The Ordnance Survey Maps That Shaped a Generation's Sense of Britain
Unruly Folded Sheets
Simon Bradley reviews Will Millard's Mapping Britain: The Story of an Island through the Ordnance Survey Archives, recalling the orange-banded, one-inch-to-the-mile maps of his childhood and the later 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 series. He notes that the familiar pocket maps get surprisingly little attention in Millard's book.
Many people born in the second half of the last century will have had similar experiences, and will link the words 'Ordnance Survey' instantly to those impeccable but sometimes physically unruly folded sheets in their thin card covers.