Well, you can call me a geek, anorak or nerd but I don`t mind admitting that I am mad about maps!
Before a visit, during a visit or after a visit, you can find me absorbed in these multi-coloured sheets of paper, studying and reading them like a book. Although I have thousands already, I always welcome one brought home for me from someone`s holiday or trip and if I`m going myself, the first item on my list is always…MAPS!
So call me an anorak then!
Almost every house will have maps of some description, be they Ordnance Survey , Michelin, Collins or A-Z. Most of us that travel a lot by car will have lots of them, stuffed into glove or door pockets or maybe just chucked carelessly onto the back seat. Whatever the publishers, at some time or another they are indispensable.
Geographers` A-Z Company produce some extremely useful maps and guides for the U.K. traveller and they are to be found on sale all over the place. W.H Smith,
motorway services and Tesco petrol stations are just a few of the places that you can get them.
What`s the range of products available?
Road Atlases and Maps for longer distances, Street Atlases and Maps for navigating around towns and cities and A-Z Guides of London are just a selection of the extensive selection of material that they produce. For those who don`t know, maps unfold to produce those flattish, crinkly things that never seem to fold up again correctly whilst atlases are maps in book form, sometimes with a spiral binder (a great innovation).
ROAD MAPS
Their most popular series are 13 maps covering the majority of Great Britain with the exception of the far north of Scotland (WHY?).
These are all very well produced and easy on the eye and to use. Their main features are:- --A Scale of 1:200,000. That`s about 3miles to an inch or 2km per 1cm. (Very useful scale) --Roads are clearly set out with a well chosen colour scheme. Most roads down to quite minor ones are included. (Very well mapped!) --All the usual features that you would expect are on the map plus some other quite useful features like – roads under construction, distances, level crossings, railway stations, steep gradients, contours and spot heights. --Tourist Information is well supplied eg. Airports, castles, viewpoints, nature reserves, theme parks, gardens, golf and race courses and many more places of interest. (Very informative) --Each map has a full index of the places covered like the towns, cities, villages and small hamlets (Very useful)
These are extremely handy for finding your way to an unknown destination in a strange townwhich is why I have them for so many towns and cities!
The range has maps and atlases in full colour for most of the bigger towns and cities with some smaller places relegated to black and white (Sorry, Croydon, Darlington, Taunton etc – maybe next year in glorious technicolour). They also have some of them as spiral bound atlaseswhich are a brilliant innovation.
Again these are very easy on the eye in use, being well laid out and clearly labelled. Lots of dead useful information is included, such as – pedestrian areas, Post Offices, public toilets, police stations, car parks, one way streets as well as the house numbers being indicated on the larger roads.
A full gazetteer of the streets and roads on the map are included with the map or atlas and together with a scale used of about 1:18,000 or 4cm to 1km enable you to accurately plan your way about a place with confidence.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
They also produce some of the maps on CD ROM and more are being added to that list eventually. A couple of good guides to Visitors London are printed as well as one that I have worn out several times and needed to replace often – the Main Roads of London, right out to the M25. An indispensable item for any of our journeys to the metropolis.
THE VERDICT
I am VERY choosy when it comes to maps and if I recommend these, then they have to be good! I buy maps all over the world and until recently have never found U.K maps to rival Ordnance Survey but I find myself actively seeking out new A-Z maps to buy instead of O.S. They are clear, colourful, precise, accurate, informative and easy to use. At a price that will not break the bank they are to be seriously contemplated for your next purchase and many can be bought at map shops all over the world as well as all over the U.K.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Er, as a 'self styled' travel guru, I'm a bit map mad myself. Shhhh, don't tell anyone! - J
BNibbles 18.08.2002 09:18
I like poring over maps too. Then I make a nuisance of myself by getting the "windy seat" everytime in a plane - I just love the grand scale of world geography sliding past my window, and thanks to all the maps I keep looking at, I bore my fellow passenger rigid with "ooh, look, we're just passing over Lake Windermere - I can see the wake of the ferry, or "If we're only 30 mins from Sri Lanka, this crop of land below us must the last ten miles of India". Beware, maps can do this to you too!
northern_lights 11.08.2002 11:41
If I need a street map - I always buy these ones. Janet
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