Stanley (P.)

Numbered Road Map of London & The Home Counties (with London throughway Map),
London, The Roadfinder Touring Service, c. 1930.
a very useful double-sided map for motorists to help them make the most of the alphanumeric system of A- and B-roads, introduced in 1923, to avoid the rising confusion in navigating the rapidly expanding network of routes across England, Wales and Scotland. Clearly explained in the handy accompanying ‘Triple-Purpose Index’ booklet, the same system is still in use today, albeit with the addition of M-prefixed routes denoting the motorways not added until several decades later. The publication is sponsored by the automotive coach-builder, Hooper & Co., responsible for making some of the most luxurious cars of the early to mid-20th century.

The map of London and the Home Counties extends north to Hitchin in Hertfordshire, and west to Basingstoke in Hampshire. Detail is reduced to just the road system in green, bounded by a bright blue coastline, with calligraphic notation of towns and cities marked with red circles.

The London Throughway Map on the verso is a cleverly simplified diagram of the network across Greater London, in the style of a blueprint, lending the system the air of technical functionality. Although the publication is undated, this latter map includes the Kingston Bypass, constructed between 1923 and 1927, and the Barking Bypass which opened in 1928.

The name of P. Stanley appears as the cartographer, who may well be the same P. Stanley who became the Chief Draftsman of the Australian Department of Lands & Surveys in the 1940s..
520 by 685mm (20½ by 27 inches).