Cartography
I was born in 28, brought up in 154, go to university in 209, and my last holiday was in 160. What? They're the reference numbers of Ordnance Survey maps, one of my favourite set of objects in the world. Maps are beautiful. Staring at them for ages; studying their contours and colours; seeing the real geography in my mind from the information on the flat page; planning walking, running or cycling routes; finding perfect picnic spots. A good map is the world in miniature and symbols, and getting lost in them is a perfect way to forget reality for a while.
Most of my Cambridge-based exploring so far has been deliberately accidental: I've set off, on foot or bike, and just moved around the area. Almost always ending up happily lost, and quite honestly I never know where I've been. It doesn't matter, really. But it's annoying when I find something nice but can't go back there because "There" doesn't have a name or direction. Worse, I'm directionally useless in cities and towns. Put me in a wood or on a hill and I'm normally fine: towns are a mystery. Deciding enough was enough and that next year will involve Proper Exploration, buying the OS map for the Cambridge area seemed a good plan. Anyone who regularly uses maps, though, will know that this was a stupid thing to set out to do. In the OS world, there is rarely a single map for somewhere - with the same regularity as falling toast landing butter-side down, the place you're interested in exploring (from) is on the edge of a map. And hwaet! this venture landed butter-side down. Exploring the Cambridge surroundings requires three maps - three! That's two more than is convenient! Going to Ely needs maps 209 and 226; same goes for Newmarket and Mildenhall. Huntingdon requires 225. How annoying is that?
Still, I suppose it means more lovely maps to look at. Not that Cambridge affords the most aesthetic interest, given there are no hills...
5 comments:
There is a page in a book in my Mum's house, and on it is a photograph of a room, a living room, I think, which is wallpapered entirely in maps. Sea charts, OS maps, large Atlas pages.... wonderful!
I've always wanted to do that! (And probably will, if I ever end up with a job paying enough to buy a house. Or even just a shed, really...).
Haha... yes. The eternal, infernal struggle for landownership. I have resigned myself to daydreaming, because I know it's never going to happen! In my head, I have the most Beautiful Bohemian aBode.
You can get houses from Ikea now. But given how long it takes to put together a wardrobe from there, a whole house might be pushing it...
While my clothes may rest easy, safe in the knowledge that the slightly dodgy screws holding them aloft will take their weight, I'm not so sure they make an allun key big enough for the nuts required to raise a two-storey building. :D :D
I think I should go into business putting up people's flat packed furniture, it's a useful but boring natural ability I have been blessed with. ;D
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