Best maps

[Tring Man]

New to boating, having survey done on potential purchase next Friday ☺️

In the community is there an accepted standard for canal maps that I should look to buy? 

Regards 

Alan 

[Athy]

4 minutes ago, Tring Man said:

New to boating, having survey done on potential purchase next Friday ☺️

In the community is there an accepted standard for canal maps that I should look to buy? 

Regards 

Alan 

Welcome, Tring and fingers crossed for the results of your survey.

There are two leaders in the canal map book stakes: Pearson's and Ncholson's, both of which have their ardent supporters. We swear by Pearson's, but others may swear at them. Have a look at both and decide which style of presentation suits you. Both are published in several volumes, each of which covers a particular waterways area.

[DHutch]

Personally I'm a Nicholson guy, overlayed over the OS map, typically accurate and clear; telling you what.you need to know. Waterpoints, locks, winding holes, and ofcause pubs. Total number of guide has expanded to cover Scotland etc but the first five or or so cover all most will do in a lifetime. There is also a foldout whole of UK planner. 

Others like the Pearsons which I have basically not used, but tend to give more information about the surroundings further afield and tell more of a story I believe, if on a more illustrated map.

I use it less now with Google maps, but if you want a road atlas the Phillips Navigator is understand the only one to feature canal bridge numbers.

Google maps satellite imagery is often invaluable for finding places you can leave a car for a weekend and sharing rendezvous points via whatsapp or your messenger of choice

Finally for route planning CanalPlanAC is invaluable giving the distance in locks/miles and hours/days between points. It's not optimised for mobile sadly, but is still quite usable once you remember how to pan about again.

Daniel

[howardang]

Another vote for Pearsons. I have also put one of the Nicholsons on my Kindle which I can also access via the Kindle App on the Ipad.

 

Howard

[Athy]

13 minutes ago, howardang said:

Another vote for Pearsons. I have also put one of the Nicholsons on my Kindle 

 

Howard

You may like Nicholson's less, but was there any need to light the fire with it?

[Hudds Lad]

For me personally, and I restate just me, in my limited experience I prefer Nicholsons over Pearsons as I don't like the authors rambling waffle which often veers away from the actual subject (or did in the two I bothered to read) and tend to be way less current than Nicholsons. However, no map is entirely up-to-date in today's climate of pub or other business closures.

when cruising we tend to use a combination of Nicholsons and a map from Waterway Routes that I've printed and laminated.

CanalPlanAC is a fantastic resource as long as you build in contingency for moored boats, busy locks etc.

its all down to personal preference really, have a look at them all if you can and see what suits you best

[Athy]

16 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

For me personally, and I restate just me, in my limited experience I prefer Nicholsons over Pearsons as I don't like the authors rambling waffle

...or "lively and interesting commentary" as it's also known (yes, personal taste as you say).

Michael Pearson is continually updating his books - we met him on the Ashby last year when he was doing precisely that, and a photo which he took of our boat at the new terminus is in the newly revised edition of that local guide.

[Hudds Lad]

4 minutes ago, Athy said:

Michael Pearson is continually updating his books - we met him on the Ashby last year when he was doing precisely that, and a photo which he took of our boat at the new terminus is in the newly revised edition of that local guide.

So no bias to your preference then? 

be boring if we all thought the same

[Athy]

11 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

So no bias to your preference then? 

be boring if we all thought the same

Quite so - as I suggested in post no.2 of this thread.

[cuthound]

4 hours ago, DHutch said:

Personally I'm a Nicholson guy, overlayed over the OS map, typically accurate and clear; telling you what.you need to know. Waterpoints, locks, winding holes, and ofcause pubs. Total number of guide has expanded to cover Scotland etc but the first five or or so cover all most will do in a lifetime. There is also a foldout whole of UK planner. 

Others like the Pearsons which I have basically not used, but tend to give more information about the surroundings further afield and tell more of a story I believe, if on a more illustrated map.

I use it less now with Google maps, but if you want a road atlas the Phillips Navigator is understand the only one to feature canal bridge numbers.

Google maps satellite imagery is often invaluable for finding places you can leave a car for a weekend and sharing rendezvous points via whatsapp or your messenger of choice

Finally for route planning CanalPlanAC is invaluable giving the distance in locks/miles and hours/days between points. It's not optimised for mobile sadly, but is still quite usable once you remember how to pan about again.

Daniel

CanalPlan AC works fine on my Android tablet and laptop. I haven't tried it on a phone.

As others have said Nicholson's and Pearsons are popular, but have very different styles.

I also like the First Mate Guides, but unfortunately they are no longer kept up to date.

They include useful information regarding actual locations of doctors, vets, etc as well as shops.

They can be downloaded from here.

http://www.firstmateguides.co.uk

There also used to be a guide to supermarkets close to canals, produced by anow Ownerships shared boat owner, which I have. Unfortunately this stopped being produced or updated just before the Internet became popular, so cannot be downloaded.

 

[Lily Rose]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

There also used to be a guide to supermarkets close to canals, produced by anow Ownerships shared boat owner, which I have. Unfortunately this stopped being produced or updated just before the Internet became popular, so cannot be downloaded.

 

I'm very envious, shame it's not still available or online as that sounds very useful. I seem to spend ages online trying to figure out where to stock up if we're running low in an unfamiliar location.

Re the guide... I bought both for the Oxford as it's our local area and I wanted to compare.

I find Pearson a more entertaining read but prefer Nicholson as my guide. Various reasons but the three main ones for me are:

North is always at the top which makes it easier to follow, for me anyway.

Ring binding makes it easier to use on the move.

Based on OS maps, which I´m familiar and comfortable with.

 

[Athy]

15 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

.

I find Pearson a more entertaining read but prefer Nicholson as my guide. Various reasons but the three main ones for me are:

North is always at the top which makes it easier to follow, for me anyway.

 

Unless you carry a compass, it's probably the ONLY way of knowing where North is on the South Oxford!

[Lily Rose]

5 minutes ago, Athy said:

Unless you carry a compass, it's probably the ONLY way of knowing where North is on the South Oxford!

Unless the sun is out!

[howardang]

5 hours ago, Athy said:

Unless you carry a compass, it's probably the ONLY way of knowing where North is on the South Oxford!

...er Pearsons mark North on every map too.

Howard

[Bewildered]

Ecanal maps on the iPhone and iPad. Easy to use, shows exactly where you are plus lots of other useful info. I use it more than google maps, even when away from the cut

[Scholar Gypsy]

The only compass I can get to work on my boat is a sun compass.  

Also if for some reason you want to find a launderette, the Aylesbury canal society do a nifty guide: can be bought online

[rusty69]

14 hours ago, Athy said:

Unless you carry a compass, it's probably the ONLY way of knowing where North is on the South Oxford!

Why would you want to know? 

[Athy]

53 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Why would you want to know? 

Did I suggest that I wanted to know? I was replying to a point about guide books showing where North was. 

I suppose thatif people (as suggested earlier) use their guide-book maps in conjunction with O.S. maps, orientation would be useful.

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, Athy said:

Did I suggest that I wanted to know? I was replying to a point about guide books showing where North was. 

No. 

Sorry sir. 

One hundred lines....... 

I must stop asking grammatically incorrect questions on forum.

 I must stop asking grammatically incorrect questions on forum.

I must stop asking grammatically incorrect questions on forum.

(lines are much easier if I(not you)  cut and paste) 

[Lily Rose]

9 hours ago, howardang said:

...er Pearsons mark North on every map too.

Howard

True, but's a different orientation every time you turn the page. That may not matter for some but I find it easier to follow a map when I know north is at the top and that when I turn the page the orientation will remain the same. With Pearson it´s possible to find that turning the page means you are now going across the page whereas on the previous page you were going up. 

1 hour ago, rusty69 said:

Why would you want to know? 

It's useful to know where north is so that you can think about potential mooring spots that may be good for some free solar energy for the remainder of the day and/or the next morning.

Other reasons may be be available.

[rusty69]

3 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

 

It's useful to know where north is so that you can think about potential mooring spots that may be good for some free solar energy for the remainder of the day and/or the next morning.

Other reasons may be be available.

Ah, yes, that could be useful, particularly if tree coverage is also included. 

Another reason, if you know where the tv transmitter is, its easier to line up your aerial 

Edited September 3, 2017 by rusty69

[Athy]

18 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

No. 

Sorry sir. 

One hundred lines....... 

I must stop asking grammatically incorrect questions on forum.

 

As far as I can see, you didn't ask a grammatically incorrect question. So there is nothing for which to apologise.

If I set out from Cropredy to, say, Napton, I know that I'm heading generally North. But I also know that during my trip, especially across the top, I'll face almost every point of the compass at some point. It certainly doesn't bother me which way I'm pointing at any precise place, as long as it's "forwards".

I can, however, see merit in knowing the direction of sunshine, so that solar panels may be used to their optimum effect. But this can be achieved by looking into the sky and seeing where (if anywhere) that round yellow thing is.

As for T.V. aerials....some of us go boating to get away from the gogglebox.

[rusty69]

6 minutes ago, Athy said:

As far as I can see, you didn't ask a grammatically incorrect question. So there is nothing for which to apologise.

In that case, I apologise for my apology! 

Edited September 3, 2017 by rusty69

[manxmike]

For cruising I like the old Nicholson, for information I like the new Nicholson (too much detail on the maps).

E-canal is great on my android tablet - it's just a case of keeping it out of the sun so you can see it and out of the rain so it doesn't go fizz bang and stop working.

Edited September 3, 2017 by manxmike
incorrect use of terminology

[Lily Rose]

It is indeed quite useful for that (solar) but more often than not shade from trees ruins the plan. Google/Bing Map satellite images can help sometimes. Otherwise it´s just a question of having 2 or 3 spots in mind and hoping one of them will be ok.

Where the canal runs east/west (i.e. across the page in Nicholson and therefore obvious at a glance), particularly if the towpath is on the north side (top), then the mooring will usually be good for solar unless the trees are extremely tall or overhanging.

That has been helpful on my current trip and my moorings for the last 3 nights have been perfect for solar.

Re TV, I have found apps to be useful for aeriel orientation in the past but on this trip, I took the aeriel down when leaving the marina almost 2  weeks ago and it hasn't been back up since. The previous one month trip was the same. I think we may have kicked the habit!