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The Road from London to Portsmouth - Bowen

52 Weeks of Pix 2012

Week 23 - Something Old

 

The Road from London to Portsmouth, a two-part map by Emanuel Bowen. Road maps once looked like this, strip maps showing landmarks, towns, rivers and major cross-roads. This example is from 1736.

 

The road shown is the route that would have been taken by King Henry VIII to see his ships encounter the French in 1545 during the Battle of the Solent (the strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England, just offshore from Portsmouth). While in residence at Southsea Castle, he watched as one of his flagships, The Mary Rose, floundered and sank. The French, however, were turned away.

 

The maps are 275 years old. When an item has that sort of age, one has to ask whether they truely own the item are are just providing safekeeping for the future.

 

On a personal note, as one leaves Cobham, the road to Weybridge intersects. I lived in Weybridge in 1991 and 1992. Cheers!

 

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Uploaded on June 4, 2012
Taken on June 3, 2012