SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 375 



Afternoon. 

 Excursion to Goring Gap. 



Wednesday, August 11. 



17. Mrs. H. Ormsby. — Work on the Regional Survey of London at the 



London School of Economics. 



Voluntary regional survey work to be successful should be educational in itself 

 and should lead to results of practical value. With these two ideas in view we have 

 aimed, first, at the construction of base maps upon which information subsequently 

 collected could be plotted, and which should show the essentials of the original 

 geographical conditions of the area studied in so far as they could be determmed : 

 relief, natural drainage, surface geology, &c. 



In an urban area this often involves much real research and is perhaps the most 

 educative part of the work. 



The base maps are laid down on a pre-arranged plan, so that all persons 

 surveying sections of the same area should be working to the same scale, using the 

 same selected contours, and employing the same symbols, methods of colouring, &c. 

 This avoids waste of effort and makes co-operation in work and combination and 

 correlation of results possible. 



Upon the base map are plotted distribution of population at various periods, lines 

 of communication, drainage, water-supply, distribution of occupations, &c. 



Stereotyped methods in drawing up the base map do not preclude, but rather 

 encourage, originality in further study. 



18. Mr. W. Fitzgerald. — TJie Regional Sigvificance of Manchester — 



City and Port. 



The space relations of Manchester and its site are discussed, together with certain 

 aspects of the historical geography of the region. Physical conditions have given 

 to modern Manchester dominance as a centre, though other large communities less 

 advantageously situated have grown up in the neighbourhood. 



Lancashire retains certain advantages as the home of the cotton textile industry 

 of Great Britain. Reference is made to the geographical position and function 

 of Manchester in relation to the centres of South Lancashke. Manchester has 

 developed as the organising and distributing centre of the industry. The peculiar 

 organisation of the industry has resulted in heavy traffic through the heart of Man- 

 chester — Salford ; this provides a real problem for the dual city. Though com- 

 mercially dependent on Manchester, the cotton to-svns have maintained local inde- 

 pendence in civic organisation. There is need for closer co-operation between tha 

 industrial centres and the regional capital where public services are concerned. While 

 preserving local traditions and independence of outlook, it should be possible to 

 establish the federal principle in S.E. Lancashire. The separate civic existence of 

 Manchester and Salford represents an artificial division of an urban unit. 



Liverpool gained importance as the cotton industry of the hinterland expanded. 

 The system of communications between the port and the commercial capital of Lanca- 

 shire did not satisfy the requirements of the latter. The function of the Ship Canal 

 and its importance for Manchester are noted. There is a possibility of the trans- 

 ference of one of the functions of Liverpool to Manchester. 



The character of the development within and around Greater Manchester involves 

 discussion of the recent spread of population, changes in the method of utilising areas 

 within the dual city, and the influence of the Canal upon land utilisation to the west 

 of Manchester. 



A regional planning scheme for the Manchester district exists ; nowhere is the 

 need for such a scheme greater. The aims of the local To^vn Planning Advisory Com- 

 mittee and certain recommendations from the ' Report upon the Regional Scheme ' 

 (1926), especially those relating to new transport routes and to a selection of areas 

 for particular use, are outlined. 



19. Discussion on Regional Work in Geography. Opened by Sir John 

 Russell, F.R.S. 



