Spotted by the folk from Bellerby Globemakers

Dave Lovell has been very active combing through his photo library (you’ll see several more from him over the next few weeks), he may even win a prize for his contributions, but then again he may not 🙂

“On the wall at Stott Mill Bobbin Park https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stott-park-bobbin-mill/ Nestled on the shores of Lake Windermere in Cumbria, this extensive working mill produced literally millions of wooden bobbins vital to the Lancashire spinning and weaving industries. It is the only working bobbin mill left in the Lake District today.”

So be honest, who knew about bobbin mills?

Tom Armitage shared his favourite tipple Fidra Gin. Personally I would have named this one “South Dog”

A bonus prize for anyone (apart from Tom and fellow Scots) who can say where Fidra is without looking it up.

This might be a good one for a caption competition

Another map from Dave Lovell’s travels.

“Coniston Gondola was taken on board https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/steam-yacht-gondola currently closed, regrettably. This rebuilt Victorian steam-powered yacht will take you in style on Coniston Water. It allows you to enjoy the charm of luxury travel once only experienced by wealthy Victorians, in her opulent saloons or open-air decks.”

And I thought all the gondolas were in Venice.

Before lockdown I was going to galleries (remember those) with friends. I loved the Moving to Mars exhibition at the Design Museum.

Of course I managed to find a globe 😉

Thanks to Raf at GeoTemes for pointing me at this superb building sized map of Thones snapped by Emmanuelle Bnjam.

This just captures the essence of Maps in the Wild for me, it is perfect. It also feels like a worthy choice to celebrate our second birthday, which happens to be today. 2 years and over 400 Maps in the Wild, who’d have thought?

Thanks to everyone who has sent us pictures, commented, read the blog and followed us on twitter.

Reinder Storm shared these beautiful envelopes which recycle old maps.

“In a local thrift shop in #Scheveningen, they sell envelopes that are made of … #maps”

There are a whole range of ways to recycle maps, we have had a few here in the last couple of years (pen pots, tables, dresses to name a few) but are always on the lookout for new ideas.

Mark Jeffrey carved this neat relief map of the world last year, I was one of the early backers. Now he has progressed to carving full globes, they will be something to see! You can put your name on the list for a GoodWoodGlobe (booked out till October 2020) or just browse the beautiful images.

My good friend Erik Meerburg and Hans van der Kwast pointed me at the magnificent Ceramic Map of Delft that has recently been unveiled. These pics are from Erik

“Got a nice new map in the wild for you, the Keramieken Kaart van Delft (Ceramic Map of Delft). It is based on the 17th century map of Delft by Frederik de Wit, and made with the public, in a fairly large number of public participation workshops over the last two years. A couple of weeks ago the mayor of Delft added the last piece to it as opening act.”

The detail on this and the 3D buildings are just amazing.

This has to be one of the most unique Maps in the Wild that we have seen since we started a couple of years ago.

Here is a picture of Nan Deardorff-McClain, the designer/maker/project manager of this map which gives you a sense of the scale of the map and the 3D detail. You can view more of Nan’s work here.

Nan described the making of the map.

“A diverse group of about 500 participants worked together in a series of workshops to recreate a 17th century map of Delft of Frederik de Wit in ceramic and tiles. The resulting mosaic artwork is 18 square meters and features 1000 handmade ceramic elements and some interesting little references to modern-day Delft. It took 2 years from idea to unveiling to create.”

And one more pic just because I couldn’t resist and it also shows how massive this is.