Cartography

C602 OS Landranger Map Cartography

Cartography is the process of making/studying maps. It combines art and science. After surveyors have captured raw data on the lay of the land, it is the Cartographer’s job to draw this up into a map that is accurate, attractive and easy to use, ensuring that the high standard of specification and quality is adhered to.

There would have been hundreds of cartographers/draughtsmen in the second half of the 20th century as OS took on a loot of school leavers in the 1960s/70s. The Carto drawing offices at Maybush were based on the four upper floors of the William Roy Building at the time although by the time OS left the Maybush site, there were only two spurs used by Carto.

Cartographers at Maybush originally drew on glass plates then it changed to ‘scribing’ plastic sheets, which were less brittle and easier to move around the building.

Like most of the technological changes that affected OS, computers automated many of the tasks that had traditionally have been hand-drawn – digital mapping, automated generalising, computer-to-plate printing.

Digitising

In the early 1970s, OS started digitising its entire library of large-scale maps, this was pioneering stuff and special Ferranti digitising tables were introduced. This was originally ‘blind’ digitising so the cartographers traced a primitive mouse over the linework with no display screen to show the results. This was plotted in the Computer Room.

Later equipment had a screen to make the job easier.

Please see the separate page that goes into much more detail on digitising.

Historic Carto

Postwar Carto activity seemed to be focused on London Road; there may have been some at Chessington as well.

Last updated on Wednesday 17 February 2021 by GaryReggae