A Free Publication

Issue No. 3 - Spring 2013

IF THE EARTH STOOD STILL

MUGS Update
Happy New Year! At the start of 2013 MUGS is looking to continue its provision of opportunities for recreational and academic activities with the The Keanu Reeves 2008 Film, aptly titled the Day the Earth Stood Still is an interesting piece utmost success. of science-ction cinematography. However, GIS The socials that we have hosted at some of scientists at Esri, the creators the ARC GIS Manchesters nest nightclubs have raised vital software system have utilised the power of GIS to funds for the end of year ball so far, and were of model the geographical effects of this intriguing course keenly attended. With more socials to notion. come with new perks and thrills thrown in we hope to have lots more fun and raise more money What would happen if the earth stood still? Complex raster analysis has facilitated the for the grand shindig that awaits us in May. generation of maps, changing the distribution of In the meantime to keep the balance of work and water and land in an unrecognisable fashion. One play at a healthy level MUGS Academia have of the relative constants of the world today is been working on setting up talks and events to the separating contours between the land and the enrich everyones learning across the entire oceans. This is maintained through the geometry department. MUGS Academia have worked hard of the earth, and a balance between gravity and to set up events and advertise any of those the centrifugal force caused by the earths outside of the University that would quench our rotation. Thus, if the earth continued revolving society members intellectual thirsts. They around the sun, but failed to rotate on its axis, a continue to gather steam and aim to improve on year would be 365 days, but a day would be a the highlights of last semester such as the year. The centripetal force of the Earth would Underground Tours, and Louise Amoores guest cease and this would trigger catastrophic change lecture. A healthy schedule of weekly seminars in climate and geology. Gravity would be the awaits us in the second semester as well as the only control on global ocean distribution. As a welcome addition of the weekly Film Club, result, the oceans would no longer bulge 8km which you can expect on a Friday afternoon. high at the equator, and instead would migrate towards the poles, revealing an equatorial In the Geography sports societies the mixed supercontinent. Northern Siberia and Canada hockey team is blitzing its way through the would be ooded quite instantaneously as the season and currently perch atop the league table. Earths rotation began to slow down, and Meanwhile the football team is battling for gradually, the connection of the Worlds oceans survival in the Inter Society Soccer Premier that exists today would end. Two circum-polar League with a dramatic second half of the season oceans would exist. The southern polar basin looming large. would have a greater capacity than the northern one, culminating in a 1,407 meter difference Importantly all these activities within MUGS between the two sea levels. would not be possible without its enthusiastic society members. Your collective participation Also, as most scientists agree, global oceanic and support is only too valuable to us, and if you friction is extending the length of the day. have not got involved just yet then fear not! You However, with the slowdown and eventual stop can take part in any of the socials, academic of the earths rotation, this would decrease the events and sports teams by contacting any length of a day by several hours. Also, the shape committee member who will be happy to help of the Earth would become more and more you out. spherical, as the forces of gravity acting on the Contact us: contact@mugsoc.org Oliver White - MUGS Event Publicist Earth slowly create a mean sea level that is a perfect sphere. Dan Evans

If the Earth Stood Still

When global rotation stops, the massive oceanic water migration would cease and sea level would be at different locations, completely changing world geography. (ESRI, 2012) [Information based on Esri article by Witold Fraczek. See http://www.esri.com/news/ arcuser/0610/nospin.html]

Sealand: E Mare Libertas From the Sea, Freedom

If you, on some bright summers day decide to swim or boat out approximately seven nautical miles off the coast of Suffolk, Felixstowe to be specic, you will stumble on a country, which is neither part of the U.K, the Netherlands, or Denmark for that matter. This country is the Principality of Sealand. Given the geographical nature

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The Principality of Sealand

Population: 27

interest concerning borders, global boundaries and the notion of the nation-state, it appeared necessary to dedicate a section of this weeks MUGazine to the Principality of Sealand which is effectively, (not an aquarium as you would assume from the name) but an actual country, a sovereign state established in 1967 with a population of 27. What is now Sealand was originally a World War Two sea fort, constructed primarily for national defence against German mine-laying aircraft. Yet since its abandonment during the mid-1950s, it was claimed by the Bates family and is now technically an oligarchy, i.e. a country governed by a small, select set of individuals. Luckily for Sealand, although technically unrecognised by Britain as a sovereign state and merely an unrecognised entity, its location in international waters declares it outside the jurisdiction of the domestic courts and therefore all 550m2 of its liveable space are exempt from the hungry claw of British imperialism. Furthermore, there are a number of features of Sealand which make it a country, recognised or unrecognised. The Sealand Dollar is in national circulation and has a xed exchange rate of one U.S dollar. Since 1969, Sealand passports and postal stamps have been in circulation whilst Sealanders enjoy reading the Sealand News, which is in frequent online circulation, and patriotically hang the Sealand ag high, which displays uncanny resemblance to the ag of the Anarchist Communists.

Sealand interestingly has its very own Football Association and in case you didnt know, the national team beat Alderney on penalties last month. Plus if youre stuck on buying Christmas presents this year for family members, Sealand sells titles such as Countess, Count, Baron and Baroness for the general public. Numerous Sealand goods are also available on the online shop including mugs, keyrings and actual currency. Arguably Leeds Fest, Glastonbury and international destinations will be things of the past with the up and coming status of Sealand as a summer attraction, why go anywhere else? This is denitely an essential destination for geographers to add to their bucket lists. Leo Langford

interconnected and globalised world, our daily lives increasingly depend on transport and communication technologies, including commercial jet aircraft and the Internet. However, in reecting upon a recent trip to Ghana in August 2012, I promote the contribution that certain innovations, in particularly the mobile telephone, are making to the achievement of socio-economic development and of dreams of moving forward in sub-Saharan Africa. The role of technology in development, likely a familiar theme to readers of this article, receives signicant attention from both journalists and academics worldwide. Emeritus professor and economic geographer Peter Dicken, in his groundbreaking book Global Shift (2011), cites that wireless communications could potentially eliminate the digital divide by overcoming key issues of access to technology in poorer countries, consequently connecting the previously

The Benets of Ghanas Mobile Phone Revolution

Aldous Huxley, a prominent English writer of the late nineteenth and twentieth century, once proclaimed that technological progress has merely provided us with more efcient means for going backwards. It is true that, in an

Did you know: Feeding cows and sheep curry reduces methane (a potent greenhouse gas) in their burps by around 40%!

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S E Q U O I A C L U B of the country, far more sparsely populated than subterranean nexus of tunnels and passageways. its southern counterpart, where the mobile phone Unlike the ever-redeveloped surface, they are industry appears to be equally ourishing. In local widely untouched. Lots of them are sealed off, supermarkets I encountered many Ghanaians now time capsules to bygone eras. But as using - albeit bruised and battered - iPhone 4s and redevelopment forays begin to reach beneath the BlackBerry devices. surface, is Manchester about to lose some of its most signicant heritage? So what are the benets associated with mobile phones for an African nation like Ghana? For Whilst one site beneath the Great Northern Goods shing communities in towns like Cape Coast, warehouse has been repurposed in to a tourist mobile phones enable anglers to check prices in attraction, many others remain unutilised. One different markets prior to selling their produce, such case is that of Victoria Arches, an consequently helping to boost local incomes. For underground site built in to the bank of the River farmers located in the far north of the country, Irwell. Positioned below Victoria Street and affront where the nearest town is several hours walk Manchester Cathedral. But the surface shows little away, mobile phones can be used to retrieve vital evidence of its presence, only onlookers from the weather forecasts and advice on treating sick Salford side of the river may note a series of livestock. On an anecdotal note, I met a man bricked up arches embedded in the riverbank. whilst away who was employed by the Ghana These arches extend beneath the streets towards Meteorological Agency, and uses a mobile phone the cathedral and have a rich history of their own. to relay local climatological observations to the agencys headquarters in Accra.

Going Underground...

unconnected. Indeed, mobile phone subscriptions have sky-rocketed in the early twenty-rst century, in direct relation to the fact that they do not require a permanent supply of electricity and can be used by people with low levels of literacy. The Guardian (2009) report of an unrivaled growth in mobile phone subscriptions in Africa, which rose from 54 million in 2003 to almost 350 million in 2008. Evidence that a mobile phone revolution is occurring in Ghana is ubiquitous, despite reports that Western Africa technologically lags behind its eastern neighbour. I was fortunate enough to spend a month in Ghana this summer, where I volunteered with a UK charity on development projects both in Ghanas rural North and urbanised South. Though these regions can be dichotomised on the grounds of demography and physical geography, similarities can be drawn in a technological sense. Traversing the crowded and bustling interior of the countrys capital Accra, I lost count of the number of local street vendors selling mobile handsets and calling credit. The roadsides were littered with billboards advertising major networks like Vodafone and Tigo. These signs continued to inhabit roadsides in the North

Simple access to information is taken for granted by many people in the industrialised world, myself included. But for people in small African countries like Ghana, it is making a signicant contribution to the obtainment of their socioeconomic goals and indeed to those of the wider geographical region. Studies reveal that a rise of 10 mobile phones per 100 people boosts economic growth by 0.6% per annum (The Economist, 2005), an important reminder of the sheer power of modern communications. Grace Rigby

The Forgotten Subterranea of Manchester

How often those who walk the streets of Manchester look upon its rich architectural heritage - Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Station, the Town Hall, the Royal Exchange and the gates to the old Smitheld Markets Markets to name but a few. They're heralded as landmarks, of cultural poignancy and signicance. Yet how infrequently the same is said for that which is hidden beneath. For left to the rats of Manchester resides a

Victoria Arches were originally constructed as part of a road improvement scheme drawn up in 1832, as the road beside the river was only 2 foot wide. This development was to include underground space below the new road for industry. This took the form of a series of 17 arched rooms. The arches were accessible from street level by means of external wooden staircases, although they were not all initially internally connected. The project was completed in September 1838. From 1839 they were advertised as 'underground vaults' suitable for wine merchants, printers and machine makers.

Did you know: Pol Pot, the Cambodian dictator responsible for the deaths of 21% of his countrys people, was a former Geography teacher.

Victoria Arches
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Then & #Then & Now # # Now

Indeed, over subsequent years they have been used to numerous purposes, with the river providing easy access for the delivery of raw materials. materials. Over the next 80 years they were home to pickle manufacturers, tailors, an electricity substation, ironmongers and even an undertakers. A ferry service offering excursions down the River Irwell was also run out of the arches, with some traveling as far as Liverpool. Similarly, it was the birthplace of the Richardson lifeboat, which became the template for lifeboats used in both New Brighton and Rhyl, saving many lives due to their service. Their function, however, was to change with the onset of the Second World War, when they were suggested as a candidate to be converted in to airraid shelters. This involved numerous considerations. Previously, the arches had only been accessible through a manhole and a set of wooden staircases that descended from Victoria Street. An additional set of stairs were added next to the (now removed) Cromwell statue near Cathedral approach, alongside a set near the Cathedral entrance. Furthermore, the arches were internally divided, as three arches accessible by the manhole were situated deeper underground due to being positioned beneath Victoria Bridge. Thus they were joined for the rst time by means of a further internal staircase. This was also the moment that the riverbank would become as we see it today, with the arched windows being bricked up in order to make them gas and blast proof. Floors were replaced and lighting was also added. Following this conversion, up to 3,300 people could occupy the shelter. Despite the arches being just over a metre below the surface in places, they were still deemed t for use and were heavily occupied during the Manchester Blitz. The site is clearly steeped in history. This is visible from many of the online photographs taken by self-titled urban explorers, or those published in the books of Keith Warrender. Depicting aged posters warning that insobriety will not be tolerated in the shelter, 100 year old crisp packets, signs for an old medical post, equipment left from the electricity companies and the underground toilets of a bygone era which intriguingly seem to be preeminent in photographs of the place. But all this could soon be lost due to gentrication as part of the new Irwell River Park (IRP) development. The IRP is a waterside redevelopment project spanning an 8km stretch between central Manchester and Salford Quays. It has an economic worth of over 3 billion and is a major redevelopment project with both public and private funding. Specically, the development of Cathedral Square and Greengate Bridge pose a signicant threat to the arches. Some of the arches near Victoria Bridge have already been destroyed to lay the foundations of Greengate Bridge, as my photo above documents, taken whilst construction was underway and the internals of the shelter itself were visible. The remaining arches could also be in danger, for the Cathedral Square development proposes gentrifying them, turning them in to underground ofces whilst the road above is pedestrianised. But the jury is out as for how much such developments destroy rather than conserve. It seems its the very aspect that makes this site so signicant that puts it at risk, the dichotomy of the arches being forgotten. The arches are interesting as theyre undisturbed, a time capsule, and that wouldnt be possible if they hadnt been left alone. They mightve been subject to progress, or the day to day functional development. But theyre also unprotected by them not having the notoriety of such sites; the majority of people simply dont know that its there. Unlike the majority of Manchesters heritage sites, its not seen day to day, it isnt a landmark and its not of architectural beauty. It doesnt have this attached sense of cultural value. Therefore, the question posed is that just as something isn't as renowned, should it be ascribed a lesser value to society? I contest that simply as something isn't known, it does not mean it hasn't the potential to be valued. Its the result of it being forgotten that it has to offer; its a secret underground museum that we have the opportunity to conserve. Gentrifying them could arguably destroy contents of this museum leaving only the walls. For more information please refer to: Underground Manchester & Below Manchester by Keith Warrender http://www.irwellriverpark.com/ Joe Blakey

THE ETYMOLOGY OF PLACE NAMES

Manchester: Breast Hill Castle - derived from the Celtic Mamucium, meaning breast-like hill, and the Latin Castrum, meaning castle or fort. London: Hillfort - derived from the Celtic Lond don meaning fort on a hill. Liverpool: Choked Pool - derived from the Middle English livered meaning choked with weeds. Great Britain: Great Land of the Tattooed derived from the Greek Prettanoi meaning tattooed people and the Celtic Brit meaning colourful and speckled.

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