How has our local area been described in the past?

1. How has our local area been described in the past? In front of you, you have an historical description of our local area which you are going to analyse. Colour in RED any facts or figures. Colour in GREEN any description of the physical geography. Colour in BLUE any description of the human geography. Annotate any part of the description which you think is different from the local area today. If you like, you can use the internet, books or newspaper articles to help you annotate your points in detail.

2. An example... I think that the population of Bucks has grown since 1887. It is now about 500,000. Buckinghamshire, or Bucks, an inland co. of England, bounded N. by Northamptonshire, E. by Bedfordshire, Herts, and Middlesex, S. by Surrey (for the distance of about 1 mile) and Berks, and W. by Oxfordshire; greatest length, N. and S., 50 miles; greatest breadth, E. and W., 24 miles; average breadth, 17 miles; area 477,151 ac., pop. 176,323. It is intersected by the chalk range of the Chiltern Hills, which extend NE. from Oxfordshire to Bedfordshire, the highest point being Wendover Hill,905 ft. The country here is beautifully wooded, chiefly with oak and beech. To the S. there is much excellent grazing land. The fertile "Vale of Aylesbury," lies in the centre of the co., verdant with rich meadows and pasturage. Further N. the heavy arable land is now being brought under steam cultivation, and excellent crops of wheat, beans, &c., are produced. (For agricultural statistics, see Appendix.) Farms are generally of small size, and are leased on a yearly tenure. Pigs and calves are largely reared on the numerous dairy-farms, and great numbers of ducks are sent yearly to the metropolis from the neighbourhood of Aylesbury. (John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887)) Whilst farming still goes on in Buckinghamshire I think it is less important today than it was in 1887. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/gaztext_page.jsp?u_id=10107271&c_id=10001043