To prove or disprove these ideas we took with us:
- An attractiveness survey – this is a map of the town, split into boxes. For each box we marked ten points about what features the box contained, 1-3 (3 being the best) and then added them all together to give a total mark.
- A questionnaire – we went around asking locals and tourists alike: where they came from, how long it took them what they were going to do today etc
- We drew land sketches of the local geology and of Mam Tor and took photographs of other attractions and facilities.
- We went into Tourist Information and collected leaflets, which advertised attractions in Castleton. We went to some of the tourist attractions and took photos etc.
What Attracts People To The Area?
To show what attracted people to the area, I will use my questionnaire, attractiveness survey, photos, leaflets and my land use survey. I am going to convert my questionnaire into a bar chart to show what the people that I interviewed thought the best attraction in Castleton was and what they were going to visit today, I have showed my attractiveness survey in a table below, and my land use map, photos and leaflets are shown.
Key1
Table1
Square 11 (according to the survey) is the most attractive and square 13 the most unattractive. Square 11 scored the most points because: it had the stream running through it, it had a good state of repair no litter or graffiti had good views of the castle and trees, all adding together to make it the most attractive square. The least attractive (13) was on the outskirts of the town, and the amenities were mainly for the locals, e.g. the Bus Stop and Post Office
(Graph A)
Graph a shows us that most people (3) thought that the pubs and shops of Castleton are its best attraction; Blue John Cavern and Mam Tor were the least interesting with only 1 person registering an interest in each. Peveril Castle was the second most popular, along with people not knowing (because it was their first visit and had just arrived). The caves and surrounding scenery were penultimate losers, which is surprising as they are the attractions that advertised themselves with leaflets etc.
My data looks like it does because Castleton has lots of pubs and shops so logically speaking they would be the most popular amongst visitors, even though other attractions were more widely advertised (see leaflets). I can prove this theory by using a graph I made from my questionnaire, which shows what the people that I asked were going to do on that day. The results show that most people (35% collectively) were going to visit either the pubs or shops, although the castle was the most popular on that day (25%).
(Graph B)
Castleton on the whole is an attractive place, only one square scored less that half on the attractiveness survey. It is a clean and neat village with beautiful scenery and lots of attractions (Blue John Cavern, Caves, Shops, Pubs and Peveril Castle). The Castle was the most popular attraction on the day I went. There was very litter which shows the population of Castleton take proud in their village, which makes visitors feel welcome.
Where do people come from?
For this section I am mainly going to use my questionnaire and maps. I am going to convert the section of the questionnaire concerning departure of visitors into a radar graph, which is shown on graph C.
The graph shows that most people (3 (out of 20)) came from Sheffield, which fits because Sheffield is only a half hour car journey away from Castleton least people (1) came from: Peniston, Castleton, Tydes Well, Stayleybridge, Cromford, Baslow, London, Sutton, Oldham, Newcastle and Glossop. Peniston, Tydes Well Stayleybridge, Baslow, Oldham, are all within an hours drive of Castleton so its likely that people have been to Castleton before and that their towns are rather similar to Castleton so there is no need to visit regularly. Although as with Sheffield would be apt if lots of people from these towns were in Castleton as they’re so close. London, Newcastle and Glossop on the other hand are further away so less people are coming from there, but the fact that people are is proving still more that Castleton has a lot to offer for people if it’s worth spending 4.5 hours driving from London.
Graph C and Map 4 show that people from across the UK come to Castleton, the majority of people (13 (out of 20)) live within an hours drive away. People may not be visiting Castleton from further a field because of poor public transport into the village. The nearest train station is in Hope and someone took 3 hours on a bus from Sheffield to get to Castleton, it took someone in a car 25 minutes, this was because there isn’t a direct bus route into Castleton and they needed to change buses many times. If a train station was closer more visitors would come. And it would also reduce pollution that cars cause, cars being the easiest and most obvious method of transport for people who are visiting Castleton.
How Did The Visitors Get There?
To find out how the visitors I spoke to got to Castleton I am going to use my questionnaire’s data and turn it into a line graph.
Graph D shows out of 20 people 12 used their car, 4 used busses, and 3 people used either a mobile caravan, van or coach. This adds to 19 as one of the people that I asked was from Castleton.
The Facilities And Amenities For The Visitor
For this section I am going to use my Land Use Map. The map shows all the buildings in Castleton. I have given each building type its own colour. Orange for buildings that are intended for tourist use, green for buildings intended for the local population of Castleton and red for buildings that can be used by both. The majority of buildings (37) are for the local inhabitants most of which are houses; others include a school and a post office. 20 buildings are for tourists: Tourist Information, shops, Peveril Castle ticket office and B+B’s. 14 which could be described as use for both, these are things such as pubs, and the church.
Castleton has many buildings for tourists, more for locals and a few that are for both. Keeping a right balance of entertainment for tourists and homes and amenities for locals is important in places like Castleton. Castleton does this by keeping the tourist buildings to the central areas of the town and the resident’s buildings to the north and west of the village. There are of course cross over areas were the two mix e.g. if you go to visit the castle you have to walk right through a residential area of the village to get to the ticket office but there is a clear divide in the village.