What to do with 1000's of Maps

[Paul T]

If you can get a pile of them to the JIRCs, most regional coaches will take some off your hands.

In the US, their equivalent of the Ultrasport event shop sells spare old maps - very cheap but people do buy them.

[distracted]

We (OUOC) would certainly be interested in getting hold of some if they're going spare.

[johnloguk]

I think there is definitely scope for making some money out of them, and most definitely don't throw them in a skip even if it is for recycling.

I always laugh when I go to beer festivals (purely for research purposes of course) and I see beer mats for sale. Surely breweries make these for students to pinch and for beer mat flipping contests? But no, they make them so they can be later sold at beer festivals, and amazingly I've seen people buying them! On a serious point these tend to be rare or interesting ones of course, but I can't think of any more interesting "O" maps than the ones from areas around the National Centre.

All the ideas for note pads, coasters, jigsaws etc are also valid. We have 3 yr old twins and they love drawing on old blank maps, early subliminal coaching maybe? Schools love them too, not just to use in the forest but to familiarise kids with the colours and symbols before they go out. We even framed one and gave it to a farmer as a gift for letting us run (under great emotional blackmail) across one of his fields, he thought it was a wonderful gesture. Let's face it, orienteering maps are a work of art, some are downright beautiful, or maybe that's the beer festival talking!

[Pingu]

everyone loves free maps, or even v. cheap ones: take a selection to the harvester and I'm sure loads of people (inc. me) would ensure that you don't need to take them back again...

[Adventure Racer]

I agree about the not throwing them in a skip. Many years ago I had the opportunity to acquire some OS maps from a TA base that was shutting down. They had most of the country on 1:50, with lots of duplicates. I carefully took one copy of each map they had, only taking multiples when I knew it was a map I would use often (or had friends who would use them), so that other people had the opportunity to get some too. When I later heard that almost everything I'd left had been burnt in a bonfire, I really wished I'd just stuffed the boot of my car with them all.

[Wattok]

Cheers for all the comments.

I will bring some maps to the Harvester for people to take to make whatever they want out of them, but i can only take so many. I cannot give out any for training purposes (for obvious reasons).

Anybody is welcome to the rest of the maps sotred at the National Orienteering Centre but for the numbers people have been enquiring for i cannot afford to send them out and therefore pick-up or meeting me at an event i drive to(not very often!)would have to be arranged.

I'd prefer not to have to chuck them out hence why i put a post here but unfortunately i cannot devote the time necessary to make placemats etc. with them.