NOTES from FOTHERGILL'S FINGER POST ROAD MAPS, 1900s

Cover

WATERPROOF CLOTH / PHILIP'S 'FINGER POST' GUIDES to ROAD JUNCTIONS PART 1 12 ROUTES FROM LONDON G. FOTHERGILL / TWO SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE NET

Title Page

PHILIPS' 'FINGER-POST' GUIDES TO ROAD JUNCTIONS. FOR MOTORISTS AND CYCLISTS. BY GERALD FOTHERGILL. PART I. - TWELVE MAIN ROUTES FROM LONDON.

LONDON: GEORGE PHILIP AND SON, LTD., 32 FLEET STREET. LIVERPOOL: PHILIP, SON & NEPHEW, LTD., 45-51 CASTLE STREET. (All Rights Reserved.)

General Map

SKETCH MAP of SOUTH EAST ENGLAND Showing the TWELVE ROUTES

Statute Miles

1 to 1300000

20 miles to 1 inch

The Routes are shown thus [wide line]

Other Roads thus [thin line]

London to Dover

London to Folkestone

London to Hastings

London to Eastbourne

London to Brighton

London to Worthing

London to Portsmouth

London to Southampton

London to Bristol

London to Oxford

London to Cromer

London to Ipswich

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

The great revival in the use of our highways by motorists and cyclists has called for some improved method of finding ones route from place to place, as even with the help of good maps and road books a necessary turning is frequently passed before one can realise it. Especially is this so in towns, as instance the Worthing Road right angle turns at Merton, Leatherhead and Dorking; a stranger at those places would most certainly take the straight road instead of a right angle.

It has been often said that 'history repeats itself;' this is even true of such modern means of locomotion as the motor car and the bicycle, for with the introduction of fast carriages and mail coaches came the demand for a series of road books - the first being by John Ogilby and published in 1475. In 1741 appeared the 'Traveller's Pocket Companion;' this gives 'directions what turning are to be avoided in going and returnings on journeys.' Other famous guides are those of Patterson in 1771 and Cary in 1798.

Existing road books have chiefly contained a list of places on any given route with mileage. A fairly long experience of touring has shown that finger posts are placed so close to the junction that the divergent post is passed before it can be read, or, at any rate, one can use the information afforded. Other finger posts are of little use as they are only painted on one side or are out of repair.

The following system was invented to enable the traveller to know beforehand the information contained on the sign post and the correct turnings to take. In fact it was thought of in coasting down a hill after a long toil up when a fork turning suddenly appeared, together with the usual direction post, but this not being read in time the left hand road was taken, the very dread of having to walk back up the hill gave the idea that one ought to know the correct turning in time to steer into the right road. It was at once seen that a series of diagrams of road junctions would enable the tourist to know how to avoid the next difficult point directly he had left the previous one, and that by leaving out the many straight pieces of road without junctions and therefore of no interest to the traveller, a far larger scale could be given to the important junctions; also, by having the diagrams disjointed that difficulty of road maps when roads take a right angle and reach the edge of the paper does not occur, for under this system the next diagram always starts longitudinally.

In most cases it has been found practicable to give some indication of this approach of a turning by means of showing some adjacent object, such as an inn, bridge, river, tower, spire or church, but in all cases the mileage between diagrams is given, and this will act as a guide to the position of the difficult junctions.

Where the route terminates, a black line is inserted, dividing the diagrams on the outward from those of the homeward journey.

Contents

CONTENTS.

Index

CIRCLE MAP FEATURES

EXPLANATION OF THE DIAGRAMS.

(NOTE. - The compiler has left out the many straight pieces of road without junctions that present little difficulty to the traveller, and the names of the places thus passed through will be found printed between the diagrams.)

The points on the road between which the distances are reckoned are indicated thus [circle+arrow] e.g. - the distance between the arrow in Diagram No.1 to the arrow in Diagram No.2 is 3 3/4 miles, as stated at the top of the first circle.

[shading] Buildings in towns and villages

[square block] Churches with tower

[round block] [do.] [do.] spire

[cross (+)] [do.] without tower or spire

[chequered line and bridge over double line] Railway over the road

[double line and bridge over a chequered line] [do.] under [do.] [do.]

M.S. Milestone with mileage

.97 Height above sea level

[north point] North Point

A thick rule [wide bold line] across page denotes the end of a route

The Route [wide bold line]

[shaded circle] Sections on Outward and Homeward Journeys

[circle] Outward Journeys only

[dotted circle] Homeward [do.] [do.]

[narrow line] Other Roads

The figures in brackets give the numbers of the Sections

The figures between the towns and villages give the mileage

VII London to Portsmouth and Southsea

VIIA Southsea and Portsmouth to London

VIIL London to Southampton

VIIIA Southampton to London