Those who have used a road map/road atlas

[LisaJohnsonsFacebookMole]

Is there one that is best for the UK or a particular brand to look for, e.g. AA?

Any tips about them? Other than to know how to read a map of course.

I used to work out the journey from the road atlas, write it down in felt tip on a sheet of A4, and blu-tak it to the dash:
A14=> A1 NORTH
A1 => M18 => Doncaster
M18 => J6 fo A614
A614=> Selby
And so on.
Worked perfectly except on v hot days when the blu-tak got very stretchy and the whole thing could easily end up under your feet.

Totally irrelevant but I was on the tube recently and people were either staring into space or on their phones. During my brief spell of London life <cough> 30+ years ago, everybody would have been reading a newspaper. I saw exactly one newspaper the entire journey.

AA or RAC. We live in a remote part of wales and I still have a large scale RAC road atlas as sat nav can’t cope here.

Valid comment about lack of phone signal! I’ve been out in the wilds and just had to drive aimlessly until my phones got a signal for Waze/Apple Maps to work!

I had a stash of the maps all folded back as they should be in the pocket of the doors of my car.
Dh had a big road map book not sure what brand.

I still have one in the car and maybe use it once or twice a year. Mostly when there is unexpected/short term congestion, road closures, accidents, etc., when the sat nav or app is too slow to update or is sending you on another congested route. You're basically "blind" if you follow the satnav as it takes you where it wants you to go, whereas with a road atlas, you can plan a different route, maybe longer, maybe to take in something on the route, like a service station, country village for a walk, or whatever.

Last time we used the atlas was actually a year ago, about this time of year. We were driving through the Yorkshire Dales in the dark, in bad weather, and came upon a road block due to overnight road works (which wasn't shown on the SatNav) and were just presented with the "official" diversion which we knew was taking us many miles and two hours longer (as per the satnav once it finally cottoned on we couldn't go the normal route, which was ages as it kept telling us to turn round and go back to the blockage!). We pulled over, got the atlas out, and found a single track (no wider than a farm track) that took us past the blockage and back onto the normal route, with just something like a 10 minute detour. The diversion was on "big" roads for heavy traffic including lorries etc. I don't even think the single track road was on the SatNav at all.

Even more of a problem these days as lots of new cars don't have built in sat nav and expect you to plug your smart phone into the tablet display, so you're relying on a mobile signal. Proper sat navs are better as they guide by the satellite signals rather than mobile phone network!

I find a paper road map much more usable than a sat nav/Google maps. It gives me a "big picture of where I'm going rather than a small screen that shows me only the immediate area. I can orientate myself better.

I normally pick up an AA one in the middle of Aldi - they have their shops marked in them too!

Although I do use sat nav more these days, I like to look at a journey on a map. It helps me to visualise it.

I was very grateful of a proper map last year in all the flooding when sat nav was directing people down impassable routes. Being able to see things on a proper map really helped.

Plus sat nav often loses things or fails to give an instruction at key points in routes fairly often.

The Works usually has some for sale and they are pretty cheap in there.

But without fail the bit you really need is without fail in the spiral part 🤣

I know they have a bit of overlap but how does it happen so often.

When I was caught without a signal, I was in one of the Home Counties.

@cariadlet

I grew up with a single rotary dial phone in the hall, I'm only 51.

As for road atlases, get one that is the biggest scale or rather 1cm to mile is better than 1cm to 5 miles. For around a specific city you really need an az for that area as a uk road map won't be detailed enough. Personally I've ditched mine in favour of a sat nav

I should point out though that for long trips I print the instructions off Google before setting off, and if going on the motorbike I have laminated and bluetac to my dos back so i could feed directions, the motorcycle sat nav is broken!

I have local A-Z street maps in the car and use my mobile.
Google maps has a habit of sending me round in large circles, so if I start to think it's wrong, I'll stop and get a proper map out.

I got 2 ; one smaller scale and one larger scale. Useful to have detail but also to know the detail in greater context.

This would have been invaluable when I was driving on the motorway and the built in satnav just decided to stop working 😖

Although, as I was driving alone, I would have had to pull off the motorway to read the physical map anyway.

And they are both AA

I seldom use a Satnav, much prefer seeing the journey over a wider area with a nice big map.
Phillips are my favourite, Phillips Navigator is hands down the best road atlas.

I’ve taught the DC to use a paper road atlas too, bit of a dying skill but invaluable when you have no phone signal.

Oh dear

Make sure you’re looking at the right page.

Spiral bound for sure and large scale

We had that. A nice yellow BT rotary phone. Mother bought a posh telephone table where you could sit and take the call.

The day it was put in, there should have been a grand opening. She kept on about it for weeks!!

This. Relying solely on sat nav and phones isn’t a good idea.

I’m 49. We had a single rotary dial phone in the hall when I was growing up. Did they use to be rented from BT or is that a false memory of mine? I’m sure I remember there being a time when you were alllqwex different phones and looking at them in the Argos Catalogue.

My granny had one phone upstairs and one Dow stairs which I always found rather sophisticated 😃

Haven’t had a landline since moving here nearly 7 years ago.

Was I glad that behind the passenger seat there was this wonderful paper book, that although quite old and tatty, I could find where I was.

Did they use to be rented from BT or is that a false memory of mine?

Yes, I think that might be right, although I can't swear to it. You didn't buy a phone, it was provided as part of the line rental. And until something like 1980, BT was part of the post office and kind-of a government entity. So it all felt quite official and unconsumer-like. A bit like being a given a gas mask one or two generations earlier.