On the Map

Mike Parker is a map addict so I am obviously not alone, although I suspect we admire them for different reasons. His book came out last year and is published in paperback next month. It coincides with a series that started on Radio 4 on Monday. Called 'On the Map' . Mike is presenting 10 fifteen minute programmes looking at all aspects of mapping. They have been fascinating so far and are available on the listen again facility by the BBC for the seven days following each broadcast. Yesterday's programme was about the motoring maps of the past, present and future. The forerunners of today's AA maps etc were the beautifully printed cloth maps of Bartholomew's that I pictured the other day. I began to feel guilty that I use them for a new purpose entirely!

The most interesting part of the programme was when Mike had to overcome his dislike of the Sat Nav and concede that, for some people, they were a boon. Now, I get annoyed when people say we women have a poor sense of direction and, are therefore rubbish at reading maps! Sadly though it was mainly women who chose the Sat Nav option .... but it reminded me that the Sat Nav is not a recent invention you know....

This wonderful invention is called The Routefinder and it was available to British drivers of the 1920's. It showed the roads to use, gave them the mileage they'd covered and even told them to stop when they got to journey's end. Each journey was on a scroll which was placed inside the Routefinder and then put on the wrist just like a watch to be scrolled down as the driver made the chosen trip.

The system had some obvious limitations. There were a limited number of journeys and the system could not be updated to account for sudden road changes like road works or traffic jams. Mind you, there were not that many traffic jams in 1920's Britain as not that many people could afford to run a car. Perhaps it was the fact that there were too few drivers that stopped the Routefinder from taking off. Who knows? I could just imagine the accident rate as drivers were trying to scroll down the route, having to use both hands, taking their eyes off the road... even at the slow speeds of early motor cars the consequences don't bear thinking about. No wonder it took a good few decades for someone to come up with an alternative!