kicked off with a review of the development of production and markets in the EC, as well as examining the variety of constraints impinging upon agricultural policy. J E Wrathall (Huddersfield Poly) considered the impact of the CAP on the changing pattern of arable crops in the EC, while J E Charvet (Paris Nanterre) broadened the issues with a consideration of grain policies in the EC and the US, and their influence on patterns of production. I R Bowler (Leicester) suggested new themes for study in the management of quotas, including their upstream and downstream effects. The exchange that followed, largely between rural geographers and agricultural economists demonstrated the different attitudes towards studying, and indeed tackling, the quota problem. The afternoon session comprised two papers, the first by D Harvey (Agricultural Economics, Reading) examined the structure of EC agriculture, whilst A R Jones (UCL) considered the social and economic problems attached to dismantling regionally specialised economies.

Overall, the session revealed the broad range of work on the CAP currently in progress, as well as highlighting the wide-ranging effects of agricultural quotas.

A R Jones

University College, London Papers from the session can be obtained by writing to Dr I R Bowler, Dept of Geography, The University, Leicester LEI 7RH.

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