I joined Edge Hill in 1997 as course tutor for the Geography PGCE. Prior to this I had been Head of Geography in a very large 11-18 comprehensive school in North-East Lincolnshire. While teaching I completed my MA (1986) and DPhil (1989) through the University of Sussex, researching the historical geography of the Lincolnshire Wolds under the supervision of professor Brian Short. My research was subsequently published as The Lincolnshire Wolds in the Nineteenth Century (Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, Lincoln,2001). More recently I continued to work with Professor Short on farming during the Second World War, focusing on rural Lancashire. Alongside my work in historical geography, I have researched a number of areas of Geography education, most particularly in relation to curriculum innovation. This has resulted in a number of publications for both Chris Kington Publishing (Reading our Landscapes (2007); Contemporary Approaches to Geography (2010)) and the Geographical Association Theory into practice: understanding place as a process (2007). Reading our Landscapes received the Silver Award from the Geographical Association in 2008, while an article written at the request of the editor of Teaching Geography, ‘Teaching place as a process’ (Teaching Geography, 34,2, Summer 2009, pp64-67) received the annual ‘Award for Excellence in Leading Geography’ in 2010 as the article considered to have ‘made the greatest contribution to development and good practice’ by Geographical Association members . I have been an active member of the Geographical Association (GA) for many years. I am currently chair of the Teacher Education Special Interest Group and a GA Teacher Consultant. I am also Secretary of the Central Lancashire branch of the GA