How do the characteristics of the villages Navenby and Dorrington differ?

This is the overall question that I have to answer in order to investigate the differences and similarities of the two rural villages: Navenby and Dorrington. To help answer this question I went on a field trip to Lincolnshire to take notes on the site, situation, size, morphology and services of Navenby and Dorrington.

There are various elements in which I can investigate to identify these factors for my two chosen villages. These are:

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• Land use
• Amenities or Services
• Comparison of settlement patterns
• Age of evolution of settlements
• Site
• Situation

There are five questions I have devised to ask to make a basis for my investigation between Navenby and Dorrington:

• "How and why do the sites of Navenby and Dorrington differ?"
• "How and why do the situations of Navenby and Dorrington differ?"
• "How and why does the morphology of Navenby and Dorrington differ?"
• "How and why do the population sizes of Navenby and Dorrington differ?"
• "How and why do the levels of services of Navenby and Dorrington differ?"

These questions are suitable in helping to answer the overall question because all of these things being asked are all characteristics of a village. Enabling to break them down means that we are able to look at the villages in a lot more detail and make notes on things specifically.

Also read Driver’s Ed Module Reflection Journal

To answer questions one and two I will sketch and colour code maps of Navenby and Dorrington to show how services, amenities and land use differ between the two. The map will be able to show the situation as it will show access to resources and facilities for example: access to food resources or a building and fuel resources. The map will also show the site of the villages as it will show if the villages are good for defence or for water supply or shelter, for example

For question three being able to note how the morphology differs between the two villages will show how the villages have developed through time and how economic, social and historic conditions have affected the villages.

Question four will show how population sizes differ due to various elements. These could be things such as accessibility, land ownership pattern, settlement size or planning constraints. This will also show what villages are developing and perhaps which are decreasing and whether people who live there are perhaps commuters for example.

Question five will show which village is more developed and which is more rural. Whether the land has been used to suffice for the people who live there and why the land has been used the way it has for example bus routes or industry building to give people work. Or the land has not been changed at all meaning less developments and maybe more commuters.

To be able to answer the previous question (how do the characteristics of the villages of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I had to identify the information that I will need to collect from visiting the villages Navenby and Dorrington.

For the first two questions (how and why does the site and situation of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I will have to collect my information from resources such as information centres; exploring the villages themselves and also noting anything that relates with the site and situations of the villages and then to compare them when I get home and write up the differences. I can also use an OS map for this question because it will show the situation of the villages to resources that are needed. For example water, shelter and defence etc.

For my third question (how and why does the morphology of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I collected my information by walking around the villages again and making notes on how the villages have economically grown or shrunk, how socialisation has developed the villages or not and how historic conditions have affected the villages. This can be done by looking at the types and ages of the buildings within the villages. This information is necessary to my studies as I will be able to find out why the villages have become what they are today and what has influenced. Both villages could have had different economic, social or historic conditions, which would cause them to be very different now due to different village morphology.

For my fifth question (how and why do the level of services of Navenby and Dorrington differ?) I collected my information by using a tally chart. Every time I saw a particular service I added to my tally chart. I also looked at the local bus route and made a note of the other villages it went through and how often it ran. I also made note on other services such as mobility services and the number of public houses, educational centres and places of worship. This information is necessary to my study, as it will show which village is more developed and also which village is more economically developed.

I think this information will be useful to collect, as it will enable me to collect the same information for each village making it a fair comparison.

The methods chosen to collect the data were appropriate because the notes I made jogged my memory of what I fully saw when I got home. Also making a tally chart was a quick and simple way to note down the different services within the villages as I could fully write up the services when I got home. Making notes on the types and ages of buildings on maps provided made it possible to describe the morphology that has taken place over time. I thought using an OS map was a good method for working out the differences between the sites and situations of the villages as it gives a good perspective of whereabouts certain resources are that are needed to be noted to be able to compare the sites and situations.

Whilst collecting my data I did encounter a few problems. Although the weather was good (it wasn't raining) it was very windy and cold. The wind kept moving sheets around and at times a bit uncontrollable. Also because it was rather cold it became uncomfortable to work and felt rather tiresome. In the village of Navenby because it was the largest village I found it hard to get around the whole village and collect all the relevant data in the time limit we were given. This wasn't a good thing as it could affect the results of my final work. I also found it difficult to get all the information I wanted. For example I was unable to get the details I wanted on population size as there was a limited availability to this resource and so I had to do my own research on the villages when I got home on the Internet. I also found it a bit difficult to read the map at times as some of the buildings weren't marked and so It was slightly difficult trying to figure out where I was standing and to where certain buildings were.

"How and why does the morphology of Navenby and Dorrington differ?"

Navenby and Dorrington's land use is dominated by residential land use. However Navenby 's residential land use is nearly 75% more than Dorrington's. Other forms of land use within these two villages are education centres, places of worship, cemeteries, public houses and open land such as farmland and playing fields.

"How and why do the levels of services of Navenby and Dorrington differ?"

Both Navenby and Dorrington vary a lot when it comes to services. Although they both have some of the same services such as a butcher, public house, post office, public telephone, village hall church/chapel, a bed and breakfast and a gifts and crafts centre Navenby differs a lot because it has over 30 services whilst Dorrington only has 17 services. Both villages have mobile services, which include Fish, Library (on Mondays), Bread, Clinic, Milk or dairy sales and a Bank for Navenby and a mobile Bread and Butcher service for Dorrington.

Site

Navenby is the largest village and is also the best positioned as it is on top of a scarp slope so it would have been used as a lookout for when the village was under attack. The village is also not too far from a good source of water. Dorrington on the other hand is a very small village in comparison and is also in decline this could be due to the fact that it is on flat land and it not being near a good water source.

Situation

From my studies I have learnt that the closer a village is to a large town then the larger the village is likely to be. Therefore, because Navenby is closer to Lincoln than Dorrington it is a larger village.

Morphology

I have also learnt that the land use in both Navenby and Dorrington is residential with little farmland and basic services such as public houses, places of worship and education centres.

Also from my investigation I have noticed that Navenby is a growing village. Due to it being on the main route between Lincoln and Grantham and that it is a good commuting village. Dorrington is in decline which is possibly due to it not being a very good commuting village has little services compared to Navenby and its nearest large town is Sleaford rather than Lincoln or Grantham.

My accuracy of my data collected could have been more reliable if I had a longer amount of time to spend in the villages. If I had longer I could have had more time to find out things such as residential incomes, agriculture, population sizes, growth in services etc as these would all affect the growth or decline between the villages.

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