Map fetishists assemble – The story of the soviet map makers

Grum – that’s fab.
Sadly we’re just off the southern edge otherwise I’d get one.

We’re not on it either which is a shame but I still thought it would a nice thing of local interest. Got quite a few mates from round Halifax/Sowerby/Luddenden etc.

I might sell you the raster for a nicely discounted price if you like 😉

Yeah I know I don’t own the copyright – but I think ownership of the copyright is fairly tenuous given that the Russians apparently stole some of the OS map data in the first place, and these companies selling the maps now bought them on the black market from dodgy ex-soviet military sources.

Thanks Grum, great pics! I’ll have a look at the printing place.

I found this too http://www.i2ocr.com/free-online-russian-ocr which will allow you to screen capture the body of text, save as a jpeg, upload and get it translated. It’s not generic cartographic info but an analysis of the area. There’s stuff about Huddersfield I never new.

Have you got any green/turquoise items on the Halifax map? They’re of strategic or military importance – me? Crosland Moor Airfield (flat piece of grass).

Have you got any green/turquoise items on the Halifax map? They’re of strategic or military importance – me? Crosland Moor Airfield (flat piece of grass).

On the Edinburgh map Redford Barracks is definitely blue, but strangely Dreghorn Barracks is brown (residential/commercial?). Elsewhere on the map, the blue and the black (industrial) are near indistinguishable. Indeed I think I might be just imagining a difference. The old Ferranti offices (defence electronics) at Crew Toll I think looks blue but I’m not sure.

Can anyone translate the map key? What do the numbers next to the buildings refer to?

So you need to buy the Raster file(whatever that is?) and send it to the printer of your choice ie Supersizeprint.co.uk? If that’s correct it’ll be $49.99 (£33) then £27 someone quoted above?

Think in that article it says they nicked OS map data then used other sources

I’ve read in other articles that the maps appear to have been made from scratch (despite OS claims otherwise) as they appear to have made errors such as mistaking pipe laying excavation for building a new road, something you’d only get wrong from an aerial view.

Which makes the whole thing even more fascinating

I found this key for the Russian military maps of London – not sure if it applies to all them:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cw8waebfhkxlmsv/SAMPLE%20Russian%20Index%20London.pdf?dl=0

Have you got any green/turquoise items on the Halifax map? They’re of strategic or military importance – me? Crosland Moor Airfield (flat piece of grass).

Not that I’ve seen so far but I haven’t examined all of it yet.

So you need to buy the Raster file(whatever that is?) and send it to the printer of your choice ie Supersizeprint.co.uk? If that’s correct it’ll be $49.99 (£33) then £27 someone quoted above?

Yeah it’s not a cheap do! There may well be cheaper places to get it printed and mine is pretty big (maybe too big).

I’ve read in other articles that the maps appear to have been made from scratch (despite OS claims otherwise) as they appear to have made mistakes such as mistaking pipe laying excavation for building a new road, something you’d only get wrong from an aerial view.

Which makes the whole thing even more fascinating

That is interesting – so what’s the theory there, that they had planes flying overhead? They wouldn’t have had satellites with sufficient detail surely?

Numbers on the map correspond to the list of numbered items in the body of the text where it says ???????? ?????? ???????? (LIST OF SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS). My map is one of two that are adjacent and the description and numbering also references items on the other sheet.

yeah I think so, I’m pretty sure that they claim to have made them entirely from satellite images, aerial photos and agents. They certainly have different info from OS.

I think OS build in errors to their maps as well though don’t they? so perhaps they’ve checked and can confirm copyright.

who knows? ❓

Have you got any green/turquoise items on the Halifax map? They’re of strategic or military importance – me? Crosland Moor Airfield (flat piece of grass).

Just looking at this snippet of the Newcastle map. Some of the strategic importance things are obvious – the barracks, the parsons plant, Benton Park. I’m struggling to understand the importance of Scallini’s in Jesmond or the fruit and veg shop off Ashburton road in Gosforth.

edit: I’m also a bit puzzeld by why the centre for life site is marked as being a government building. I think at the time of that map it was still the cattle market.

I’m struggling to understand the importance of…

That’s the mystique – genuine mistakes or did they know something else? Not all secret bases look like Menwith Hill. My guess is Shearer was a sleeper agent and St James is on top of massive underground cavern full of tanks.

Menwith Hill yesterday

St James is on top of massive underground cavern full of tanks.

Well there is the underground car park… Makes you think!

There is an App now too; https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atlogis.sovietmaps.free