Via Zoom, Geoff gave the group a most enlightening guide through the huge collection of map resources available online from the National Library of Scotland. He focused on those maps that would likely be of most use to us as family historians. From the maps homepage at maps.nls.uk
He suggested we select the OS Maps section from the list on the left-hand side. Once in this section, it is possible to navigate one’s way around in various ways. Geoff suggested scrolling down to the section on England/ Wales/ GB where different places and many scales are available. Selecting to ‘view as individual sheets using a zoomable map’ brings up a central map with two boxes to the left and one to the right.
It is possible to look for maps in different ways. One can scroll down the list of maps available; search for a particular place or zoom in on the large central map, which at first sight looks like it is coloured purple. This purple colour is, in fact, many squares outlining the maps available. As one zooms in closer, these borders become clearer to see. The area within each border may be lighter or darker, depending on the number of maps available for that area.
Within the OS Maps section, Geoff suggested looking at 25-inch maps, Town Plans, 1:2,500 maps and 1:1250 maps. These can all be located within the drop-down menu on the left of the screen. Once a type of map has been selected and an area of the map selected, the list on the right of the screen will show which maps are available. It is then possible to click on one’s choice to view the map.
Geoff suggested opening each new map of a chosen area in a different tab, meaning that it would be easy to move from one to another. Opening in a new tab can be achieved by right-clicking the required map from the list on the right and selecting the option to open in a new tab. (For anyone using a touch screen, holding your finger on the required map for a couple of seconds should act as a right-click.) In this way, it is possible to switch easily between maps of different dates which one has open in different tabs.
The 25-inch maps show a good level of detail, down to individual buildings. They often go back to the 1860s although 1st edition maps are not available for all areas. Geoff showed us the 25-inch maps for Rochester, and then switched within the left hand drop down menu to the other map types suggested above.
The 1:2,500 and 1:1,250 maps of Medway even included house numbers, which may be of particular use to family historians.
Another suggestion was to look at ‘Air photos’ from the left-hand option box. At the bottom of the screen, it is possible to change the transparency, which will remove grid lines if they are getting in the way.
At the top of the screen, Geoff referred us to Map Finder/ Geo Reference Maps/ Side by Side. In Geo Reference, it is possible to use the transparency slider to view a satellite image of the area through the map. By selecting Side by Side, it is possible to view two images of an area, either two maps or map and satellite image, next to each other.
At the bottom of the screen, Geoff drew our attention to the Map Key, which lists all the applicable abbreviations which may appear on the map.
There is so much available on this website. Geoff’s introduction gave us a taster of what we can expect to find and the skills to start to explore for ourselves. NLS Maps really are a fantastic resource… and best of all, the site is completely free to use!
Report by Helen Stenhouse