05-01-2007, 03:14 PM
Quote:Can you recommend a good map of the wall?
Sore point. The current Ordnance Survey Hadrian's Wall map is execrable and the only reason to buy it is so you can take it outside and jump up and down on it shouting obscenities. What you ideally need is the original 1972 Map of Hadrian's Wall (2nd edition) which is at the old two-and-a-half inches to a mile scale (1:25000) and has the Wall and its components superimposed in red and black (black for existing, red for supposed or known), but it is worth its weight in gold and very difficult to get hold of.
Failing that, the range of 1:25000 maps (rebadged a few years ago as 'Explorer' maps, all of which feature a nice photo on the front with the caption 'please do not assume that the cover photo is necessarily of any part of the area that appears on the map sheet'... where is it, then - Greenland?) covers the course in useful detail (better than the 1:50000 Landrangers which are a bit too vague) and have all the major bits indicated. The sheets you need for the main part of the Wall are (from west to east) 314, 315, OL43, and 316. Some of them are double-sided and can be a bit cumbersome in the field (think Housesteads in a gale with horizontal rain... which is fairly typical ;-)
The only other alternative at the moment is one of the walkers' maps designed for National Trail freaks such as the Harvey's Hadrian's Wall Path map but these lack the quality of the OS mapping and, frankly, smell slightly of Kendal mint cake...
Mike Bishop
