Posted by Mike Field on 04/03/00 from 203.87.22.153 via proxy cache.net2000.com.au:
In Reply to: Re: Maps in S & A posted by william tozer on April 02, 2000 at 19:37:51:
In light of William’s comments and several other requests for more information about the maps, perhaps I should say a bit more about them.
As all AR fans know, each of the Lake books carries a map at the front showing where the activities in that particular book take place.
My Lake map came to be simply because I thought those in the books left something to be desired —
* each one is more-or-less exclusive to the book it accompanies, and cannot, except for basics, be used with any of the other books
* the maps even in the original editions are necessarily somewhat small (and they get smaller as I get older)
* in the paperback editions, poorer paper quality combined with further reduction to fit the still-smaller page size can make parts of them quite illegible.
The key thing about this map is that you need refer only to this one drawing as you work your way through the entire series of Lake books. Everything I could think of is included, from Titty’s well, Crag Gill, and the Dogs Home, to the barn, the tarn, and the igloo, via Pike Rock, Horseshoe Cove, Swallowdale, and the watchtower rock — as well as all the basic information like the whereabouts of Rio, Holly Howe, Beckfoot, Darien, Low End, Dixons’ farm, Kanchenjunga, Houseboat Bay, and so on. It’s in black-and-white on tinted paper, so if you are or have a kid it can be coloured (or even framed, I suppose, should you want to.)
I also drew a map of Wild Cat Island, mainly as an accompaniment to the first — matching size, same border and logo, etc.
The maps are original drawings (although of course their content relies on the contents of the books.) Both are done on A4-sized sheets, in matching format. They were done on the computer, and are amalgams of work in DrawPerfect (that’s how long ago I started!) CorelDraw, and PageMaker.
I have not drawn any maps for the Broads stories or Racundra’s cruise, mainly because, unlike the Lake books, geographical areas covered there are true-to-life; therefore they can be found in atlases, ordinance maps, and maritime charts (even in road maps for some of them.)
And as a final note to Bill, should TARS wish to use either of the maps for whatever purpose, I am open to suggestions.