Does anyone else like maps?

[LonelyBoy]

I love Ordnance Survey maps.

You just don't get the same attention to detail on any other kind. Google could learn a thing or two from Ordnance Survey.

All manner of amenities are faithfully reported. Things like pharmacies, off-licences, pubs, remote level crossings, hospitals, funeral parlours and cemeteries to name but a few.

I admire them enormously.

[Tembo]

Yes, I love maps. The Ordnance Survey map is a work of art, and far superior to Google maps, in terms of detail.

One of the things I enjoy doing is comparing current maps to old maps to see what has changed with the landscape.

I also like the simplicity of the London Underground map. It was a very influential map, with many other places copying it. Harry Beck never got the credit he deserved for creating it

[LonelyBoy]

I also like historical maps.

It's an amazing subject. Early maps are also art works, allegories and many other things we don't associate with maps today.

[Bad_Buoys]

Maps are great. Admittedly it's one thing to look at one and have it all mapped (pun intended) out in your head, and another to actually get out there and translating it as you go, but that's half the fun. Sort of.

To give it a social anxiety spin, street view and shop listings are bloody brilliant. Rather than having to actually go out there and explore, you can find out exactly what you're surrounded by from the comfort of your own home

[black_mamba]

I love maps! Spend hours looking at them, no intention of going where they depict (not always). Historical maps are awesome too! LonelyBoy have you seen that book about hand drawn maps? Am on mobile now but when I'm next on PC I'll find you the link.

In one of my old jobs I worked with maps a lot, surveys of the seabeds. Fascinating stuff you can find deep the Baltic...shipwrecks, unexploded mines, shopping trolleys.

[Spectrelight]

They're better than sat navs for my job. I actually remember where I'm going the second time I go somewhere if I use a map but with a sat nav it takes a lot longer. Much easier for remembering street layouts as well. I've also just bought a truckers atlas with all the bridge heights and width restrictions in the uk on it.

[kirbycrackle]

Yes, but not practical ones. I like pictoral antiquated ones. Shite for getting anywhere but beautiful and pointless. Always the best kind.

[Appear]

^ I'm with you there. I caught a documentary on BBC4 (get me) a few years back on medieval maps of the world (known as mappae mundi), and was quite taken with them. There's one in Hereford Cathedral that's the largest known to exist that I quite fancy seeing. It's a bit of a stunner:

[kirbycrackle]

^ bbc 4 eh? lol thats beautiful appear. Almost babylonian looking.

[LonelyBoy]

I always like it when books have maps in them.

[LonelyBoy]

Originally Posted by Appear

^ I'm with you there. I caught a documentary on BBC4 (get me) a few years back on medieval maps of the world (known as mappae mundi), and was quite taken with them. There's one in Hereford Cathedral that's the largest known to exist that I quite fancy seeing. It's a bit of a stunner:

They don't make ink and 'paper' (I know it's vellum) like that any more! I think maps are better than manuscripts. It makes me wonder what of today will exist in a thousand years from now. We no longer write on nearly indestructible animal skins and we no longer carve on stone. Some plastic will apparently last for thousands of years, but circuit boards' information content won't. And in a thousand years would humanity know how to retrieve the content from, say, a flash drive if it were specially preserved?

[Olly.]

Originally Posted by Appear

^ I'm with you there. I caught a documentary on BBC4 (get me) a few years back on medieval maps of the world (known as mappae mundi), and was quite taken with them. There's one in Hereford Cathedral that's the largest known to exist that I quite fancy seeing. It's a bit of a stunner:

That is something isn't it! (and kudos for watching the doc and knowing the Latin, only Appear would know the Latin ) I always find it amazing when, without any help of satellites, people centuries ago managed to draw fairly accurate maps of locations and sometimes even the world, I mean just look at this map from the late 17h Century, all right some of it is a bit off, but otherwise it's pretty impressive considering they had no satellites or modern methods of mapping -



But yes, I had a strange geeky obsession with maps when I was younger, so much so that I created my own country (an island in the Pacific called City Island ) to draw lots of maps for it, I was quite the creative child, I'm still trying to work out where all that creativity went. I also bizarrely have road maps of random countries that I probably will never visit like Israel, New Zealand, Australia, or the Pacific Islands, I just loved maps haha.

And many people consider Ordnance Survey as one of the great British institutions, I remember seeing on a program a few weeks ago how the early maps took months, if not years to hand draw and the level of detail and precision is quite incredible.

[LonelyBoy]

Originally Posted by Olly.

That is something isn't it! (and kudos for watching the doc and knowing the Latin, only Appear would know the Latin ) I always find it amazing when, without any help of satellites, people centuries ago managed to draw fairly accurate maps of locations and sometimes even the world, I mean just look at this map from the late 17h Century, all right some of it is a bit off, but otherwise it's pretty impressive considering they had no satellites or modern methods of mapping -



But yes, I had a strange geeky obsession with maps when I was younger, so much so that I created my own country (an island in the Pacific called City Island ) to draw lots of maps for it, I was quite the creative child, I'm still trying to work out where all that creativity went. I also bizarrely have road maps of random countries that I probably will never visit like Israel, New Zealand, Australia, or the Pacific Islands, I just loved maps haha.

And many people consider Ordnance Survey as one of the great British institutions, I remember seeing on a program a few weeks ago how the early maps took months, if not years to hand draw and the level of detail and precision is quite incredible.

They used a method called triangulation. It's simple enough in theory but in practice it was devilishly difficult as any (even small) errors in measurement snowball as each new measurement depends on previous ones. Map-making required a high degree of precision in measurements, which included accurate time-keeping and astronomical observations, to make accurate maps. It is still a mind-boggling achievement. I think navigation at sea in the past is equally amazing. It required a chronometer (Harrison). I remember reading an excellent and award-winning book called Longitude by Dava Sobel many years ago.

[firemonkey]

Old maps are ok. As for modern,practical maps- I might like them if I could read the damn things.

[LonelyBoy]

Originally Posted by firemonkey

Old maps are ok. As for modern,practical maps- I might like them if I could read the damn things.

I've never understood people who can't read maps. Where does the difficulty occur? Are you female? ;-)

[LonelyBoy]

Google Maps is still very much a work in progress. Yes, you can do the "street view" thing (which constantly has to be updated to be a help rather than hindrance) and as of today the aerial photography of my house and the surrounding area is a decade out of date. I often (or I used to) search for particular shops in my city and Google apparently demands payment to include them which I think is cutting off its nose to spite its face. If it included them for free, its maps would be more accurate and people would used them more frequently. An example is things like pharmacies. I know of several pharmacies in my area that don't appear on Google Maps. It's not as if they are hiding or have just appeared. They have been here for years. I think Post Offices and especially post boxes (like, things people might like to find on a map, things OS always includes) are often absent.

[firemonkey]

Originally Posted by LonelyBoy

I've never understood people who can't read maps. Where does the difficulty occur? Are you female? ;-)

I am male. I have a poor sense of direction. I navigate by trying to remember landmarks rather than go left/right/straight ahead or north/south/east/west.
Due to the poor sense of direction and accompanying fear of getting lost and trapped I am limited to where I'll go on my own even within my own town.
I have lived here nearly 20 years and still can't explain to passers by how to get to nearby places.

[LonelyBoy]

Originally Posted by woof

Satnavs are stupid.

The amount of times people have stopped me on my round and asked where somewhere is cos their satnav took them the wrong way

I think there is a parallel here with parents teaching their children how to use a crossing where there are lights and a green man and a red man. There is such a thing as following rules TOO STRICTLY. For example, the parent teaches their child to ONLY cross the road when the green man is lit. They prevent their children from crossing the road if the red man is lit but the road is completely empty. I think this tunnel vision on the red and green men and on the traffic lights might be dangerous, I mean if the child learns to ignore the traffic. Because it's inevitable that one day the green man will be lit up and a vehicle is going to ignore the red light... then the child will get hit by the car. It should be better to teach common sense in situations like that instead. The traffic signals should be a guide.

[black_mamba]

This is the Hand Drawn Map Association thingy some of you might find interesting:

http://www.handmaps.org/

Originally Posted by Olly.

But yes, I had a strange geeky obsession with maps when I was younger, so much so that I created my own country (an island in the Pacific called City Island ) to draw lots of maps for it, I was quite the creative child, I'm still trying to work out where all that creativity went. I also bizarrely have road maps of random countries that I probably will never visit like Israel, New Zealand, Australia, or the Pacific Islands, I just loved maps haha.

Haha that's brilliant, not strange at all! Sounds like the sort of thing I would do.

Some cool maps:

Dymaxion projection map



Not quite a map but I like it...



I think this is of the river Tigris if I remember correctly, I love how simple it is.



London Underground as Super Mario map



I'll stop there before I post too many.

I collect them here: I love maps.

[Olly.]

^ Haha, thanks! I was obsessed!

And Pinterest is brilliant! Some cool maps there!

[Oddity]

Originally Posted by black_mamba

London Underground as Super Mario map

That is awesome. All maps should be SM3 maps. Do the hammer brothers indicate where you'll get mugged/stabbed?

[black_mamba]

Originally Posted by Oddity

That is awesome. All maps should be SM3 maps. Do the hammer brothers indicate where you'll get mugged/stabbed?

This one is nice too:

[Tembo]

I've been enjoying this thread!

One of the maps I have is an early 20th Century London street map, which has been fascinating to see how London has changed (and in some cases, some things are the same). Might try and scan some.pages and put them on here.

Also used to draw maps as a child, for made up towns and cities.

My love of maps is reason I did digital mapping on my geography uni course. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it, as I'm useless with technology.

[Olly.]

Originally Posted by Telex

I've been enjoying this thread!

One of the maps I have is an early 20th Century London street map, which has been fascinating to see how London has changed (and in some cases, some things are the same). Might try and scan some.pages and put them on here.

Also used to draw maps as a child, for made up towns and cities.

My love of maps is reason I did digital mapping on my geography uni course. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it, as I'm useless with technology.

No way, that's awesome!!

I'm not sure I've ever known anyone else who had a childhood obsession with drawing maps

But yeah, the map would be interesting to see, it's interesting to see how a city like London has changed, but like you say, I also find it quite interesting to see how some things stay the same for centuries like I imagine some street names haven't changed in centuries.

[Tembo]

Originally Posted by Olly.

No way, that's awesome!!

I'm not sure I've ever known anyone else who had a childhood obsession with drawing maps

But yeah, the map would be interesting to see, it's interesting to see how a city like London has changed, but like you say, I also find it quite interesting to see how some things stay the same for centuries like I imagine some street names haven't changed in centuries.

No I haven't known anyone with a childhood obsession of maps either! I'd probably still enjoy drawing maps now, but haven't really had the time. I've kept all the ones I drew when.I was younger I think.

Yes the City of London has changed drastically with all the new buildings. However, the street patterns and street names have mostly remained the same, so you can get a real.sense of history.

[LonelyBoy]

I remember when I was younger and I heard Americans on television talking about "blocks" and not knowing what that was. Places having an address on two streets is also confusing. I'd probably get lost in New York faster than a policeman could shoot me even.

[Upvoteanthology]

Maps are my life, for sure. I'm really into alternate history, so I have a deviantart account full of maps. :p

[Olly.]

^ Cool! Care to show any of them to us?

[LonelyBoy]

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

[Upvoteanthology]

Originally Posted by LonelyBoy

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Originally Posted by Olly.

^ Cool! Care to show any of them to us?

Sure, here's a link to my DA account, where you can find all my cool maps and stuff. :p