Mapping

I've always been fond of maps. I could easily while away an hour with an Ordnance Survey or even a road atlas. So in planning a long journey the subject of maps has happily occupied me for a number of winter evenings.

For Walking Home, I'll be tackling about 140 miles in northern France and 340 in the UK. France's mapping agency, IGN, produces fabulous 1:25,000 sheets. In the UK, the Ordnance Survey issues the 1:50,000 Landranger series and 1:25,000 Explorer series.

I've decided to use Memory-map electronic maps to save on cost and weight. I experimented first with the 1:50,000 OS map of central England, which covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Rutland, Leicestershire and Staffordshire - all for £50, including VAT.

The sofware that comes with the maps allows on-screen route-planning which can be transferred to Windows Mobile devices. I've done a couple of walks using the Mobile programme. I was wondering how the experience would compare with a 'proper' map and, I have to say it's even better. No cumbersome folding and unfolding. No scouring a huge area to locate my position. And with the GPS built in to the phone, I can get a fix on my position.

So yesterday I took the plunge and ordered the southern England and French maps. That's £180 for all the maps I need - still cheaper than buying separate maps.

I can't rely on my phone 100%. It would be daft, and potentially dangerous, to do so. So I'll need a hard copy map of every area in which I walk. The memory-map program allows extracts to be printed and I've found monochrome print in A4 or A5 very acceptable. The selection process is flexible, and compared with full-size sheets, this solution will be much more manageable - around 25 sheets of A4 for the whole journey. I can also keep them in a pocket, rather than juggling a large map carrier.