GEOGRAPHY is often seen as the poor relation to heavyweight subjects like maths and English in the school lesson stakes.

Indeed, last week's A-level results showed the number of entries across the country had dropped by 12 per cent since last year.

But the subject is undergoing something of a revival at Fulford School, in York, where geographical enthusiasm has spread into the long summer holidays and across the world-wide web.

Student Ross Miles, 15, has been working on a new website based on his geography teacher, Peter Hickling's lessons, together with his friend, David Ashby, also 15.

For those whose memories of geography lessons begin and end with vague notions about ox-bow lakes and limestone pavements, this may be hard to believe.

But Ross, of Broadway, Fulford, said he hoped eventually to develop it to include GCSE revision material for geography and other subjects too.

"Mr Hickling always puts up a new fact of the week on the wall every Monday.

It all started off as a bit of a joke -

what's going to be the fact of the week this week?

"We approached him and asked him if he'd mind if we did a web site on it."

The site is called Mr Hickling's Geography Fact of the Week Website.

Mr Hickling said: "I am very enthusiastic about geography and the fact of the week has taken off really well, especially with the Year Ten group.

He said the picture at his school at least was quite the reverse of the national picture painted by the A-level results.

"We've got 42 people doing A-level next year and six GCSE groups - geography is on the up!"

Ross and David's website is at www.milesni.freeserve.co.uk

PICTURE: MAPPING IT OUT: Ross Miles, right, and Fulford School geography teacher, Peter Hickling, with the Geography Fact Of The Week website Picture: Mike Tipping