The Ranges, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire

The Ranges is a public recreation area on the edge of the town of Hucknall. It is a place which, although relatively large, you'll only find if you're looking for it. It is almost completely man-made, and represents the old and the new, being created from an old spoil heap of the Hucknall and Linby mines.

It was sculpted into its present form by Nottinghamshire County Council, using money raised from landfill tax. It is these facts that make the spot all the more attractive; whilst the Hucknall community was plunged into deprivation following the death of the mining industry, remnants of that past have served to give the locals a nice place to go, which is a complete contrast to the victorian terraces which flank the area.

The view from the top of the hill looks down over Hucknall from one perspective, and turning 180 degrees gives the impression that you are in the middle of the countryside, which is a nice option to have just 10 minutes walk from your house. The Jewel in the Crown was added a couple of years ago to symbolise the area's new use; a £13000 4m high sculpture of a man walking a dog. Shame about the litter that's been thrown into it.

Ed's House, Nacton, Suffolk

For this activity I chose my home in Suffolk because it is a place I know well, and a very pleasant place to be. It is on the bank of the Orwell River and is in the grounds of an old deer park. The surrounding area is quiet and green, with only a handfull of houses and no surfaced roads. The only current commercial activity is that the deer park is used for raising a herd of sheep, however in the past there was an extensive oyster farming industry and the remnants of this can be found a few hundred metres along the shore from my house. There aren't a lot of people about, just people on boats and the occassional walker on the shore.

Welcome to the module!

Welcome to all the students who have signed up for the Living Places module. We hope that all of you will find the issues explored during the year interesting and stimulating, and that your experience of the module will be a positive one.

In today's workshop we have been getting to grips with the dynamic nature of places by considering what type of place Shakespeare Street in Nottingham is, how it is shaped by the buildings/institutions on it, and the communities that use it.

Now it's your turn to contribute to the blog! We want each of you to choose a place and to post a comment on the blog with a few lines about this place and why you chose it. You also need to post up to three images which you think encapsulates the nature of the place that you have chosen.

James and Kevin