A focus for fieldwork in King's Lynn
This page last updated July 2008 and now ARCHIVED.
All Year 11 groups go into town to practise using some of the techniques which they will be using to collect their information for the actual fieldwork. In the past this has included:
- transect along Norfolk Street: a busy street in King's Lynn
- record shops / land use
- environment survey
- pedestrian count
- questionnaire - shopping survey asked to 2 people who you meet.
KING'S LYNN ONLINE.....
The WEST NORFOLK borough council website is a good place to start: http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/
http://www.kingslynnvision.com/ - the Council's vision between now and 2020
http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/ - twice weekly local paper
http://www.thelinnets.co.uk/ - local football team
http://www.abports.co.uk/custinfo/ports/kings.htm - the port
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/33ue.asp - Census Statistics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Lynn_railway_station - the Railway station's Wiki
We will be meeting at the statue of King Edward VII
After registering, you will be issued with a clipboard. Permission slips will then be collected in. Anyone who forgets may not be able to come with us, and will certainly not be allowed to be dismissed in the town centre, and will have to walk
We will walk up to Norfolk Street as a group. Organise yourself into a pair with someone else.
At the London Road end of Norfolk Street we start the transect and work our way up through what Mr. Francis was fond of calling 'the zone of discard' up to Marks and Spencers. This is not an opportunity for shopping. Take care to watch where you are walking - don't inconvenience any other pedestrians. Avoid stepping back to see the shop details and walking into the road. A digital camera would be a useful additional resource.
At the suggested time, move to the point where you will be carrying out:
a) an environment survey
b) a pedestrian count
These will be done at the same time throughout the town centre to get an idea of which areas have the greatest pedestrian flows.
Then try to find 2 people who are shopping in Lynn. This is where you will probably hope to meet someone you know.
Come prepared for rain. This is Britain.
We will also be doing a CLONE TOWN assessment of the High Street (and neighbouring streets)
You will have the chance to look at past projects.
There is obviously a lot of work going on in the town centre at the moment. It is worth considering a project which makes use of this as an issue.
Have a look at the photos below. Try to think of how you could label these photos to pick out points that are worth noting.
Collecting primary data on shop occupation.
Empty shops along Norfolk Street - check now, they may be occupied - scenes such as these can be found in similar parts of most town centres
The Blackfriars Road end of Norfolk Street.
SHOP CLASSIFICATION
There are several types of land use classification that can be used on these occasions. Some of the more simple might be to distinguish between shops and services.
Try this one: letter codes are easy to add to a base map while in the field...
These are shops which are typically found in a CBD
| A | Major shopping units e.g. department stores |
| B | Clothing and Shoe Shops |
| C | Convenience shops (e.g. food, tobacconists, newsagent, sweets) |
| D | Furniture and Carpets |
| E | Specialist shops |
| F | Personal services e.g. hairdresser, dry cleaner, TV rentals, travel agents |
| G | Catering and entertainment e.g. pub, cafe, hotel, cinema |
| H | Car Sales |
| J | Professional services and offices e.g. banks, solicitor, estate agent, opticians, chemists |
| K | Public buildings and offices e.g. school, library, Town Hall, church |
| L | Transport |
| M | Change i.e. vacant premises, derelict, under construction, being fitted out |
| N | Residential |
| P | Industrial |
| Q | Discount stores |
| R | Charity |
There are various directories which give details of the shops:
TRAFFIC CONGESTION (or Multi-storey car park locations etc...)
An interesting addition on the Thursday that I went into town recently was the development of gridlock as the group walked back towards school. It was the subject of an article in the following day's 'Lynn News'. Roadworks at the Hardwick Roundabout had combined with repair work near the new Morrison's supermarket, and other locations, to produce a build up of traffic which began to back-up and block successive junctions. The Hardwick Flyover finally opened at the end of October 2003... this was one of our live issues for years, so now we need to find some more.
WHAT ABOUT THE SOUTH LYNN MILLENNIUM COMMUNITY ?
This is a view from Dodman's bridge looking towards the Town Centre, as the traffic builds up in both directions.
PEDESTRIAN COUNTS / CUSTOMER COUNTS
Counts last for 10 minutes.
Where to stand ?
Sampling: Random, Stratified, Aligned sampling methods can be used.
Hand tally clickers are provided for those at busy locations.
SHOP DETAILS from 2000-1
Below is a list of the shops that were present in the year 2000-1. Need to refer to the OUTLINE MAP which has the numbers on it....
What have been the changes since then ?
| 1 | Hot Pot (Take Away) |
| 2 | Suzy's Hair Designs (Hairdressers - Service) |
| 3 | DK Appliances (Electrical and Household) |
| 4 | Vacant |
| 5 | Vacant |
| 6 | Country Kitchens (Household) |
| 7 | Dewhurst's Trophy Centre |
| 8 | Vacant |
| 9 | Ridout's Bakery |
| 10 | Royal London Insurance (Service) |
| 11 | Wolfy's Video Rentals |
| 12 | Golden Coffee and Tandoori House (Take Away) |
| 13 | Crystal Ball (Wedding shop) |
| 14 | Van Pelt's (Butchers) |
| 15 | Toff's (Take Away) |
| 16 | Chicago's (Pub) |
| 17 | Youngster's World |
| 18 | The Picture Place (Picture Framing) |
| 19 | Anglian Windows |
| 20 | DIY Centre and BJ Model Railways |
| 21 | A.J Croxall (Newsagents) |
| 22 | Alley Blinds |
| 23 | De Arden Fabrics |
| 24 | Ali's Kebab House |
| 25 | Empire (Videos and Games) |
| 26 | Goblin's Pantry |
| 27 | Stratfords (Outdoors and Camping) |
| 28 | Scott's China Shop |
| 29 | Norfolk Tea Rooms |
| 30 | Norfolk Telecoms |
| 31 | QD |
| 32 | Snappy Snaps |
| 33 | Walkers Cards |
| 34 | Harwayes (Clothing) |
| 35 | The Filling Station (Sandwiches) |
| 36 | Ottakars |
| 37 | Sharps Bedrooms |
| 38 | New Look (Clothing) |
| 39 | B-Wise (Discount Clothing) |
| 40 | The Sweater Shop |
| 41 | Marks and Spencer |
| 42 | Peter Briggs (Shoes) |
| 43 | Vacant |
| 44 | Vacant |
| 45 | Vacant |
| 46 | Young's Cameras |
| 47 | Vacant |
| 48 | Ernest Jones (Jewellers) |
| 49 | Francis Wain (Jewellers) |
| 50 | Reed Exclusive (Clothing) |
| 51 | Supasnaps and Sketchleys |
| 52 | WH Smiths |
| 53 | Vacant |
| 54 | Vacant |
| 55 | Andy's Records |
| 56 | Vodafone |
| 57 | Hamells (Clothing) |
| 58 | Vacant |
| 59 | Vacant |
| 60 | Holland and Barrett |
| 61 | Showboat (Amusements) |
| 62 | Lynn Bed Centre |
| 63 | Moss and Leakey (Opticians) |
| 64 | The Party Shop |
| 65 | Goddards (Clothing) |
| 66 | Driving Test Theory Centre (Service) |
| 67 | Dr. Thirsty's |
| 68 | Lynn Music |
| 69 | Lynn Gold |
| 70 | Vacant |
| 71 | The Green Olive Tree (Cards and Gifts) |
| 72 | RSPCA |
| 73 | The Egg Shop |
| 74 | Lizard Records |
| 75 | Gold Craftsmith |
| 76 | Steward Brown (Children's Clothes) |
| 77 | Woodentops (Pine Furniture) |
| 78 | The Deck of Cards |
| 79 | Rowlinson's |
| 80 | King's Lynn Glass and Trimming |
| 81 | Something Old, Something New (Carpets) |
| 82 | Vacant |
| 83 | AE Chilvers (Tools and Hardware) |
| 84 | Vacant |
| 85 | Chillimasters |
| 86 | Private Shop |
| 87 | Oriental Delights (Delicatessen) |
| 88 | Vacant |
| 89 | Vacant |
How many of these shops are still there ?
Which shops have replaced them ?
You could look at the 'turnover' in shops in this area, compared with other parts of the town centre....
Which of these specialist shops are no longer there ? Have they been replaced ? Are the replacements still there ?
USEFUL BOOKS
"King's Lynn: An Illustrated Miscellany"
"Walk around Historic King's Lynn"
Both produced by the Frances Frith collection for Ottakars
