Maps
Writing Challenge 2024
Posted by Chris Sissons on Apr 10, 2024
Writing Challenge ยป Chris Sissons
There are 2 ways to be lost. You don’t know where you’re heading or else you don’t know where you are! Never both. If you don’t know where you’re going and you don’t know where you are. No one can help you.
I was reading this morning about the new Sheffield Connect bus service. This is a free service that circulates the city centre. It’s underused, apparently and often circulates the city without any passengers. It’s been going a while but I’ve never seen it. I’ve no idea where to catch it. The service map shows the service travels from Surrey Street to Leopold Street. This is impossible, which perhaps accounts for the lack of passengers!
The map comprises pixels on a screen. How can I know with absolute certainty that this part of the journey is impossible? I did double-check this afternoon. The route between is pedestrianised and has been since before the service was introduced. And massive roadworks are blocking the route on top of that.
I didn’t need to go and check. I happened to be walking through and remembered being puzzled earlier.
Now then, maps can always help when you’re lost. You are no longer lost if you can find both your destination and your current point of origin. Tracking down where you are with a map is not always straightforward. You pick up clues from both the map and the environment. But an A to Z style map like in the photo can be tricky. Is the end of that street at the top or bottom of the hill? Real life is in 3 dimensions and maps are in 2.
These days of course we have Google Maps and so the old A to Z has become something of a museum piece. The great thing about Google is the little blue blob. That’s me! Now I always know where I am, if not what direction I’m moving in. But move a bit and see where the blob goes and that usually solves it. That is unless you don’t know where you’re going.
But it is brilliant what you can do with minimal information, even on the hills of Sheffield.
Later Note: When I wrote this post, back in February I had not heard of Sheffield Connect. The map I had turned out to be the intended route, thwarted by pedestrianisation as a response to Covid. The replacement map looked like it was from an A to Z, with a line drawn on it. Since then the service has been relaunched. The buses did not stand out and now they have a distinctive livery. It covers two routes and is free for everyone! I've found one bus stop so far and one day I'll wait there, hop on board and hopefully find the others.
This is Day 7 of Writing Challenge 2024. People all over the world take part in the WC. We write something every weekday for 4 weeks based on a prompt This year, I'll be sharing 21 articles based loosely on prompts about parts of the body. Do we fully appreciate the role things and stuff play in our lives? Each part of the body has certain things and stuff associated with it. (Probably!) I've no idea where this will go but hope you enjoy the journey. The introductory post was Things and Stuff. The last post was The Weight of the World and the next is Hear the Word from the Lords ...
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