Thread: Maps Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=029753

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
As a child I used to love looking through atlases, finding out where places were (including places I'd visited) and seeing how the world fitted together.

Then there were maps of imaginary countries, which you could stare at when you finished reading a book you'd particularly enjoyed, trying to visualize, as it might be, Cair Paravel, or the Shire, and prolong the pleasure of the book a little longer. With great enthusiasm, I copied out all the maps from the Lord of the Rings at one point.

Sometimes it was fun simply to create your own imaginary map and make up adventures based on it.

There were also historical maps, so you could trace the development of a country from pre-Roman times to the present day, which was often quite interesting. And then there are maps like the Tube map, streamlined and beautiful, and which have spawned any amount of parodies.

But for me a good map should always have features of interest. Preferably (though it isn't essential) a cherub in one corner, blowing a gale, a small whale spouting in the ocean, and a sign saying "Here be dragons" in the middle of a desert. Just something to add that extra touch of interest and wonder about an unknown part of the world.

So - any interesting maps you've particularly enjoyed? And do you actually use maps at all? I have to admit I don't these days, apart from the occasional glance at a road atlas.

[ 02. August 2015, 11:50: Message edited by: Ariel ]
 
Posted by Albert Ross (# 3241) on :
 
As a child in London I was impressed by this Children's Map of London
 
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
I've been a map lover since my parents bought a four-volume children's encyclopedia accompanied by an atlas giving details of planet earth (and a bit beyond), all the countries and, the highlight, about 150 pages of maps. We still have it although it is out of date and well-worn.

Favourite map must however be an OS map of Roman Britain from the 1950's, accompanied by a booklet. I don't lend it to anyone!
 
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I love maps; my favourite shop is Stanfords and I even have a reason to go tomorrow *happy dance* to buy the map for walking next weekend. The paper (or waterproof) map is so much more interesting than following a phone app, as it gives context and ideas to explore. Poring over the map and wondering where to go and what to do is half the joy.

I also have a collection of historical maps of this area - from 1649, 1777 and more recent - and that's equally entertaining, tracing developments and changes, using field names to inform archaeological research - we reckon we found the site where bricks were made for the building of a large local house by that technique.
 
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
Ooh I love Stanfords too, it's been far too long since I've been there. I'm another armchair atlas-porer-overer, which I think is why I loved this book by Judith Schalansky, it is the ultimate combination of armchair atlas-poring, nerdy factoids and imagination. It's also beautiful, IMO.

These days, although I don't pore over the atlas so much, I must admit that one of my favourite genres of books is travel writing, so I often travel the world from my armchair through the adventures of others. Sometimes I'm even inspired to explore the actual places too.
 
Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
The parsonage house where I spent most of my childhood was rather grand - we had Robert Adam interiors! - and a feature of the dining room was a scaled-up map of the county that covered the chimney breast. It was magical: little churches, rivers (some with fish), small trees, etc.

In addition to that, from when we were about 8 our papa would make one of us responsible for map-reading when we went on longer car journeys (I suspect he knew the route exactly but it gave us a job) and so we would be expected to look at the route on the maps in the AA Book before setting off, and then to give directions as needed.

I still consult maps before setting off for somewhere new and brought up the children to know how to use a map.

As you say, the ones with cherubs, etc, are particularly attractive.
 
Posted by Doc Tor (# 9748) on :
 
I am an unashamed map nerd. One of my most prized possessions is a Ward Lock Red Guide to London, 1938.

I use maps a lot when I'm writing books - not necessarily to "visit every damn place named on it", but just for me, for reference, to make sure if a character goes from A to B, they'll take a realistic amount of time doing so, and what they might find on the way.

My latest purchase was only a couple of weeks ago: OS Explorer sheet 403, Cairn Gorm and Aviemore. A map, a compass and a stout pair of boots is all I ask for.
 
Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
I must have fallen in love with maps in scouts, when we were using pink first-series 1:50000 OS maps. So these are the ones I pick up cheap on ebay - they're normally fine for walking and cycling, but I once got rather lost in the middle of the night when ambushed by a subsequent bypass, trying to cycle from Bangor to Caernarfon.

(On which subject - round the back of Caer. sewage works, next to the sea and near where the Nantlle railway used to cross the river, is a surprisingly nice spot for fly-camping. You'd need an old map to find the Nantlle railway!).
 
Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :
 
Another map fanatic here.

Apart from them just being fascinating and often beautiful things, I love to know where I am, what's over the hill, where the road goes etc.

I'm always delighted to find a novel has a map at the front, and will flick back to it whenever the location is mentioned.

I'm intending to make a map of the area immediately around us - probably in needlework - it has just about every natural feature you can think of.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
I went to Stanfords in London and spent a fortune in half an hour -- more maps than you would believe possible, all in one place!
One of my favorite books is an 1889 edition of
King Solomon's Mines. It has a fold-out map in the front, representing the map that Jose da Silvestra drew on his shirt, using his own blood for ink. To fold this thing out is just thrilling.
 
Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on :
 
I was involved in the creation of a pretty awesome map. The iPad app Timeline World War 2 (for which I was lead developer) contains a map of the world, shaded to show which power controls or threatens each territory for any given day throughout the war.

To make it, we had to buy up old atlases and historical books, trace country boundaries (since they're not in the same place as today), and collate newspaper reports showing the results of any battles. It was an awesome project, and to my knowledge nobody else has made such a map.
 
Posted by not entirely me (# 17637) on :
 
I'm also a map lover. I like a good OS map or really old maps.
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
... and a feature of the dining room was a scaled-up map of the county that covered the chimney breast. It was magical: little churches, rivers (some with fish), small trees, etc.

I completely forgot. I had a huge map of Disneyland when I was a child. I used to love "travelling" round it.
 
Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :
 
I have a large collection of 1:50,000 topographic maps. 1 inch on map = 1 mile. Though we generally use metric now. Most of mine have been for wilderness travel. Canoe in thd north. Hiking in the mountains.

I was trained as a boy scout to locate myself, estimate distances across bodies of water. Trigonometry. Our bible was "Be Expert With Map And Compass". I have several orienteering compasses and two Bruntons which my father used for geological surveying.

I think many people rely on the googlemaps now. And the mechanical voice telling them where to drive. My favourite maps are one where the south pole is up and another with alternate proposals for western Canada's provinces. Hence my location below my sig.
 
Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :
 
We've deliberately avoided satnavs until now, but Starman's new car has one built in, and I cannot bear to have technology hanging around without knowing how to use it. So far we haven't been anywhere we didn't know, so it has been a matter of comparing the 'recommended' route with the one we know to be best (and, it has to be said, enjoying being disobedient).

The thing that really startled me was realising that there is no way of seeing the overall route, and therefore no means of knowing where you are in the country.

I suspect we will use it for small sections of journeys where we're not confident about the roads, particularly if there is only one of us in the car, but I'm absolutely certain we will never use it in preference to a map. I couldn't live with not knowing where I am, where I've been, where I'm going and how they relate to each other!
 
Posted by Pulsator Organorum Ineptus (# 2515) on :
 
Fascinating things. The National Library of Scotland web site has some particularly fascinating old OS maps on-line. See, for example, this six-inch map of Kyle of Lochalsh in the mid nineteenth century, showing only a handful of buildings.
 
Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 
I create (using ESRI ArcGIS), curate and use maps in my job and have a (v small) selection at home. Looking at, say, how the geology of a given place creates its landscape is still fascinating even after many years!
 
Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :
 
The only bit of French poetry I have known by heart for years:

Pour l'enfant, amoureux de cartes et d'estampes,
L'univers est égal à son vaste appétit.
Ah! que le monde est grand à la clarté des lampes!
Aux yeux du souvenir que le monde est petit!

For the child in love with maps and plans, the universe is equal to his vast appetite. How the world is big in the lamplight, and how it is small when we remember it.
 
Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :
 
venbede: wonderful. Whose is it?

Bene Gesserit: one of kids uses arcGIS for work also. Fascinating to see maps with things like pharmacy locations and medical appointments for substance abuse. Nutrition and diet problems for kids and locations of grocery stores.
 
Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :
 
Charles Baudelaire Le Voyage

http://fleursdumal.org/poem/231
 
Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
I'm a lover of the 1:25,000 Explorer OS maps. Have visited Stanford's a few times this summer getting maps as I've been walking the North Downs Way. The 1:50,000 range just isn't detailed enough.

The more detail the better.

I think my appreciation of a really good map came about when I was hiking in northern Slovenia in 2010 and was using the local maps (not up to OS) standard that only showed the trails the mapmakers thought you'd want to walk along. So when I was looking for a turn on the right and found one, I went down it, not realising that the one I actually wanted was 100 yards further along, and I ended up in the middle of a logging operation. [Help]
 
Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :
 
Since imaginary places seem to be approved by the OP, I'll mention my prized teenage possession of Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Pern, an essential and authoritative (i.e. author-authorised) guide to Anne McCaffrey's dragon novels.
 
Posted by marzipan (# 9442) on :
 
I love the orange 1:25000 OS maps. My friends and I went on a 'big walk' from Liverpool to Bristol a few years ago which we plotted with the orange maps (where we could, we followed the Offas Dyke Path, but we deviated a bit). It was great having each field shown on the map and being able to know exactly where we were.
Over here in Ireland the whole country is covered by 1:50000 maps but only selected areas have 1:25000, they're still interesting though.
I also have the atlas of remote islands, it's a lovely book.
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Jestocost:
Since imaginary places seem to be approved by the OP, I'll mention my prized teenage possession of Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Pern, an essential and authoritative (i.e. author-authorised) guide to Anne McCaffrey's dragon novels.

Oh wow. I had no idea that even existed.
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Two other imaginary maps I love: one from "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome. And, even better, Wilbert Awdry's Island of Sodor.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
A GPS is a superb aid on strange roads. I have driven to places that I still don't know where they are -- all I had was an address, but I got there and got back. I also admire their stubborn quality. You can wander way, way off track and it still remembers your original goal and patiently tries to guide you there. (Brief image of the Holy Spirit, murmuring, 'Recalculating...')
 
Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
...You can wander way, way off track and it still remembers your original goal and patiently tries to guide you there. (Brief image of the Holy Spirit, murmuring, 'Recalculating...')

I find a fascination in seeing how far we have to go before it stops telling us to make a u-turn and recalculates. Definitely more shades of the Holy Spirit, I think.
 
Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :
 
I have given something a little older than this map of Caithness to my Dad, who has worked up there for 43 years as a quantity surveyor.

I love the aesthetics and function of maps, but I am a total gadget geek and have every conceivable navigation device including a second-hand Garmin running watch on me almost everywhere I go.

Cattyish, easily geographically confused.
 
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
I was in High School when my school dumped its collection of National Geographic maps in favor of the CD Rom version. Luckily I was on the spot when I found the box of old maps next to the trash can, and I brought them home, probably to the consternation (but not surprise) of my parents, who were kind enough to store them for me for about ten years before telling me that I had to do something with them.

There were two treasures in the box; a map of Europe from 1938, and a map of the world from 1941. I have both framed and hanging at my house.

My grandmother died last year, and when my mother was cleaning out her house, she found two paperback historical atlases that my grandparents got in 1990 as a free gift for subscribing to Newsweek. She knew that I had spent hours studying those atlases, and brought them to me. Funny thing, of all of the family heirlooms in that house, the first thing that came to mind when I thought about anything I might want were those atlases.

So suffice it to say that I get the map obsession.

(When my parents bought a summer cabin in the mountains, my father ran out and bought the nine USGS topo maps consisting of the map where the cabin was located, and the eight surrounding maps. A little foam board and rubber cement turned it into a huge wall map that you could stare at for hours.)
 
Posted by Edith (# 16978) on :
 
For all map lovers Map the Nation by Rachel Hewitt is a must. It's a biography of the Ordnance Survey and quite fascinating.
 
Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
A few years ago, D. rescued a pile of elderly maps from a waste-paper basket in the theological college where he teaches, and we have several of them on the walls of the staircase going up to the top floor of our house. They date from the 1940s and 50s and really are rather lovely.

We sometimes find the atlas useful when doing Grauniad crosswords: we were doing an Araucaria "alphabetical jigsaw" crossword recently where one set of clues were all islands [Smile] , and once we'd exhausted ones we'd actually heard of, we started scouring the gazetteer and the atlas to find the rest.
 
Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by venbede:
Charles Baudelaire Le Voyage

http://fleursdumal.org/poem/231

Grateful thanks! I have put the bit you posted beside the framed map at our cabin, beside Sea Fever.
 
Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :
 
Glad to help.

Baudelaire and Masefield must be at the opposite end of some sort of spectrum!

When I was young I was endlessly fascinated by the map of Middle Earth in the first two volumes of Lord of the Rings. What on earth was to the east? (I suppose if I waded through The Simillarion I'd find out.)
 
Posted by Doc Tor (# 9748) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by venbede:
What on earth was to the east?

This.
 
Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :
 
Thanks. Where can I find out what and who were meant to inhabit those bits to the South and East?

(I was a great Tolkien enthusiast in my teens. Re-reading it a few years back put my off all the heroic stuff with elves and humans talking cod King James - I preferred the suburban hobbits, the ents and Tom Bobadil.)
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I'm lost. Where's the Shire on that?
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Upper left hand quadrant.

I hope that they drew upon JRRT's own sketches for this -- it is not familiar to me. But you can see that it is vaguely like Eurasia, especially in the upper half -- that stuff to the far right definitely has a Japan look about it.

JRRT meant for the Shire to resemble Britain (with certain major exceptions, the cultivation of tobacco being the main one). Gondor and Ithilien are Italy; Mordor and points east are either Middle Eastern or Asiatic. But the further you get from the bits he was interested in the more dimly envisioned it is.
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I know it's upper left but where exactly?
 
Posted by Oscar the Grouch (# 1916) on :
 
I really love old maps of areas that I know well, so that I can see how the place has changed - which new roads have been created; how the housing has built up and so on.

A few years ago, the Royal Geographical Society had a display of old maps of Africa. A friend and I went there and we spent a really happy couple of hours wandering around and examining the maps in detail. Everyone else who came in was in and out in under 30 minutes. How could they possibly appreciate the utter joy of such maps in such a short space of time?
 
Posted by Oscar the Grouch (# 1916) on :
 
Also.....

There is no book written that couldn't be improved with a map or three. From Enid Blyton to Jane Austen and all stations inbetween - give me a few maps and I'll read the book for sure.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
The link allows you to hover over an area and click in. Alas only one click, but hover over the upper left and you can see where the old familiar map is, from LOTR.

The big problem with maps (especially the lovely fold-out maps) is that they are very costly to produce in a printed book. Also there has never been a satisfactory map in an e-book. The only possibility is a link to some larger map on a website somewhere.
 
Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Oscar the Grouch:
There is no book written that couldn't be improved with a map or three.

I read the Brother Cadfael mysteries with detailed maps of England and Wales alongside. It helps me visualize where people are going.

Moo
 
Posted by Pancho (# 13533) on :
 
Yay maps.
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I'm lost. Where's the Shire on that?

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I know it's upper left but where exactly?

See in the upper left where it says Eriador? Look at the line between the letters "as" and "d". That's the River Brandywine. Follow it north to a patch of dark green on its east. That's the Old Forest. The strip between the forest and the river is Buckland. The Shire is the area to the west about as far as the letter "i", maybe the letter "r" (I assume some of the hills below them represent a part of the Far Downs, the original western border of the Shire).
 
Posted by Doc Tor (# 9748) on :
 
This is where I let on that the rubric for my next book reads:
quote:
If you want a map, you must draw it yourself and keep it secret
Maps are critical part of the plot.
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Brilliant, thanks Pancho.

Frodo and Sam could have saved themselves a lot of time if only they'd gone this way.
 
Posted by Pancho (# 13533) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Brilliant, thanks Pancho.

Frodo and Sam could have saved themselves a lot of time if only they'd gone this way.

Oooo, that's awesome.

Here's New York City as a Middle-Earth map.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
I love it.
I have found that it is helpful to have a floor plan of buildings, for certain books. So that you know that Col. Mustard is in the library with the candlestick.
 
Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
The original Pocketbook novels often had maps on the inside.

And for map lovers, there's always the question of projections.
 
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I want a Waterman Projection - I've worked with the Gall-Peters projection and don't like it much.
 
Posted by agingjb (# 16555) on :
 
When the Ordnance Survey switched from 1:63360 to 1:50000, I was slowly collecting the real inch to the mile series. Sadly they changed without giving me the chance to collect all the originals (I did ask).

Now the shelves are filling up with 1:50000 and 1:25000 maps, but are very far from, nowhere near, complete.

Curiously there are, or were, reprints of first edition inch to the mile maps. I think we are nearing the point where reprints of the last edition would have historical value.
 
Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Here in India map-reading is not on the curriculum so kids aren't taught anything about it, which is sad. Also the available maps are fairly poor. The best maps to use for getting about the country all seem to be published outside India - the Lonely Planet Road Atlas of India and Bangladesh is about the best for general use - particularly as it covers most of Nepal as well.

Being taught map-reading was one of the best bits of Geography at school.
 
Posted by DangerousDeacon (# 10582) on :
 
Always loved maps. As a kid, used to accumulate old Street Directories. See where the trams and railways used to be, and trace the highways out of the city. As an adult, was in the Army Reserve (Territorials). The big difference I suspect between British and Australian Ordnance maps was the distances - sometimes we would have to use 1.100,000 or 1.200,000 just to get the distances in.
 
Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Here in India map-reading is not on the curriculum so kids aren't taught anything about it, which is sad. Also the available maps are fairly poor. The best maps to use for getting about the country all seem to be published outside India...

Sad to hear, especially when you consider the pioneering work of the Survey of India in the C19.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Map reading is certainly not in the curriculum in the US. (Nor are many other things that used to be standard: cooking, needlework, music, art, dance.) People who need to do it learn it in other ways -- through Scouts, or when they join the armed forces.
 
Posted by Net Spinster (# 16058) on :
 
Another map lover here. I can remember getting a proper atlas for my 11th birthday and later poring over it with the ship list from the Iliad trying to figure out where all the ships came from.

Map loving classicists might also like
ORBIS
 
Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
This may be a slightly naughty tangent, but for sheer cartographic beauty and simplicity, this one is hard to beat.

Or its evil twin. [Snigger]
 
Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :
 
quote:
Map loving classicists might also like
ORBIS

I'm slightly offended by the immediate message that they don't consider the latest version of Firefox to be a modern browser, and don't support it... [Paranoid]

[ 07. August 2015, 15:43: Message edited by: Drifting Star ]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
Or its evil twin. [Snigger]

Wow, brilliant. The Tube Map has lent itself to many a parody (including Mordor and Doctor Who) but I didn't know about that one.
 
Posted by Net Spinster (# 16058) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Drifting Star:
quote:
Map loving classicists might also like
ORBIS

I'm slightly offended by the immediate message that they don't consider the latest version of Firefox to be a modern browser, and don't support it... [Paranoid]
Ah so it isn't just my settings. I think I may have to drop by and have a word. It works with Safari and Opera but the warning is put up for Firefox and at least some versions of IE. Some people seem to find it does work with Firefox though all I'm getting is a black rectangle instead of a map.

There is also the
Ancient World Mapping Center
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Thought you guys might appreciate this-- one of my favorite "emergent" curriculum experiences came about this way-- I was reading a train book to a group of kids, and augmented a line about the train traveling " to the east, to the east" by pointing east. I then set the book on my lap and taught the kids some easy landmarks to help them remember the points of the compass in that area. (" East is the mountains, West is the ocean, North is Devil's Slide, and South is, uh, that way.")

As I was doing this, kids began spontaneously shouting out-- "that's where my house is! That way is San Francisco!" Etc.

The next day I got a huge sheet of butcher paper, and several transit maps I had copped from a BART kiosk. We read the book again, then afterward I spread the paper out and drew a rough aproximation of the Bay Area. I had them tell me what town they lived in and what street if they knew it, and working from a bus map, I plotted their houses out on the map. They got to color the map in, and they added different landmarks as they went along. Mixed age group of 3-5 year olds.

Any of y'all into Geoguessr?
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
This may be a slightly naughty tangent, but for sheer cartographic beauty and simplicity, this one is hard to beat.

Or its evil twin. [Snigger]

(Sigh. At both, really.)

Do you know how jealous people in San Francisco get when they see pristine underground transit maps such as that? I'm not even gonna inflict BART/ MUNI on you all.
 
Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Yet another map-lover here. All sorts of maps: old, new, Ordnance Survey, street atlas, bus routes, underground, railways, anything. I love them. Hours of fascination. My favourites are very large-scale maps of places where I've lived - I have them framed and hanging on the walls.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to admit this in Heaven, but maps are my preferred reading in the loo. The family sometimes have to hammer on the door when I'm in the middle of a good browse through a juicy OS masterpiece. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
Or its evil twin. [Snigger]

Wow, brilliant. The Tube Map has lent itself to many a parody (including Mordor and Doctor Who) but I didn't know about that one.
You've never played Mornington Crescent* over in the Circus?

* or Concerning Torments, as it's otherwise known. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Yes, when it first started up on the Ship (then it got boring) but I meant actual physical maps. Among the Tube map parodies I've seen, as well as Middle Earth, the Shire, and Doctor Who, there's the Rude Tube, the What If The Germans Had Won The War map, The Great Bear, the Tube Map of Outrage, a Tube map for football supporters, and the Biblical Underground. (The last might be slow to load but it's good when it does.)
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I too have a passion for maps. My father (Boys Brigade and wartime army) made sure I could read OS one inch maps, and I have inherited his map reading protractor. I am currently looking out for a copy of the 2 1/2 inch map of Dartford, which I took into school, where they did not have enough for one between two in a class, and which I have never seen again. The OS has omitted stuff from its successor.

I always build up mental maps of the places I live, but they don't always orientate properly - I was at college in Clacton, and mapped the shore line as running north/south, as opposed to home at Dover, which I mapped as east/west, like Folkestone. Both are north-east/south-west. Sometimes I can almost feel the gears turn as my brain reorientates to join separate maps together. I can also rotate maps in my head, both round and round, and also up and down. This is useful for seeing from above and relating that to the landscape, but doesn't reveal anything I don't know for geological block diagrams.

I find it irritating when an author doesn't seem to have mapped their characters' journeys. Particularly when someone goes into a mountain, travels a short distance, and comes out half a continent away. (No names.)

And has anyone seen the fantasy sequence about magic wielding bards based on documents supposedly found in Morocco, where the geography looks remarkably like the western part of Middle Earth - same mountain ranges?*

At least Diane Wynne Jones turned her source map upside down in "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland".

*Mind gone blank to all but the map.

[ 09. August 2015, 11:53: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 
Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
I saw an exhibition of maps in a museum last week - it included a medieval map from Munster which had lots of sea monsters

Monstra Marina & Terrestria, Quae Passim in Partibus Aquilonis Inueniuntur
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
John Norman's Gor novels (which you should not read for very different reasons indeed -- google first, if you doubt me) were noted for having the hero set out on his quests from the capital city. In some books when he went due east it was the ocean. Every now and then he would leave and head due east, into the mountains. That was an extraordinarily disorganized created world.
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I expect it was all due to shifting tectonic plates.
 
Posted by basso (# 4228) on :
 
Another here who's always loved maps. The geography department at my college had one wall covered with a mosaic of US topographic maps (in the 7.5 minute/1:24000 scale) covering a slice of California from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe.

I spent more than a few hours reading that wall.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I do like drawing fictitious maps, but it is very difficult making the names believable. Small places aren't too bad using standard place name elements. (Though some otherwise good writers fail even at this level. Barbara Willard's Mantlemass I found not quite believable.) Large places are much more difficult. (I never was convinced by Susan Howatch's Starminster. Both parts are place name elements, but Star only gets used in reality for very small places, usually with bogs growing sedges, or pubs.)
A friend and I have fun occasionally making up imaginary London boroughs. North Dulwich, East Norwood, South Peckham, Monkshead, Thither Green, Cambersey and Bermondswell. Haven't mapped them, though.

[ 09. August 2015, 21:57: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 
Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
... Any of y'all into Geoguessr?

Oh yes - I think it may have been you that got me started.

I range in ability from (occasionally) quite good to (usually) a bit rubbish and (sometimes) barely on the same planet. [Big Grin]

I think I may have to go and have a couple of rounds right now ... [Help]
 
Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I've just played a 5-round game of Geoguessr, and on one round I got 4999 points (within a couple of hundred yards of the location) and in another I got a big fat 0 (wrong side of the planet).

[Big Grin]
 
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
... Any of y'all into Geoguessr?

Oh yes - I think it may have been you that got me started.

I range in ability from (occasionally) quite good to (usually) a bit rubbish and (sometimes) barely on the same planet. [Big Grin]

I think I may have to go and have a couple of rounds right now ... [Help]

Damn you both.
 
Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :
 
am sure we had a geoguessr thread not too long ago.

eventually it all turns into the same dirt tracks in sub-saharan africa/mongolia/australian outback/mexican desert and you have to find a difference between them thanks to the colour of the sky and the lines on the road.

although it's easier, the "famous landmarks" one is fun. Every "unknown fancy castle/building" seems to either be in prague, or France

[ 10. August 2015, 09:26: Message edited by: Wet Kipper ]
 
Posted by not entirely me (# 17637) on :
 
Thanks to the GeoGuessr thread in The Circus I once got carried away and spent about 4 hours playing then realised that I should probably take a break!
 
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
I have a pictorial map, in full colour, of Oxford University on the wall here in my den. I inherited it from my grandfather. It is useful when watching television as I can spot a fictitious college in minutes!
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Oh dear, reminding me of Geoguessr. I confined myself to the UK, and, I am afraid, used a screen grab of the initial view, and Google maps, and street view to get quite high scores. The program originators did not mind this - I checked.

But I got a bit bored of long narrow lanes in the middle of flat nowheres, and cul-de-sacs in generic Bovis housing estates. I've been to quite a lot of bumpy bits of Britain when doing my OU degree, and had not realised how few the bumpy bits were. The only bumpy bit I ever arrived at was one of the notable Bens on the west of Scotland. I could do much better if I could see the rock or the colour of the soil.
 
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
and, I am afraid, used a screen grab of the initial view, and Google maps, and street view to get quite high scores. The program originators did not mind this - I checked.

OK, so how else would one get a very high score?
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
By recognising the spot straight away like the roundabout on the way to Lidl.

Just got 4999, 12 m odd off. And did spot the chalk landscape, though didn't immediately get that it wasn't in the south. Long boring lane though.

[ 10. August 2015, 19:18: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
NO, I understand that. What, though, are the odds o such a score on all 5 places in a round? In all 5 places in each of several rounds?

I'm exceptionally good at latitude. I am very good at general landmass and pretty reasonable at recognising languages. I am more traveled than average. Still there is no way I could consistantly get a high score without doing so. And, ISTM, that is not the point. The point, as far as I can tell, is to explore.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Yeah, I would call Geoguessr an educational toy that trains you in map use facility. If you are doing the timed challenge, instantly knowing a place would help, but otherwise the point is to fix the location accurately on the map.

I play a version that is strictly San Francisco, to help myself learn the neighborhoods. The city grid is a nightmare, and playing helps me sort it out. Playing the global version gave me a better knowledge than I ever dreamed I'd have of the location of Eastern European countries.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The thing that sticks in my mind is that someone in Shetland is building his house of straw.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Hee. I dream of going to Norway someday. All those grassy hills and frosty beaches...
 
Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Hee. I dream of going to Norway someday. All those grassy hills and frosty beaches...

I fancy going there to admire the handywork of Slartibartfast, especially the fjords.
 
Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
I wonder if there is anyone who can look at the Strange Maps blog without spending hours rummaging through its archives. That person is definitely not me [Help]

(You're welcome [Big Grin] )
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I don't think it's me either...
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Sipech:
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Hee. I dream of going to Norway someday. All those grassy hills and frosty beaches...

I fancy going there to admire the handywork of Slartibartfast, especially the fjords.
You can identify people with conversing with on a cruise ship by mentioning him as you sail up a fiord.
 
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
I also have a relief map of California in the other den and if your city existed in 1955, you could find it. Of course, because my grandfather ran the gas company, there were locations of major gas-lines, though the follow the freeways.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I have only just spotted the typo - worth conversing with
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
I have noted the iPad Revolution has made us all more forgiving of typos. [Big Grin]

Y'all are helping me out-- I have been meaning to put together a survival kit for when kids are bored at school-- I would do well to stock up on transit maps.

Another thing I like to do is draw floorplans/ maps of the school, and leave them in the writing area for kids to figure out.

[ 13. August 2015, 16:03: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I have noted the iPad Revolution has made us all more forgiving of typos. [Big Grin]

YMMV [Two face]

Anyhow, we've come some way since the early days, when maps, and the world, were so much less complicated.

This, by the way, is Europe at night, with all the capital cities clearly marked.
 
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
Kelly, one of the things we take away with us, as well as the 1:25000 map of the area, is Maponimoes* - we have the UK counties version, but there are other options in the range - it's the size of a couple of packs of playing cards. I've also got a jigsaw puzzle of the British Isles that I use with young people. I saw a similar world map last time I wandered into Stanfords.

* We also like Backpacker from that games maker.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
[Yipee] HOT.

Of course, preschoolers will probably just move them around to make pretend countries of their own, but that's totally ok!

[ 13. August 2015, 19:32: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 
Posted by Net Spinster (# 16058) on :
 
I had a jigsaw puzzle of England when I was young. Each county (old scheme) was an individual piece.
 
Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
It's very hard to find US puzzle maps that show every state separately. Almost all of them lump Rhode Island with Connecticut, and Massachusetts is frequently thrown into the mix.

Moo
 
Posted by Oscar the Grouch (# 1916) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Net Spinster:
I had a jigsaw puzzle of England when I was young. Each county (old scheme) was an individual piece.

When I was a kid, I had a number of jigsaw puzzles, which were shaped as countries or continents, with little name tags to put in to mark specific places. I had one of Australia which was brilliant - I learned so much about Aussie geography. I also had one of the UK and one of Europe. I can't remember if there was one of the US or Canada. I have vague memories of one of Africa.
 
Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
venbede: wonderful. Whose is it?

Bene Gesserit: one of kids uses arcGIS for work also...

Just revisited the thread and read your reply(!) Yes, you can generate some fascinating maps with it. We've just upgraded to Arc10 and even Famously Grumpy Colleague is impressed.
 
Posted by Fabricate Diem PVNC (# 18459) on :
 
Just celebrated a friends 50th Birthday with walking in the Derbsyhire Dales. I did him a custom map made from a scanned in 1890 ordnance survey I picked up for £6. It's creases, worn bits and general demeanour matched his own! Tried to download something useful fm various paid websites but gave up when I realised it would lack the age and dignity of the original. Gave him the original map as well which is now a prized possession.
I Love the smell of linen in the morning!
 
Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
quote:
Fabricate Diem PVNC: Gave him the original map as well which is now a prized possession.
Wow, that's a nice present.

(Welcome to the Ship!)
 


© Ship of Fools 2016

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.5.0