Years back when I had a bit of spare cash, I collected a number of original maps of which this is the oldest.

How the UK has changed eh?

Click on the pic, then top right for bigger.

How old is it? Its interesting that they have Loch Neagh in NI connected to the sea.

How old is it? Its interesting that they have Loch Neagh in NI connected to the sea.

Apparently the cartographer was not the most accurate concentrating on quantity rather than quality.

It was printed between 1690 and 1705.

If you like maps and their history, there is a really good book called "Mapping the Roads" by Mike Parker which I got as a birthday present. It covers the UK road network since year dot

It's surprising just how much things change even when just looking at maps from the 1800's. Part of what is now the forest was ancient oak woodlands in the 1800's ... which rather oddly, may have been felled to allow the planting of big christmas trees It's also surprising how many of the old roads and tracks are still evident on the ground but only once you know where they're meant to be.

Maps are great!

Here is a 1577 Saxon map of Cheshire we have hung in our Front room



It's useless as a roadmap

I spend lots (too much) of my time looking at old maps. I have a weakness for military roads in Scotland and will spend countless hours finding lost sections. The ability to overlay maps on overhead imagery is superb.

A couple of sites I favour are:

http://maps.nls.uk/
http://www.heritagepaths.co.uk/ (some of my work on here)

It's surprising just how much things change even when just looking at maps from the 1800's.

https://www.old-maps.co.uk used to be great for comparing changes over time, that is until they curtailed the amount of a map you could look at.

If anyone wants it, I've a book here called "Manual of map reading, photo reading and field sketching" published by the War Office in 1929.

Shout up and I'll pop it in the post.

Rich, I'd be interested, fancy a swap? I have a few books on cartography that you might like to read in return.

Rich, I'd be interested, fancy a swap? I have a few books on cartography that you might like to read in return.

Reading about cartography. Me? No.

PM me your address.

s8tannorm wrote:It's surprising just how much things change even when just looking at maps from the 1800's. Part of what is now the forest was ancient oak woodlands in the 1800's ... which rather oddly, may have been felled to allow the planting of big christmas trees It's also surprising how many of the old roads and tracks are still evident on the ground but only once you know where they're meant to be.

Maps are great!

To be fair a decent amount of wood was used at the time in the succession of punch ups between us and the Dutch/French/Upstart American Colonialists which require rapid replacement while we prepared to get into a punch up with our Prussian friends.

I have for a very limited time, got access to the edina digimap historic mapping module - which does OS mapping from the late 1800s until almost the present day. Good for seeing the most recent changes.

Shout if you want any particular area and I'll get it.

These older ones being posted up look very interesting though

I inherited my Dad's maps when he died. They range from the 40's through to the 70's... Early OS on linen, and more modern stuff.

Some of them are very interesting...

I love maps too... I sense a common interest forming...

Si

I adore maps and I use them all the time. But here's the thing that worries me as a map reader. A paper map is not just a drawing of the landscape, it's an historical cultural record. In this day and age of satnavs and google maps, the record of the landscape is constantly changing and sadly constantly being forgotten. And it's insidious. If it happened once a year - if the map of the landscape was updated just once every 12 months and those who were interested got to scrutinise the new stuff, then the record of what was once was would be complete. But no. It happens bit by bit and no one notices the small changes. I cant say this keeps me awake at night, but it is a bit sad.

one the best things about the internet, gathering old maps is relatively easy these days, my collection of Anglesey maps go back to the 1800s now, fascinating subject

johnnystorm wrote:

s8tannorm wrote:It's surprising just how much things change even when just looking at maps from the 1800's. Part of what is now the forest was ancient oak woodlands in the 1800's ... which rather oddly, may have been felled to allow the planting of big christmas trees It's also surprising how many of the old roads and tracks are still evident on the ground but only once you know where they're meant to be.

Maps are great!

To be fair a decent amount of wood was used at the time in the succession of punch ups between us and the Dutch/French/Upstart American Colonialists which require rapid replacement while we prepared to get into a punch up with our Prussian friends.

It's weird that people generally will get "upset" about woods being cut down, but will think nothing of popping a few logs on the fire in the evening. 40 years or more of growth reduced to ash in a matter of an hour or so. People fail to make the connection between growing trees and where all the wood in their everyday lives actually comes from...

But, back on topic - maps are great, agreed. I have some very old ones of the Mortimer Forest near Ludlow that date back to 15-something. One of which is regarded as one of the earliest examples of a map used, funnily enough, to resolve a dispute about the felling of some oak trees.

It's weird that people generally will get "upset" about woods being cut down, but will think nothing of popping a few logs on the fire in the evening. 40 years or more of growth reduced to ash in a matter of an hour or so. People fail to make the connection between growing trees and where all the wood in their everyday lives actually comes from...

I don't get upset, I was just trying to highlight how things change ... I can't imagine the same thing being 'allowed' to happen today.

s8tannorm wrote:

It's weird that people generally will get "upset" about woods being cut down, but will think nothing of popping a few logs on the fire in the evening. 40 years or more of growth reduced to ash in a matter of an hour or so. People fail to make the connection between growing trees and where all the wood in their everyday lives actually comes from...

I don't get upset, I was just trying to highlight how things change ... I can't imagine the same thing being 'allowed' to happen today.

I don't regard you as "people generally"
I was referring more to the population at large, and perhaps more directly, the conservation lobby.

It's funny, really - forestry policy has done a complete reversal in the past 50 years. Hectare upon hectare of native oak woodland was plundered by the state during the world war, and the Forestry Commission subsequently planted a lot of it back up with productive conifers for the purposes of a strategic resource of timber in the event of another war. Whilst the demand for wood increases, both nationally and globally, we're now restoring these former ancient woodland areas to broadleaves with the clearance of the conifers now that they are mature.

It terms of it not being "allowed" today - you're dead right. It's not just broadleaved woodland that ends up being protected - upland sites of different types get degrees of protection or discouragement from tree planting, such that the overall productivity of the tree resource in the UK is set to decline unless we commit to creating more new conifer forests to meet the increasing demand.

I could go on, but probably shouldn't.

//steps down from soap box. As you were, people.