ABSTRACT
At least one of these authors is old enough to remember a very different subject being taught in schools! Forty years ago geographical information in schools reflected the reactive and encyclopaedic nature of the subject. The world situation had an air of permanence: rubber came from Malaysia, grain came from America, coffee came from South America. A large fraction of our exports went to the Commonwealth nations but in many other nations we were a major supplier of manufactured goods. At home, the Midlands were the manufacturing heartland of the UK, the North West, North East and Scotland built ships for a thriving British fleet, and South Wales was a major coal mining centre.
