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There is one main field trip for boys taking Geography as a Higher Grade or A Level subject. All Lower VI Geography students go to Cumbria for a week at the end of the Easter term.
 CUMBRIAN FIELD TRIP
This takes place in March and lasts for 5/6 days.
We stay at The Field Studies Council's Blencathra Centre near Threlkeld. This provides very comfortable accommodation in shared bedrooms, with access to a centre's Tutor and fully equipped teaching rooms..
All meals are provided, including a packed lunch.
Work is done each evening to introduce the next day and to write up notes on the day just completed.
Each boy will finish the field trip with a folder of detailed notes. A typical itinerary would be:
Day 1 ...travel down to the Lake District, stopping off at the Bowder Stone in Borrowdale and the Honister Pass. We investigate a moraine near Rosthwaite, and get an overview of the northern Lakes from Latrigg Fell. This day is used to introduce the physical geography of the Lakes.
Day 2 ...based on a study of glaciated landscapes near Buttermere. Walk up from the head of the Newlands Pass to study Buttermere and Crummock Water through field sketches and map work. The afternoon is spent walking up to Red Pike to study a corrie and associated features. Sketches and notes are taken in the field and followed up by work back at the barn in the evening, including an analysis of corrie orientation in the Lake District.
Day 3 ...the morning is spent in the Glenderaterra Valley studying soils and upland sheep farming. Gleys and podsols are studied in the field and the physical and economic problems of upland farming are illustrated in detail. Data collected is analyzed in the afternoon, enabling A-level students to complete part of one of the units of the AS course.
Day 4 ...this day is spent collecting data on land use functions in several local settlements. (In recent years we have looked at Kendal, Keswick and Cockermouth). Again, this data is extremely important for one of the AS units.
Day 5 ...travel to Clapham in the Yorkshire Dales National Park to study surface and underground limestone features in the Ingleborough area, including limestone pavements, Gaping Gill and Ingleborough Cave.
Day 6 ...return to Edinburgh, (or this is done at the end of Day 5)
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