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INTERVENTION GUIDELINES:(i) Pick a street corner (anywhere) and stand still. Whilst maintaining the façade of

purely just standing there.

- What do you notice about the world around you?

- How do you feel whilst standing there?

- How do other pedestrians respond/perceive you?

(ii) Make a normal journey from home to campus, only backwards.

- What do you notice about the world around you?

- How do you feel whilst standing there?

- How do other pedestrians respond/perceive you?

… however, we could not find an appropriate time at which all of us could convene and do this task so unfortunately we had to undertake it separately with the help of our friends who weren’t human geographers.

NICK’S INTERVENTIONS: STREET CORNER EXERCISE

For the street corner exercise I chose the corner of Heeley Road, which joins onto Raddlebarn Road. I decided to go at 17:30 because it’s a time which I am normally at home and so am unfamiliar with the goings on then.

- There was a fair amount of cars and pedestrians going past, which I presumed to be people returning home from work.

- I felt as if the world was almost passing me by in the sense that I’m such a small component of it that in the process of me standing there I couldn’t change what was happening and nothing stopped because I had.

-my affectual capacity was low

- The pedestrians that passed me by gave me a few glances but on the whole the seem to more preoccupied with getting home and telephone conversations to notice that I was just standing there.

Heele

y

Road

NICK’S INTERVENTIONS: WALKING TO UNIVERSITY BACKWARDS

Walking to university backwards was a very weird, unique experience. While I was doing this I was seeing everything I would normally except it was what I would see on the way back from university rather than to. This gave me an interesting and new perspective that I wouldn't’t normally have, as well as feeling thoroughly weird in the process. The walk obviously took me longer to do because we as a race don’t tend to walk backward that much and so when we do it’s a very odd and challenging action to complete.

The closer I got to university the more odd looks and what appeared to be sniggers as if to say “…is he serious?...”.

I did however feel as if I was in some way challenging the powers and some of these boundaries we have in everyday life because no one else was doing this and so made me feel as if I was breaking the ‘norm’, challenging these ‘unsaid’ rules.

KARIS’ INTERVENTIONS: STREET CORNER

- Stood on corner of Bournbrook/Oakfield/Serpentine…

- Not too busy, more cars than people

- Pedestrians only glanced as they walked by, not much interaction

- I took more notice of the physical environment than passers by, surprised by an area I walk past everyday, saw things I don’t normally look at…

Street names at the end of my road, pretty house and signs

- Strange looks from cars, cautious that I may step out into the road?

- Assumption I must be trying to cross… A man stopped for me to cross & was then confused/irritated when I didn’t

- I felt a little uncomfortable, however I picked this corner as I knew it wasn’t too busy

Bourn

bro

ok

Road

KARIS’ INTERVENTIONS: WALKING BACKWARDS

- Did it the wrong way round…

- People found it quite amusing, I had two people openly laugh at me and one take a photo; possibly for snapchat or some other kind of social media?

- I noticed I take the ease of walking for granted, it took me three times as long, I trod in a big puddle and felt quite uneasy

- I felt particularly uncomfortable crossing at the lights as there were so many people watching me

- My guide (who wasn’t a cultural geographer) found it quite amusing, laughed a lot and commented along the way

- Pedestrians either found me funny or irritating – most people avoided me and actively walked around me/took a slightly different route e.g. off the path

JESS’ INTERVENTIONS: STREET CORNER

- I chose a street corner close to my house

- It wasn’t on a busy road so there weren’t many cars passing by, just students. I noticed that despite my perceptions of students just throwing rubbish on the floor as and when they wanted to (as Dawlish Rd is covered in Rubbish!) but students were all dodging the rubbish, although not mentioning it – as if accepting it as part of the student cultural landscape.

- I got strange looks from students as I wasn’t waiting outside house (as if waiting for a friend). Normal pedestrians didn’t respond to me when I was standing still as it was early in the morning, with people either on their phones or rushing to get to please and some even seemed drowsy.

JESS’ INTERVENTIONS: WALKING BACKWARDS

- Reactions to my walking backwards was mixed. Some students laughed, some giggled and others made remarks; some students just looked at me for a long time with puzzled looks and then carried on with their day. Needless to say, I felt embarassed to be seen walking backwards and being deemed as ‘strange’ and ‘weird’ although it did make me giggle trying to walk backwards whilst trying not to fall over rubbish, curbs and trying not to bump into people.