Cassini Maps

[Steve K]

Having recently become a very satisfied customer for their excellent products, I thought I'd spread the word about Cassini Maps and their historic mapping. I've already mentioned them in another thread, but I'm so pleased with my purchase that I thought I'd bring it to wider attention here.

 

For anyone wanting to research old railways, or indeed any other aspect of local history, old maps are a great resource. If you're anything like me, you'll find yourself drawn to the old OS maps which often appear in charity shops, and then find yourself disappointed that you can't find an old map of the area you want. Well, that's where Cassini come in very handy.

 

At www.cassinimaps.co.uk , you will find sheets for the whole of England and Wales from the Old Series Edition of OS maps (1805 to 1874), the Revised New Series (1896 to 1904) and the Popular Edition (1919 to 1926). What I've found most fascinating, though, are the Past & Present sheets, which show an area approx 10x10 miles, with maps from each of the aforementioned map series, as well as a present-day map for comparison. At present, there are only 64 sheets available for this range, with the Midlands and North-West being covered better than other areas.

 

I was fortunate enough to obtain the Past & Present map for Walsall & Sutton Coldfield from Tesco in Sutton, and it has already proved invaluable in seeking out new finds for my "Forgotten Railways" thread. Strangely, however, although Tesco in Lichfield stock the Past & Present map for that area, they have twice proved unable to sell me one, due to it being "not on the system", whatever that means... the good news is that maps can be ordered directly from Cassini's own website, for those not willing to do battle with Tesco's "system"!

[Garry D100]

Thanks for this

I usually use Alan Godfrey Maps, these Cassini ones look interesting.

[Southernboy]

Definitely useful, and interesting. Thanks!

[Steve K]

Having failed to buy the Lichfield Past & Present map from that city's Tesco, I've taken the plunge and ordered both the Lichfield and Birmingham sheets directly from Cassini's website. A veritable bargain at £8.99 each (no discount by ordering direct, though, and there's £1.99 p&p per order), considering the amount of pleasure I've already derived from my earlier buy. When the new ones arrive, I will have old mapping for virtually all the areas I've covered in my "Forgotten Railways" thread, and I hope to then be able to dig out some more gems for that thread...

 

Seriously, I'm actually quite excited about the purchase of these maps - taking a first look at the one covering Walsall and Sutton was like unearthing buried treasure. The anticipation until they arrive will be unbearable!

 

If the single-sheet Past & Present series of maps don't cover a big enough area for your taste, or if they're not available for the location you want to explore, then the 3-map box sets may be of interest. These sets cover the whole of England and Wales, and comprise one map from each of the Old Series, Revised New Series and Popular Editions. At £19.95, they offer a useful saving over the normal price of £7.99 each for single maps.

['CHARD]

Great idea to promote these to a wider audience, SK. I too got the Sutton one from Tesco, which #1 Daughter has also, gratifyingly, taken a huge interest in. I thoroughly recommend these maps. After a local rural walk last week we got into conversation with an elderly chap who lived in Sutton during the war. He described various air raids and other WWII happenings, and the moment we got home the map came out to identify long-forgotten local landmarks by which we could navigate the stories we'd just heard. Needless to say, their effectiveness in tracing railway growth and decline is equally inspirational.