U6 Geography Fieldwork in Henley on Thames

The Upper Sixth A Level geographers were engaged and enthused by their most recent field work in Henley on Thames, investigating how their local place has changed. 

The River and Rowing Museum have an amazing collection of artefacts, photographs, and statistics which show the changes Henley on Thames has experienced over the past 200 years. Through the interactive seminar, our geographers were able to gain a thorough insight and understanding of these changes, especially the importance of the river to Henley, specifically it’s role as a transhipment point for barges carrying agricultural produce, and timber to rebuild London after the Great Fire. 

Later, Henley Bridge as a crossing point of the River Thames laid the foundations for Henley’s future with as many as 20 scheduled stagecoaches stopping daily, not to mention the local Henley highwaymen! The role of the railways and the Henley Regatta brought our understanding right up to the modern day.

In the style of true geographers, our students braved the rain to collect data on the influence of multinational companies in Henley by collecting data about the type and ownership of the high street shops, in order to determine the extent to which Henley is a clone town. Clone towns have homogenised high streets dominated by chain stores, while home towns are dominated by independent shops and have a strong ‘sense of place.’

On returning to the classroom, the geographers have analysed their data developing their skills in Excel and geo-spatial mapping, and the results are…..Henley is in fact a clone town.  Surprised? We were, so we undertook further analysis to discover that chain stores dominate in the clothing retail sector, while specialist shops, specifically stationers, and health and beauty emporiums are predominantly independently owned.  Moreover, our spatial analysis showed us that the central junction between Duke Street, Bell Street, and Hart Street is where the chain stores locate, while independents cluster on the outer edges of Henley’s centre. 

We are extremely thankful to Helen at the River and Rowing Museum for her engaging session, and for making it possible for us to enjoy their remarkable collection.