Bereft…
Surely
it cannot be only me who feels bereft at the news that the London Store ‘Stanford’s’
may be forced to close its doors forever before 2020 ends.
I know this has nothing to do with dinghy cruising but this
news is akin to a sucker punch to the ribs for me, as I sit here surveying our
travel wall and shelves. Here, hang hats from various countries, a Thai house
for our house spirits to reside in, a seed pod from The Gambia, a tiny coke tin
from Costa Rica. Photos adorn the stair well walls of our travels - our epic
New Zealand Grand tour, the four weeks exploring Namibia, the five weeks self-driving
Costa Rica. The Beijing underground railway travel passes hidden behind lava
from Etna and some pumice from Vesuvius. From climbing Kilimanjaro and crossing
the Serengeti to canoeing the River Gambia and horse back riding across the
wild hills of the inland border regions between The Dominican Republic and
Haiti, what links all these artefacts, photos, maps, journals and travel guides
is one thing. That one thing they all have in common, they all started as an
idea dreamed up from a visit to Stanford’s.
From the Caribbean to China and Thailand
Our journeys all start from inspiration gained at Stanford's Of London and Bristol
Every
map, every guide book, even the little journal I write my notes in now (a sweet
A5 lined notebook with an antique Latin map of the world as its cover – one of
eight others which grace my work desk – a record of our notes and ideas, dreams
and aspirations spanning the last few decades) – all have come from Stanford’s.
The
London Stanford’s has always been my go-to place when visiting our capital. When
completing my part-time Master’s at the Institute of Education, no weekly visit
to that place of academia was complete without me calling in at either the RGS
map room, Foyles bookshop or Stanford’s. I would run at 3.30pm when school finished (I
could run quite fast in those days) the two miles to the railway station to catch the ‘earlier’
train up to Victoria. That train would give me a precious two hours before my
evening course started, in which I could head for one of my three most favourite
places in the city.
One of our many, many, book shelves given over to maps, guides, travelogues and travel literature
And is
it only a year ago that I was sat on the floor at the Bristol branch with maps
and guide books strewn around me – covering South America and the West Coast of
the USA – maps of all types, scales and detail; obscure maps of national parks,
travel writing books by American authors? Where I scribbled copious notes and
ideas for two epic retirement travel tours covering Peru, Bolivia and Chile and
then South Western USA? To be surrounded by shiny hardbacks, softbacks, maps of
all sizes, scales, shapes and colours, racks of OS maps, shelves dedicated to
the cycle trails across Europe or walking the Camino de Santiago (both still on
the list of things to do before I reach sixty).
Where
else can you sit for hours whilst other shop users step over or skirt around
you, completely at ease with your domination of acres of floor space, each one
greeting you with that knowing smile, twinkly eyes and quick wink. All complicit
in your hogging of space, for they understand, they have been there, they ARE there
– for that sense of awe, wonder, intrigue, inspiration, quest and sense of
adventure.
Our planned seven week self-guided exploration of Peru, Bolivia and Chile put on hold by unrest in South America; our planned six week self drive exploration of south west USA, cancelled due to Covid; our planned seven week backpacking Interrail tour of Europe - on hold because of covid.
All these itineraries and plans, started out on the shop floors of Stanford's in London and Bristol
Yes,
sense of adventure. Stanford’s is my London bolt-hole, a place where I can
dream, gain sanity, reflect on the changing world, gain perspective and plan,
yes plan, those little adventures that have been so much part of our family
lives. And yes, perhaps in recent years, a visit to Stanford’s has been an
attempt to rekindle that adventurous spirit I had when I was in my twenties and
that I feel I have now lost.
My,
our, first steps to an adventure have always started at Stanford’s or with something
purchased from Stanford’s. Not just maps and guide books, travel writing or
notebooks but inflatable globes (to be left in schools in The Gambia, Tanzania,
Kenya, Namibia and Thailand). Or our collection of travel games – Scrabble, Bananagrams,
The British Railway game, our travel chess and draughts boards – all from Stanford’s.
The old Stanford's in Covent Garden - my bolt hole and refuge from the chaos of the world around me
And
what a place the London Stanford’s is. Over 160 years of history from when it
was first established by Edward Stanford in 1853. The roll call of adventurers who
have used the place as their first port of call for planning an adventure – Amy
Johnson, David Livingston, Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Florence
Nightingale, Ranulph Fiennes, Bill Bryson, Michael Palin and Levinson Woods. How many of these
have been my exploration heroes, how many of their books have I read and pored
over down through the years? To walk in their steps, to reach for maps off
shelves where they once stood?
A
sense of history that saw the first shop through two world wars, where its
founders became royal cartographers to queens and kings, where Argentinian diplomats
bought up all the stock of maps of the Falkland’s months before that war
started, forcing the British Army to become reliant on captured enemy maps
during the conflict. Where Michael Palin started his travel career and ‘Around
the World in 80 days’ – that shot of him starting the journey from leaving
Stanford’s.
Stanford’s
has been, is, a much-loved vital part of our travel landscape, the world’s
biggest map retailer, an organisation that prides itself on the depth and range
of its stock. If you can’t find the map you want at Stanford’s then the reason
is simple – it was never published in the first place!
Stanford's 1901
2020
has decimated the travel industry. As Covid 19 has spread, practically
uncontrolled in many parts of the world, travel has been all but impossible. The
world has become paralysed but like many of our businesses, taxes, rent, wages
have not. Footfall and income to the London store has dropped away to barely
anything and the shop faces the real threat of closure before the end of the
year. This joyful, tranquil retreat in the chaos of London, where adventures
are dreamed of or planned will be lost forever and I cannot believe that I am
the only outdoor enthusiast and armchair explorer who will deeply regret its
demise.
There
is a life line. Stanford’s has been given it by the Mayor of London’s ‘Pay It
Forward Crowdfunder Initiative’ – a project to help stricken businesses across the
city. Donations from £5 will get the donor a reward from the shop should its
target of £120,000 by Spring 2021 be reached, when Stanford’s hope that the
travel industry will be up once again and people travelling once more.
I cannot
help every single business facing the prospect of closure. I will do all that I
can to help local businesses on my local high street throughout the impact time
of this pandemic. I buy books online from small book businesses, I shun the
Amazon’s of this world.
And, I
will definitely donate to the Crowdfunder to save the London Stanford’s. I may
only visit it once very couple of years, but there has never ever been a time
when I have visited London when I have not ended up sat on its floor surrounded
by maps and travelogues, guide books and journals, dreaming of adventures and
explorations to come.
It is,
and always will be, my place of refuge from the chaos of life, my source of
inspiration, curiosity and wanderlust – a place where I see the detail of our
amazing planet, where I plan new adventures to witness changing life and nature
across our varied continents, where I can plan to meet old friends and create
journeys to make new ones.
Moved just around the corner - the new (above) and the old (below) Stanford's of Covent Garden, London
When I started this post, I apologised for it having little to do with dinghy cruising. But, I have come to realise that actually it does. For dinghy cruisers are small boat adventurers. 'Adventure' doesn't have to be found only on epic journeys to far flung places. It is found in our backyards, our national parks, our countryside, our rivers and coastlines and yes, even our cities too. If you
are a true adventurer blessed with an exploratory, inquisitive, adventurous nature, then
please donate if you can.
https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/support-stanfords
https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/support-stanfords
Williamson and me
The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro 1991
Guide books and maps.....from Stanford's of London!
