A key part of the project will be a detailed investigation of a 10km2 block of landscape in the middle Wear valley area of the Durham coalfield, centering on Bishop Auckland. This is an area that saw major industrial contraction in the 1930s, but also had government support pumped into it under the Special Areas Act. It comprised a mixed landscape of pit villages, light and heavy industry, small towns, as well as areas of more traditional agricultural activity. This will allow the impact of the Depression on a range of sectors and landscape types to be addressed. The project will bring together a range of sources to map this region, including drawing on 3rd and 4th Edition Ordnance Survey maps, as well as Dudley Stamp’s 1930s Land Utilisation Survey, 1940 and 1945 MOD aerial photographic coverage (via the National Monument Record) and other aerial photographic coverage where they can be sourced . This will be complimented by additional, more localised map coverage available in local record offices, as well non-cartographic sources such as street directories and photographic images.