Sheringham has an ideal example of what the coastline directly behind the sea is like both protected and unprotected, which contrast well.

Method - Measuring Angles Of Beach (Clinometre)

We measure the angles on the beach so we can draw a cross section of the beach. This way we can see where the load is deposited on the beach.

For the measure two people were needed, ranging pole, clinometre, a hair band or a similar item and a chart to record the results.

At the start a waterproof tape was lay down from the base of the sea to the waters edge to create a profile to work along. One person held a clinometre (we will refer to as (A) from now on) and the other person help the ranging pole (we will refer to as (B) from now). (A) Stands next to the pole and the hair band is lined up exactly with the eye level of (A). (A) Stands at the waters edge while (B) moves two metres up the beach. (A) Looks through the sight of the clinometre and lines it up with the hair band and locks the wheel in replace by releasing the trigger. When the measurement is taken (A) moves to (B)'s spot and (B) moves two metres further towards the cliff. This proves is repeated until they reach the cliff.

Method - Measuring Angles Of Beach (Sokkish Automatic Leveller)

We measure the height above sea level for a number of reasons. The main reason was to see the characteristics of the beach and how they had occurred; it also allowed us to easily draw a cross-section of the beach using the data recorded.

To carry out the measuring we need the following equipment:

* Sokkish Automatic Leveller (Dumpy Level)

* Tripod

* Waterproof tape

* Extendable Ranging Pole (ERP)

First the waterproof tape was stretched from the base of the cliff to the waters edge, the tripod was then set up halfway down the beach but away from the waterproof tape. Next the dumpy level was placed on top of the tripod and the finely tuned and adjusted so as to make sure its perfectly level (see diagram on page 29). One person then stands at the waters edge with the ERP (we will refer to as (A) now) next to the tape, making sure the ERP is absolutely vertical. Another person (we will refer to as (B) now) then looks through the site of the dumpy level and focus's and aligns it up with the pole. When nicely aligned and focused (B) can take a reading and mark it down. (A) Then moves up the beach by 2m and the process starts again.

*NOTE* If the beach is steep like it is at Sheringham, then the dumpy level has to be repositioned as the ERP will eventually be out of sight (see diagram)

Method - Wave Characteristics

We found out the wave characteristics so we could see what the waves at Sheringham beach were doing and how they were affecting the beach. We also found out how the wind was affecting the waves and the beach.

For this all we needed was a piece of wood and something to record the data on.

At the side of the water the piece was placed in the water while someone watched in which direction if drifted. This showed us in which direction the tide was going. After that the following things were recorded as results

. The Wave Frequency

2. Whether the waves were destructive or constructive

3. Whether the breaking waves were spillers or plungers

4. From which direction the wind was blowing

5. What the approximate force of the wind was

Method - Transect Strip Map

The idea of the transect strip map is to see what is on the surface on the beach and to record it. This data can be also used to see what the distribution of load and material around the beach.

A waterproof tape is stretched from the base of the cliff to the waters edge to create a profile in which to work along. A scale map of the beach is drawn (i.e. 30cms long relating to water's edge to cliff being 30m). Starting at the waters edge walk along the tape recording what is next to the tape all the way to the cliff and record it on the map using a key.

Method - Types Of Coastal Protection At Sheringham East Of Lifeboat House

Along the coast of Sheringham there are different types of sea defence.

There were two different places for seawall at Sheringham. Firstly there was a curved concave seawall with drainage holes at beach level and another flat seawall behind the promenade. Both were just walls of stone bit one was concave. Both seawalls were visibly ten foot tall but could have been taller depending on how deep they were rooted into the ground. The purpose of the seawall is to rebound the waves back out to see. On average one metre of seawall costs £6000.

Two different types of groynes were visible at Sheringham. Both groynes did the same job but one set was older than the other. The old groynes were made of big blocks of concrete where as the newer groynes were made up of huge pieces of wood with big buttresses supporting them. They were found at regular intervals along the beach. The purpose of the groynes is to stop the affect of long shore drift. On average a groyne costs £10000

There was also rock armour at Sheringham but it was used for two different purposes. The rock armour is huge boulders of Norwegian granite. In on place along the coast all the rock armour was against the base of the cliff and is designed to break up the waves so they don't erode the bottom of the cliff. The second set of rock armour was laid out in lines from the cliff and did the same job as the groynes did. On average the rock armour costs £3500 per metre.

The final sea defence that was at Sheringham was revetments. These were stone structures in the base of the cliff which where designed to hold up the cliff, but still allowing water to flow out of the cliff. These were found in the side of the cliff. On average they costs £2000 per metre.

Method - Urban Work

For the second part and the afternoon session of the day, numerous activities and surveys in our sub-groups were carried out.

A tourist facility count was carried out from the end of the High street, 200paces left and right along the promenade. What happened was that two people walked either left of right for 200paces while one person recorded everything that was passed (i.e. Litter bin, Café, Ice-Cream shop). When it had been done in one direction they returned to the end of the High street and repeated the process in the opposite direction marking down what they passed on another table. This was carried out to show how the distribution of facilities for the tourists are situated along the promenade and also to see if there was more facilities behind where the coast has more coastal protection.

A pedestrian count was carried out in the middle of the CBD (Central Business District) of Sheringham. Two people walked 50paces along a path and marked down anybody they passed but no one that was stationary or overtook them. When they had finished that 50paces another 50paces were done and the results marked on a separate chart. This was done for 200paces in total so four sets of the results were gathered. With this data we can see where most people were and whether it was where it coastal protection was or not.

The idea behind a traffic survey is that you can look at the results gathered and conclude where most vehicles are and also what type of vehicle it is. This was carried out in the town centre and also on a road on the outskirts of Sheringham town. It is carried out by two people standing on the side of the road with a tally table and a watch to time. They stay in position for a set amount of time, for instance ten minutes and while they are there they record every type of car that goes past (Estate, hatch-back, saloon etc. also lorries or vans etc.). When the time limit has elapsed then the twp people record the date move to a second road and do the same thing with the same time limit. This survey can be carried out more than twice at different places if detailed results are required.

The last part of the urban work to be done was a questionnaire. A set questionnaire was drawn up before going to Sheringham. The questionnaire was carried out on the promenade on ten random people. The results are used to detail the type of people there, what they are there for and what they like or dislike about the place.

Results - Wave Characteristics

Wave Frequency

mins

3 Waves

2mins

4 Waves

3mins

4 Waves

4mins

3 Waves

5mins

2 Waves

Average

3.2 Waves Per Minute

* The waves that were approaching the Sheringham shore are Destructive ways because they arrive at more than 13 a minute.

* The wave action is a spiller.

* The wind blowing onto the coast was blowing from the West to the East.

* The force of the win was approximately force 2 (a light breeze).

* The wave that were approaching the beach from approaching from the Northwest.

From the results I can see that the waves are destructive. They break on the beach about 13times per minute and are spillers instead of plungers. They waves also were approaching the beach from the Northwest. Because the waves are destructive they are slowly eroding away and destroying the beach.

It is important to know the wind speed and direction of the wind because you can work out the fetch of the waves coming. I can notice that where all the coastal protection is there are more facilities behind them, this ties in with my hypothesis that there is more use of the land directly behind the coastal protection.

Results - Pebble Sampling

7metres from cliff

Pebble No.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Mean

Length

6.3

5.3

7.4

5.0

3.9

6.7

6.9

6.1

4.4

8.1

6.01

Width

5.1

2.5

5.5

4.7

3.0

3.8

5.6

4.2

3.3

6.3

4.38

Breadth

2.7

.6

3.9

2.4

2.1

2.8

5.2

2.6

.8

3.8

4.87

4metres from cliff

Pebble No.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Mean

Length

3.9

5.0

5.3

5.7

3.8

7.0

6.6

4.7

6.7

4.1

5.28

Width

3.3

3.9

2.6

4.1

3.4

5.3

3.8

3.9

3.4

3.9

4.08

Breadth

.8

.9

2.0

3.3

2.4

4.3

3.1

3.1

2.6

2.4

2.67

21metres from cliff

Pebble No.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Mean

Length

5.2

4.5

3.3

4.1

5.

4.2

8.9

4.3

6.9

8.6

5.91

Width

3.6

3.5

3.4

3.4

5.9

3.1

3.8

3.9

4.7

4.7

4

Breadth

3.6

3.1

3.0

2.2

3.2

2.7

2.4

2.5

3.0

3.2

2.84

28metres from cliff

Pebble No.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Mean

Length

3.6

6.0

5.5

7.4

3.0

6.9

9.1

3.9

6.1

8.9

6.04

Width

6.8

3.1

2.7

3.0

3.9

4.8

3.4

2.4

4.4

4.3

5.82

Breadth

5.2

4.5

3.3

4.1

5.7

4.2

8.9

4.3

6.9

8.6

5.62

Looking at these results I can see that there is no real difference between the rocks 7metres from the cliff and the rocks 28metres from the cliff. This shows that the way the load is deposited from the sea is the same and its deposited all over the beach.

All the rocks that were found were rounded meaning that they had all had the same amount of wear and erosion done to them.

Results - Clinometre Results

Distance in M from sea

Measurement in degrees

0

0

2

20

4

0

6

20

8

4

0

-2

2

21

4

27

6

21

8

1

20

0

22

-2

24

-2

26

4

I am not going to be using these results to draw a profile of the beach because we also had a dumpy level set up, which does the same job but is a lot more accurate than the clinometre. We used the clinometres because there are lots of clinometres where as there was only one dumpy level to be used.

Results - Sokkish Automatic Leveller

Distance From Sea (m)

Dumpy Reading

Height About Sea Level (m)

0

4.03

0

2

3.37

0.66

4

3.04

0.99

6

2.51

.52

8

2.19

.84

0

2.24

.79

2

.73

2.30

4

0.92

3.11

6

0.42

3.61

8

0.02 (r) 1.71

4.01

20

1.52

4.20

22

1.45

4.27

24

1.46

4.26

26

1.21

4.51

(r) = Reset

Difference = 1.69

Looking at the graph on 34 a I can see that there is a gradual rise from the sea to the bottom of the cliff. Because of how waves attack the beach I can see that in certain places more load and pebbles are distributed from the sea than in other areas. I have also noted that in one or two areas as you went up the beach it actually dropped in height above sea level instead of rising like the rest of the beach did.

Results - Tourist Facilities Count

East

Number Of Paces

Bin

Doggy Bin

Toilet

Ice Cream Shop

Cafe

Shop

Other

50

I

I

00

I

I

50

II

200

I

III

West

Number Of Paces

Bin

Doggy Bin

Toilet

Ice Cream Shop

Cafe

Shop

Other

50

II

I

00

I

50

I

200

Looking at the results that I have gathered I can see that to the east of the High street which is where we started out tourist facility count there is more coastal protection and there is also more facilities. These facilities are things like pubs, car parks and other facilities that can be used. This links well to my hypothesis that there are more facilities where there is greater coastal protection.

Results - Questionnaire

Are you a resident of Sheringham ?

Yes

3

No

7

How Far Have You Travelled ?

(only if a tourist)

0-10miles

1-20miles

21-30miles

31-40miles

41-50miles

51-100miles

2

01+miles

4

How Often Do You Visit The Beach ?

Everyday

5

3times a week

2

Once a week

Monthly

2

On a Sale Of 1-10 How Do You Rate The Beach (1 Bad - 10 Good)

2

3

2

4

5

2

6

7

2

8

9

0

Do You Think Facilities Cater For Tourists or Residents More ?

Tourists

6

Residents

Equal

4

I carried out my questionnaire on ten random people. The idea was to find out what people thought of the beach and its facilities. By looking at these results I can see that most people visiting the beach are tourists with over half of the tourists travelling over 100miles to come to Sheringham. Of the ten people that were questioned they all gave different ideas on what they thought about the quality of the beach. Since the results were so random I could not gather an idea of what people though about the beach. Also from my results I can see that the opinion was biased towards people believing that the facilities around the beach were more to cater for the tourists but a fare number believe they offered equal opportunities and facilities.

Results - Traffic Survey

South Street

Saloons

8

Hatch-Backs

5

Vans

0

Bikes

3

4x4

8

Lorries

3

Sports Cars

5

Convertible

3

Estate

Town Centre

Saloons

22

Hatch-Backs

20

Vans

9

Bikes

5

4x4

Lorries

0

Sports Cars

7

Convertible

6

Estate

These results show me very clearly which type of vehicle are spotted on the outskirts of town and which vehicles are seen more in the town centre. Looking at the results I can tell that there are more cars driving around in the town centre I can also see that lorries weren't allowed into the town centre because there were three lorries counted on the outskirts but non in the centre. There was also a big increase in the amount of hatchbacks driving in the town centre.

I can tell from this that more people drive in the town centre then the outskirts.

Results - Pedestrian Count

Town Centre

Section

Number Of Paces

People Counted

st

50

57

2nd

50

72

3rd

50

49

4th

50

52

A pedestrian count is carried out so that an idea of how many pedestrians are in the town centre and how many on the outskirts of the town, this is to see whether people walk in areas with more facilities or not. From the results I can see that inside a 200pace strip 230people were counted making it an average of 1.15people per pace. This shows that the town centre is highly used by pedestrians.

Conclusion

I have found out that from all the results that I have gathered that where there is more coastal protection there are more facilities or greater use of the land directly behind it. Even though this agrees with my hypothesis for my whole project I do not believe that I can conclude totally that it is true.

The results from the tourist facility count show that to the east side of the High street there are more facilities where there is also greater coastal protection, where as to the west there are less facilities and also less coastal protection. The results from the questionnaire also push heavily in the way of supporting my hypothesis.

In all I am going to accept that my hypothesis is true based on the results that I gathered from the day at Sheringham.

Evaluation

Throughout all my stages of my work I think I have been reasonably well prepared and well disciplined by the way I carry out tasks, but I think a lot of things could have been changed to improve the way I carried out my fieldwork and project.

My preparation for my fieldwork was. I had planned ahead everything I was going to do and also knew within my group what everyone else was going to be doing. This gave me a good idea on how to plan and manage my time out. I had also prepared my tables and changes on which I would be recording my data before, this meant I was fixed on what I was doing and what needed to be recorded.

On the day I carried out the work that I needed to do but I think I carried them out as quickly as I could. In the morning I rushed my worked I had to do, this was slightly due to the time limit that we were given but I believe I got all the results in which I needed to gathered. In the afternoon I decided that I would get my work done promptly. I did not have a good idea on how long each activity I had to do was going to take so I slightly rushed it to make sure I completed it. Again I believe I got all the results I needed to get.

My analysis and writing up of my data has gone smoothly with little hiccups. I have completed this when they needed to be completed and have done them with sufficient quality.

The data that has been collected is partially reliable but cant be 100% because every collection of data can have human error included in the result. While collecting our data there was no real problem apart from the time limit that we were given. With the time limit determining what we could and couldn't not do other people within the group had to do certain tasks. This meant was not in control of all the recorded results that I needed doing.

I think that nearly everything in this project has gone well but there have been some hiccups. Because of others doing some results that I used mistakes were made on the pedestrian count with only one set of results being taken in one area instead of a second set of results being taken in an area further away from the High street. Apart from that mistake the only other problems were the communication in-between the groups and getting information between people and interpreting it.

If I were to do this again then I would make a few changes to my method and planning so my results would be better and more accurate. These would be

* Increase the time which I could spend doing things.

* Increase the amount of repeats I did.

* Do more tests and fieldwork

Glossary

Coastline - where the edge of land and the sea meet

Coastal Protection - measures taken to prevent coastal erosion.

Erosion - wearing away of the Earth's surface, caused by the break down and transportation of particles of rock or soil

Wave Frequency - amount of waves that break in a given time

Weathering - process by which exposed rocks are broken down on the spot by the action of rain, frost, wind, and other elements of the weather

Bibliography

The Fabric Of Geography - W Farleigh Rich

Key Geography for GCSE Book1 - David Waugh

I would also like to acknowledge:

Mrs S Goldsmith for her help in class on preparing us for the project

All the teachers that went on the trip to Sheringham for helping with problems