Jan 3: Great British TV and Film Map from Marvellous Maps

Cinema is an essentially geographic art: a way of “Writing the Earth.” 

One of the tools geographers use to help them to do this is a map.

I have all the maps which have been made by the Marvellous Maps company (Strumpshaw, Tincleton and Giggleswick) and this one in particular is relevant to the Geography on Film blog.

The maps are £14.99 and can be purchased as flat or folded options from the Marvellous Maps website.

The people behind the maps work closely with the Ordnance Survey. I've also had some chats with one of the creators and key guys: Humphrey with some ideas for how to use their maps in the classroom - the geography of film unit and resource set that I am intending working on is a possible outlet for that.

Their recent maps are illustrated by the wonderful Tom Morgan Jones, who completed all the inkings and illustrations for our Mission:Explore books and projects.

Details of this particular map are shown below:

Lights, camera … and be a part of the action! 

Discover the unrivalled heritage of British film and TV with this map featuring over 2,000 stunning film and TV locations, festivals, cinemas, movie experiences, museums and archives. Marvellous Maps rolls out the red carpet for you with a unique road trip through Britain’s top 50 finest film and TV locations.

Ready for your close-up? 

Technicolour trivia and quirky anecdotes mean that you’ll never be at a loss for some local colour as you travel through the UK
Step through the screen at over 1,000 filming locations and settings which have inspired everything from Carry On to Harry Potter

Travel through over a century of landmark British film and TV with journeys plotted for you on foot, by bike or by train

Features of the Great British Film & TV Map:

• Fold-out map and reference guide studded with silver screen history and trivia and over 2,000 unique locations to discover
• Features Britain’s top 50 hand-picked film and TV locations as well as a unique road trip that connects them all

Over the years, I've found myself at a number of film locations and this is a growing sector of the tourist industry with its own Wikipedia page. It is also known as film-induced tourism. I haven't necessarily deliberately sought out film locations, although I did take a detour when I was down in Suffolk to see some of the locations from the detectorists series, and I shall mention a trip to New York later in the blog, where you can't help but find yourself in the location of films.

To start off the blog's interactive elements, it would be great if you could let me know of any iconic film locations that you have visited in person. 

Let me know by various social media means and if you're happy to have your picture added here as an update that would be good. I'll share some others that I've been to as the blog develops.

Here's my picture of Cromer Pier.

This was where Alan Partridge found himself at the end of 'Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa'. It's also been used to film a range of other films.

Images: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license.

Films watched today: 

'The Train' (1964) - dir. John Frankenheimer - not seen this before and it's an intelligent and interesting film set at the end of the Second World War and featuring a train of looted art and the efforts made to stop it leaving the country - featuring Burt Lancaster, Paul Schofield and Jeanne Moreau. An interesting aspect of the plot is that the French resistance trick the Germans into thinking they are going to Germany by changing all the signage on the stations, having taken a route which brings them back to where they started overnight.