OLD ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS: THE GODFREY EDITION

November Newsletter

Welcome to our November Newsletter. A major challenge this month will be moving our website to a new server. Even though this will be with the same provider, it is still a nerve-wracking experience and we are crossing our fingers that there will not be too much down-time. If there is any disruption, especially with the webshop, please phone us on 01207-583388. Perhaps it is worth pointing out here that, apart from payments through a secure server on our website, we can always accept payment by Paypal through our account at godfreyedition@btinternet.com

As usual, we carry on producing new maps. We have a good selection of maps in Scotland from quite early days, when Clackmannanshire Libraries and then Central Region contacted us in 1983 asking us to produce maps for their area. Since then we have produced quite good ranges of maps for Edinburgh and Glasgow, and have some coverage of most of the major Scottish towns (I think Dunfermline is perhaps the major omission to date).

We have been greatly helped in recent years by Gilbert Bell, who has written several of the introductions. It is an enormous help to us to have authors who are happy to write several introductions each year, and who deliver as promptly and easily as Gilbert always does. Most of his working life was spent in the architectural profession with a particular emphasis on conservation and the preservation of buildings of historical interest. Later he decided to have a career change and studied economic and modern history at university, leading to work as a history lecturer and museum curator, including work at Springburn Museum where he produced leaflets etc on Glasgow's buildings. Other writing includes his book on Carbisdale Castle, A Prospect of Sutherland (Birlinn Ltd, 1995). Now retired, he says that his main interests are local history and travel.

Our maps are carried by various stockists at major local and family history fairs, and we are now trying to mention some of these on the website. Although we do, I believe, provide a very good service via our webshop, I know that it is sometimes helpful to see the map before you buy and these fairs give a good opportunity. We don't often have a stand ourselves but on Saturday 21st Nov we will have a table at the Local History event at the Locomotion Museum at Shildon. I hope we will see a few of you there.