Back
in the early 1990s when I was a student, Woolworths sold some stationery made
from defunct Ordnance Survey maps. As
you can imagine, I was all over it. Many
of my contemporaries went on drink and cannabis binges. I went on a map stationery one. There were
notebooks, writing pads, notelets…oooh allsorts. I was bereft when they stopped
selling it. All I have left now is a
hardbacked A5 notebook, which I use as my travel journal. Since about 1993 I
have been recording every new place that I have visited and making a brief
comment, fancying myself as Pevsner or Betjeman. Since I had children the
entries have dwindled considerably, but it is still there in its own little
place on the shelf, awaiting a rosy future where I throw off the shackles of working
motherhood.
But
I look at this very apt map-covered travel journal and I want more notebooks
like this. When you’re having a think about what to write next, you can go on a
little journey just by closing the book up. You might see a place name that
inspires you. I searched ebay, hoping
that someone would have conveniently bought a stash of this stationery and
never used it. I was out of luck. The
only thing left to do was make my own.
So,
I bought a softbacked exercise book – the sort they give you at school, which
cost me about 75 pence. Then I covered
it with a paper map, sticking the edges down with good strong glue. It was just like being back at comprehensive
when we had to cover our books with old wallpaper. It’s not quite the same as
that old Woolworths one that I have, but it’ll do. And it's cheaper than those fancy notebooks that they sell in Paperchase, which I'm not the slightest bit in love with, oh no.
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