OK, so I’m not that old, but I do rather love maps, and especially old maps. I have quite a few of the village and surrounding area where I live, although mainly photos of maps rather than the real things. But this one I have for real, and it dates from 1789, which is pretty cool.

I dug it out to answer a question from someone doing some family history research, who was trying to pinpoint the location of a particular farm. I found the rough location, which was very satisfying, but I always feel frustrated when doing this kind of research that I don’t have more resources to hand!

Old maps give a tangible connection with our predecessors, often allowing us to link people with places and with dates. As we compare changes over time we see how good man is at spoiling things. Or perhaps that’s unfair. Our needs change, industries change, people move. I suppose it would be hard to keep everything as it was in 1789.

But part of me wishes we could.