Stanfords of London may be throwing off its reputation as a dusty old map shop and refocusing on the online market, but it isn't throwing away all its history.
A recent move from its long-time base in Covent Garden to a new site nearby yielded a host of historic cartographic artefacts that had languished untouched – prompting the idea of hosting an exhibition.
Letters written by some of Stanfords's most famous customers, including Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott and statistician and nurse Florence Nightingale are now being prepared to go on display.
"We've discovered some interesting old documents, old maps, a few pieces of aged equipment and old photographs," said Vivien Godfrey, Stanfords's chief executive.
Stanfords's archival exhibition will also include pieces from the Royal Geographical Society – Stanfords's new landlord – one of the traditional livery guilds, the Mercers' Company, and the British Library. It is to open on June 1 and will be free to the public.
The team are also planning to bring map reading to young people by hosting workshops at the store and, they are hoping, in the exhibition space.
The company, founded in 1853 by Edward Stanford, has been the go-to place for many British explorers, humanitarians, war correspondents and, latterly, film producers to plot out their plans.
This keeps work busy and varied for the store's expert cartographers. As well as producing specific Ordnance Survey maps of the UK for walkers and cyclists, Martin Greenaway – Stanfords's cartographer – says he also receives more unusual requests.
"I've had a number of people ask me for places in Syria when they were doing aid work out there," he says. "So I've done street maps of places like Homs or stuff like that."
Other purposes for which Greenaway has created maps include canoe trips down the Yukon river, pilgrimages through Italy, construction projects and film shoots – and business hasn't slowed since the January move.
Even the age of digital mapping and GPS has done little to stem interest in paper maps, Greenaway says.
"There will always be a place for maps," he says. "Sat nav is unreliable because it doesn't always know where you are when you are walking around and you might walk a long way in the wrong direction before realising you have gone wrong. Maps don't do that."
The team managed to move most of the stock themselves using hand carts and although the new store is impressive, there has been a drop in customer footfall. Bright, airy and easy to navigate, Godfrey says customers are responding well, except one who wrote to the company say how he misses the "nooks and crannies" of the old Long Acre shop.
“We’re not getting the footfall through people just passing by, the passing trade, but then again, we’ve always been a specialist shop,” says Greenaway.
The new store also holds much more storage space for increasingly popular online orders. Customers can consult Stanfords's experts online to find or create the perfect map for their purposes and buy travel guides, atlases and all manner of travel-related paraphernalia without trekking into the capital.
"We've been able to put all of the core merchandise, which is what Stanfords is really known for – the maps, the travel books, the travel literature, the globes, our maritime range, hill walking – all of those essential things are all on the same floor now, whereas before they were spread across three floors," Godfrey tells The National.
She says the business can withstand the effects of a dip in custom.
"Long Acre has enormous passing foot traffic whereas our new location at 7 Mercer Walk has very little passing foot traffic. So it's not a surprise that sales of those more impulse items are definitely down and that's what we anticipated."
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MATCH INFO
Norwich City 1 (Cantwell 75') Manchester United 2 (Aghalo 51' 118') After extra time.
Man of the match Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
The Programme
Saturday, October 26: ‘The Time That Remains’ (2009) by Elia Suleiman
Saturday, November 2: ‘Beginners’ (2010) by Mike Mills
Saturday, November 16: ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013) by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Tuesday, November 26: ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) by Alan J Pakula
Saturday, December 7: ‘Timbuktu’ (2014) by Abderrahmane Sissako
Saturday, December 21: ‘Rams’ (2015) by Grimur Hakonarson
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
%3Cp%3EGoogle%20wasn't%20new%20to%20busting%20out%20April%20Fool's%20jokes%3A%20before%20the%20Gmail%20%22prank%22%2C%20it%20tricked%20users%20with%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fmentalplex%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emind-reading%20MentalPlex%20responses%3C%2Fa%3E%20and%20said%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fpigeonrank%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3E%20well-fed%20pigeons%20were%20running%20its%20search%20engine%20operations%3C%2Fa%3E%20.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%20subsequent%20years%2C%20they%20announced%20home%20internet%20services%20through%20your%20toilet%20with%20its%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Ftisp%2Finstall.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Epatented%20GFlush%20system%3C%2Fa%3E%22%2C%20made%20us%20believe%20the%20Moon's%20surface%20was%20made%20of%20cheese%20and%20unveiled%20a%20dating%20service%20in%20which%20they%20called%20founders%20Sergey%20Brin%20and%20Larry%20Page%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fromance%2Fpress.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3EStanford%20PhD%20wannabes%3C%2Fa%3E%20%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBut%20Gmail%20was%20all%20too%20real%2C%20purportedly%20inspired%20by%20one%20%E2%80%93%20a%20single%20%E2%80%93%20Google%20user%20complaining%20about%20the%20%22poor%20quality%20of%20existing%20email%20services%22%20and%20born%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fgooglepress.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F04%2Fgoogle-gets-message-launches-gmail.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emillions%20of%20M%26amp%3BMs%20later%3C%2Fa%3E%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
