From the Monday 28th of April to Friday the 2nd of May, the second-year geography students travelled to Edinburgh. During this sunny trip, we discovered and explored the city through a geographical lens all whilst enjoying the touristic activities and also conducting research projects.
Bus tour of Edinburgh
After checking in to our hotel, we went on a bus tour that brought us around the city. This was a great way for us to discover the majority of the city on our first day and within a small timeframe. We discovered high end areas such as Stockbridge with its impressive college ‘Fettes’, the Old and New Town, the Scottish Parliament, we stopped off at the Royal Botanic Gardens and saw many other destinations that add to this city’s liveliness. As a human geographer, it was interesting for me to discover the urban geographies of this city.
On our second day, we got the bus to Granton, just north of Edinburgh, where we discovered 3 destinations. Our first stop was a tour of the National Museums Collection Centre. This centre holds millions of pieces of art that are researched, conserved and preserved. They talked us through how they store the art, the work they do with the community as well as their future project: to regenerate the waterfront area of Granton in order to have a place where the art is displayed and is more accessible to its people. This part of the trip was definitely my favourite as it made me reflect on how art is preserved and the amount of work that is put into it. We then visited the Granton Gas Holder, a regenerated area that is now a public park. We finally walked to Royston Beach which represents Edinburgh’s rich industrial history due to its many dumped bricks that cover the surface of the beach. That afternoon we visited the National Museum of Scotland, the building was extremely impressive and so were its many artifacts.
Inside the National Museums Collection Centre
On the Wednesday and Thursday, we spent time in groups to conduct our research projects that we had been preparing for leading up to the fieldtrip. My group led in person interviews within the green spaces, others distributed questionnaires, and some collected quantitative data through their physical geography fieldwork. This felt like a new, exciting and independent experience that helped prepare us for our dissertation next year, and any other future research projects.
Royston beach also known as ‘Brick Beach’
Overall, this trip was extremely successful, we got to visit a stunning city, enjoy the touristic activities, engage with each other, and complete university work.
Lucie Thompson
Second year Human Geography BA