Consuming Interest

Navigating London

By LESLIE ADRIAN MAPS as an aid to navi- gation have passed their zenith; airlines now navi- gate by complex dia- grams of radio aids, and space vehicles by beady man-made eyes locked- on to various stars or inertial black boxes busy keeping tally of accelera- tions. But for finding your way about London some kind of street atlas is invaluable. My favourite is John Bartholo- mew's four-and-sixpenny Pocket Atlas Guide, now, it seems, sadly out of print. The maps are beautifully drawn and printed, and colours clearly differentiate between streets and build- ings, parks and water—one gets a splendid im- pression of the layout of the area one is examin- ing. Even under the ground, too, for the true paths of the Tube are delineated. Besides the atlas one is given a short history of London, an analysis of place names, lists of museums, hotels, historical buildings, churches, monuments, clubs, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, docks, etc. etc. . . . and floor plans of museums and abbeys. This guide has its faults, though; it is occasion- ally guilty of leaving out tiny streets if it cannot squeeze them in. Maddening if you are trying to find one. But please reprint it, John Bartholo- mew and Son.

Similar are the Geographers' and Geographia Atlases of Central London, both also at 4s. 6d. Neither is as pretty or as clear as Bartholomew's, less use being made of colour, and the area covered "is slightly smaller. However, I could fault neither on even the tiniest of mewses.

Useful additions to the Geographers' edition are extra maps showing bus routes, cinemas, theatres and clubs. This one also indicates one-way streets. •

These three cover only Central London; for 3s. 6d. you can get the Geographia Al Atlas of London and Outer Suburbs, or the Geo- graphers' A to Z Atlas. Both cover an enormous stretch of London, from Southall to Barking, Croydon to Barnet, and are equally faultless on the smallest streets. Both also contain a certain amount of information supplementary to the maps and indices. Maps in both are printed in black and white, which makes them sometimes difficult to follow, and if the covers were stiffer they would last longer—but at 3s. 6d. (less than a gallon of petrol), who cares? With either of these you need never be late for even the most obscurely situated party. The Al Atlas is one up with a patent quick-reference index; the A to Z retaliates by printing occasional house- numbers in the more important main streets.

Each of these three publishers also produces very grand and enormous reference (as opposed to pocket) atlases of London streets; Geo- graphers' at 21s. or 30s., depending on binding, Geographia at 17s. 6d. and Bartholomew's at £2 10s. (new issue due in December).

Francis Chichester, the pioneer airman and winner of last year's single-handed Atlantic sail- ing race, has produced a neat 12s. 6d. map and guide to London. It is solidly bound and has a deal of useful information—bus routes, hotels, restaurants, night clubs, parking-meter areas, etc.

It has notes on night clubs, carefully distinguish- ing those which have hostesses from those that don't, and a gourmet's guide to over 130 restaurants, each classified into three grades of price, cuisine and amenities. One gets three for price and one only for food and comfort, too! The maps, again, do not list quite all the smaller streets.

Besides London, there are Geographia street atlases for Bristol and Edinburgh at 3s. 6d., Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool at 4s. and Man- chester at'5s. or 9s. 6d.; a Geographers' atlas of Birmingham and the West Midlands, 4s, limp or 8s. stiff, and a Bartholomew's atlas of Edinburgh.

There are plenty of other London street maps and guides, mostly intended for foreign visitors

.trul less useful to the locals. None, however, were much use to the Frenchman in the popular story, who returned to Paris complaining that Central London bore little relation to his guide, having. been turned into a broad new street which was apparently named Cc/bill-Fitzpatrick-Shand.

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Anyone who feels that he wants to do his Christmas giving before a spending spree has reduced him to penury may like to' include an overseas charity along with his overseas Christ- mas mail. The Nyanga Welfare Centre is a small community that struggles to do for the neigh- bourhood Africans what the South African

Government conspicuously does not, that is, provide not only dried milk and food parcels but also something in the way of lectures, mother- craft classes and cultural activities. The address to send to is: The Hon. Treasurer, P.O. Box 4070, Cape Town; and I need hardly say how badly the venture needs money.

* Marmalade is a bigger business than most of us realise, even after reading this column. Did you know that Selfridges sell 187 varieties? 1 discovered this when buying there the other day three new kinds—new to me, at least. The assistant remarked that there were endless vari- ations on the Sevilles-and-sugar formula—`You only have to change the shape of the cut, and you have a different marmalade,' he said.

For true sybarites I announce my discovery of Cointreau orange marmalade. There is not enough of the liqueur to get you tight at break- fast (which some of my friends may deplore), but it has a most satisfyingly full flavour; 3s. 'd. a jar, and keep it away from the children!

The other two both cost 2s. 2d. per pound jar (sometimes I scent price-rings in the most unlikely places). One is Dorset Home-made from Country Products, Parkstone. A typewritten note attached to the jar by a rubber band assures the buyer `that it has been produced in the good old-fashioned way, in individual preserving-pans, and not "mass-produced." In fact, only 19 lb. of marmalade are produced at a time.' It has a fresh flavour and is slightly runny. Elsenham marmalade (from Essex) is firmer, but not quite as fruity to my taste. But it has a handy plastic closure, where Dorset Home-made cleaves to the `pierce and push off' school.

Some time ago I wrote on aerosol cans, and a delicious piece of information has come my way as a result of the article. A man, an Italian, has actually invented an aerosol contraceptive; and his name, believe it or not, is Signor Indelicato.

dear. the only thing I could recom- mend with this is beans on toast.