Old ordnance survey maps …what to do ?

Sadly my mum passed away last year and we are slowly sorting our way through things.

My mum and dad were avid travellers and pretty much covered the entire UK either camping or in one of those dredded car a van things.

Anyway I have a large box full of 1:50,000 OS maps covering pretty much every area of the UK.

What shall I do with them ??

Keep or ebay.

Can’t imagine they’re worth much.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your mum 🙁

How old are the maps and how many have you got? I’d possibly be interested in some (as would other mapophiles on here)

Sorry for your loss.

And any old ones for Northumberland?

Feeling Arty?

Faces Drawn Onto Maps by Ed Fairburn

To be honest they are not old at all…some late 60’s, but most are quite recent.

Mum was only 67 and so they aren’t antique or vintage maps.

Thanks for your thoughts

Oh and would love to be able to something like that – esp with the region pictured.

I’d be interested in seeing what older (60s/70s) ones you’ve got. I like old maps (I appreciate they’re not dead old).

Leave it with me I will have a look later…

How are you at putting up wallpaper?

Be great in the hall/loo/one wall of the dining room

Seriously, could be a lovely thing to do – as long as you’re not planning to move anytime soon.

zulu-eleven – I would love that…

I always wanted to rent a warehouse and paste all the maps to the floor in the right order. Cover it up with plexiglass for protection.

Actually, it would be fun to create a relief of the country to the same scale, and paste the maps onto that (somehow, it’d be tricky I think). Then you could make tiny scale models of cities and towns and stuff, with landmarks, and it’d make a fab art installation/tourist attraction.

Anyone got some money and a 3d printer?

I was given an OS of my area from (without checking) the 20s. Fascinating how your perceptions of a place are shaped by motorways, chemical plants, villages that become towns, forests that aren’t, forests that are, etc.

I’ll have ’em, you can never have too many maps!

I think this thread is answering what to do with them – give them to the map geeks!

Seriously, I’d love to know exactly what you’ve got and how old. Happy to donate some money to a charity of your (or if your Mum had a favourite charity..?) choice?

If you have east mids, Derbyshire etc or n wales, merseyside etc and get rid I’ll buy some off you I was planning on wallpapering the cheapo self build loft conversion ‘man room’ with old maps

Sad task you have there, sorry to hear it. Not nice.

You might try some specialist bookshops – I remember selling some maps to a shop in Hay-on-Wye (obviously I don’t know where you’re based…) for more than I expected. It was a while ago though, but I’d imagine that people still collect maps even (or especially) in these days of Google Maps.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Brack I hope she didn’t suffer, its heartbreaking watching someone slowly fade in pain.

I lost my Father when he was only 61(bone cancer) and feared my mum was going to be taken by breast cancer last year but after ops & Chemo she seems to have it beaten!

Anyway my Father had 1000’s of maps both OS & Geological but some real gems going back to 1910 many I still have as I’m a bit of a frustrated cartographer.
The 60’s & 70’s ones are almost worthless as they survive very well.

PS Drac I will have a look.

Im loving the wallpaper idea gong to start increasing my stock pile of maps now 😀

take your favourite ones that remind you of her and make pictures out of them and / or wall paper a wall.

If you had the entire UK I would take them and fulfil a silly lifelong ambition to spread them all out in a big warehouse and walk around Britain for a bit.

As above – press/iron them flat then use them as wallpaper. A mate did one entire side of his home office like that. Took him ages lining everything up!