The joy of maps

After stumbling across an old Ordnance Survey map we decided to attempt a local walk. It reminded me how important maps were in connecting us with our immediate geography.

Looking at maps has always fascinated me. Unfortunately, in an age of sat navs and I-phones, the humble paper map has been demoted to the last century pile. It’s a big shame, as maps offer so much and the tech savvy generation are really missing out. Maps educate you about geography and remind you of geology, they place you within your physical landscape and orient you to the poles, they reveal features and settlements you didn't know existed, and they look so beautiful. Therefore, I was naturally intrigued to find an Ordinance Survey map for this area sitting invitingly on the shelf when we moved into the Smithy. On unfolding the artwork and losing myself for a while in the landscape that surrounded me, I could see that there was an intriguing circular walk that started up the road. The route, denoted by green dashes, started at the farmers field a stone throw from the Smithy, and followed a forest path along the foot of the commanding hill opposite. You can just about make out the path etched in the hill as you look out the kitchen window, and the walk beckons me every time I sit down in the morning for my bowl of muesli. It took a spell of spring sunshine on a lazy Sunday afternoon to gather up the kids and finally give it a go. At around 3 miles, it was not to onerous for them, even though the wind was biting and the terrain a tad muddy. Map in hand and boots on we set out.

Arriving at the farm gate, the route suddenly became less obvious, and the mood turned from an enthusiastic ramble to a nervous apprehension as we pondered breaking into a farmer’s field full of sheep and their lambs. “Are you sure this is the start” my wife asked, “you can’t just walk into a farmers field” added the children. After some deliberation, and an impromptu lecture around legal access rights, we decided to just go for it and opened the gate as gently and quietly as possible. In a show of support, the sheep and their lambs started baaing loudly before erupting into a mass stampede to escape us. Undeterred, we carried on. Eventually, and with some relief, we came to the next gate that marked the start of the more obvious path through the forest area; however the gate would not open and was bound with rope and wire. Feeling the paranoia of a carefully trained farmers riffle on the back of my head, I was keen to get everyone over the gate as soon as possible.

From here on, the walk became less stressful and we all started to enjoy the vistas. As we continued and the trees parted, we could see the view back to the smithy and it seemed odd to gaze at the tiny kitchen window that had framed this path for the last two weeks (the one on the bottom left).

The route meandered through some dramatic old trees that were revealing their winter skeleton of contorted branches and silvery bark and eventually we passed an old dilapidated stone building and shed marked as a disused quarry on the map. The keep out signs on the battered shed momentarily raised the excitement for the kids, before the path joined the forest again.

With a constant finger on the map, I could feel the twists and turns in the path, and used the landmarks and the contours on the hill to determine our location. Although this path had long been forgotten by modern feet, there was still a slight scar left to follow, and with the help of the map we were just about able to find our way through the forest and onto the open field that led back to the road. Still not entirely sure we were going the right way, we proceeded through another gate, over the river Brogan, and then back onto the road.

As we headed back to the house, now from the opposite direction, we met one of our new neighbours Kevin. A friendly chap who introduced himself and welcomed us to the area. There was little point reciprocating as, is usually the case in these small communities, he knew all about us already. On finally reaching the warm welcome of the Smithy, satisfied comments of what a lovely family walk it had been filled the air. A little Sunday adventure, courtesy of the Ordnance Survey map.