When I was studying geography at school one of the few parts that I actually enjoyed was looking at maps. I used love following roads, rivers, imagining what the little clump of trees looked like in real life, etc. I still find maps fascinating. Not just military maps but maps of one's own surroundings. Over the last few years I have been buying maps of old Bristol, and West London, being commercially reprinted. It is fascinating to see the changes over time. Interestingly, one has to go back over 150 years to see any noticeable differences between central Bristol, then and now. On the other hand, Southall (West London, where I grew up) maps are full of surprises. I had always been aware that the part that I grew up in has only a recent history. What I hadn't know was, for example, that the playing that bordered by background stand on an old open brick factory. There appears to be absolutely no evidence of that on the ground (well none that I ever noticed during the 15/20 years that played on that field). It was also interesting to note just how sparsely populated northern Southall was, only 90 odd years ago. Going back even further, one starts noting the difference in place spellings etc. But, it's the joy of noticing a familiar feature that still exists a hundred, two hundred, or even older, that I find quite satisfying. So, does anyone else have an interest in old maps? Doesn't have to be of one's own locality.
I think that anyone interested in history, geography or even anthropology is also probably interested in maps. The most interesting map I've ever seen is the famous globe given to Peter the Great by his father. It shows California as an island, but in many other ways, it is amazingly accurate. It's in the Russian history museum, next to Red Square.
