45 + 127 points
Take a map of your area... by Sombrero Guy
April 13th, 2010 3:48 AM / Location: 50.736020,-1.844844
Only when you have discovered the secrets that lie in your own back yard are you fit to explore the rest of the world.
I live in quite an interesting location. To the East is Littledown, a posh, expensive area; to the West is Springbourne, a somewhat less desirable place, according to estate agents when we were looking for a house here. To the North is Queen's Park, another expensive area around a golf course; to the South is Boscombe, and the less said about that, the better, according to anyone who doesn't live around there.
And I live right in the middle. Halfway between greatly contrasting areas.
In the context of this task, I had to decide what counted as 'my area'. As there are no natural boundaries I can use, and as the various parts of Bournemouth tend to merge into each other, I simply took a circle with a 1 mile radius around my house. I shaded the parks and streets I knew in red, and where I knew a whole block, filled it in. I split it into different sectors, so that each time I went out to explore my area I had a clear goal of filling in one sector. As it turned out, most sectors took a good 2-3 hours to get around.
Below, my expeditions are set out in the order in which I took them. I was surprised by how much of the area so close to my house I didn't know, and by some of the more unexpected things I found. It was strange to find some rather large and important things I'd not known about the area I live in.
I imagine this must be quite a boring praxis to read through. Many of my photos are of normal, everyday streets and sights. The differences that can be seen in this small area, though, are quite striking, and that is, perhaps, where more interest lies. In my little circle of Bournemouth, there is massive variety and diversity. Anyone with enough time to waste can look through all the photos, and read my notes in full. For those of you who can't be bothered (because there are quite a lot of them), I have picked out highlights from each sector to put in the main praxis. Welcome, then, to a guided tour of my area.
Littledown is quite an expensive area. Most housing is in the form of large detatched homes. There are individual designs, bungalows and estates.
Highlights include:
An emergency services rendezvous point
Prison-style security on school gates
An alien spaceship in disguise as a house
A sock on a wall
An abandoned miniature railway
Rubbish security
Anti-traveller boulders
After this first outing, almost the entire Littledown Sector was shaded red.
Springbourne is a more run-down area. There are small houses in terraces and council flats. Despite this, it still has a lot of nice parts and is in general not as bad as everyone says. I knew almost none of this sector before this exploration, and almost got completely lost at one point.
Highlights include:
Springbourne Christian Centre, a nice building
A road that chose its name very well
An empty factory, possibly once used in the making of lemonade, although that is almost a complete stab in the dark.
Peeling paintwork
St Clements Church
An unexpected green haven amidst the urban environment
A stone turtle
A business park I never knew existed
After this second outing, the map was looking satisfyingly more red than before.
This sector contains my route to school; my daily pilgrimage. As such, I knew quite a bit of this sector already, so it wasn't going to take very long to fill in. When I finally had a free period and it wasn't raining, I ventured out of school for an hour to look around.
Highlights include:
Mud
Trees
Some useful paths
Upper class snobbery
Peaceful roads and avenues
After this outing, the whole school sector was now red.
This sector is named for the large shopping complex which lies just to the north of the 1 mile boundary. It is on the border of Queen's Park and, like the school sector, contains some very big houses and posh looking streets.
Highlights include:
A mysterious building that turned out to be a church
Random patches of woodland
An unexpected view point
A skip full of random items
A community centre in need of some care and attention
Graffiti on a shed
After this trip, the whole top section of the map was looking impressively red.
Contrary to its modern reputation, it's clear that Boscombe was once a nice area. If you look, you can see the shadows of a richer past. The houses, while they look a little run-down and in need of repair, are quite large.
I was surprised not to find more items of interest in this sector, It was mainly residential, with few random sights to photograph.
Highlights include:
A park I was not previously aware of
A cat
Churches, which are always the best buildings for some reason
An old car being thrown out with the rubbish
Daffodils by Shelley Manor
Sea views
After this trip, unsurprisingly, the map was even more red.
This was a mainly residential sector, as well as being the smallest of my sectors, so there was not too much of interest. Nevertheless, there were a few things.
Highlights include:
A patriotic household flying flags
Another church
Winton recreation ground
A wrecked car
The Tuk Tuk Thai, an internationally renowned restaurant
After this trip, there was even less white space. Not much to do now...
The largest of my map sectors, and the one which will probably take the longest time to cover.
Highlights include:
The park itself
More churches
Bournemouth Deaf Centre
Demolition
Bad parking
A nice building which isn't a church, for once; it's a school for chiropractors
A weird sculpture
A painted missing dog poster. Apparently, it was never found...
After this sector, a large portion of white had been obliterated.
This sector is so named because I knew absolutely nothing of what it contained before setting out to explore. As it turned out, it was pretty... well, empty. It contained almost nothing but residential streets. There were a few shops and interesting buildings, but there were no green spaces, and only one church.
Highlights include:
Pubs
A church
Shops
A language school
Not much else
And so, finally, I was finished.
It took a long time, but I now know far more about the surroundings of my house than I did previously. This is not a task I carried out for enjoyment. It was more about discovery, and the great sense of achievement on completing it. I'm not going to lie, it did get boring trudging up and down extremely similar streets. But then it suddenly became worth it when I stumbled across the most unexpected things.
Exploring your local area is something I would recommend to all of you. You needn't visit every single street, or have specific targets set out. Just start somewhere near where you live, but you are unfamiliar with, and take it as more of a dérive. You, like me, might be pleasantly surprised by some of the things you find.
I live in quite an interesting location. To the East is Littledown, a posh, expensive area; to the West is Springbourne, a somewhat less desirable place, according to estate agents when we were looking for a house here. To the North is Queen's Park, another expensive area around a golf course; to the South is Boscombe, and the less said about that, the better, according to anyone who doesn't live around there.
And I live right in the middle. Halfway between greatly contrasting areas.
In the context of this task, I had to decide what counted as 'my area'. As there are no natural boundaries I can use, and as the various parts of Bournemouth tend to merge into each other, I simply took a circle with a 1 mile radius around my house. I shaded the parks and streets I knew in red, and where I knew a whole block, filled it in. I split it into different sectors, so that each time I went out to explore my area I had a clear goal of filling in one sector. As it turned out, most sectors took a good 2-3 hours to get around.
Below, my expeditions are set out in the order in which I took them. I was surprised by how much of the area so close to my house I didn't know, and by some of the more unexpected things I found. It was strange to find some rather large and important things I'd not known about the area I live in.
I imagine this must be quite a boring praxis to read through. Many of my photos are of normal, everyday streets and sights. The differences that can be seen in this small area, though, are quite striking, and that is, perhaps, where more interest lies. In my little circle of Bournemouth, there is massive variety and diversity. Anyone with enough time to waste can look through all the photos, and read my notes in full. For those of you who can't be bothered (because there are quite a lot of them), I have picked out highlights from each sector to put in the main praxis. Welcome, then, to a guided tour of my area.
Littledown Sector
Littledown is quite an expensive area. Most housing is in the form of large detatched homes. There are individual designs, bungalows and estates.
Highlights include:
An emergency services rendezvous point
Prison-style security on school gates
An alien spaceship in disguise as a house
A sock on a wall
An abandoned miniature railway
Rubbish security
Anti-traveller boulders
After this first outing, almost the entire Littledown Sector was shaded red.
Springbourne Sector
Springbourne is a more run-down area. There are small houses in terraces and council flats. Despite this, it still has a lot of nice parts and is in general not as bad as everyone says. I knew almost none of this sector before this exploration, and almost got completely lost at one point.
Highlights include:
Springbourne Christian Centre, a nice building
A road that chose its name very well
An empty factory, possibly once used in the making of lemonade, although that is almost a complete stab in the dark.
Peeling paintwork
St Clements Church
An unexpected green haven amidst the urban environment
A stone turtle
A business park I never knew existed
After this second outing, the map was looking satisfyingly more red than before.
School Sector
This sector contains my route to school; my daily pilgrimage. As such, I knew quite a bit of this sector already, so it wasn't going to take very long to fill in. When I finally had a free period and it wasn't raining, I ventured out of school for an hour to look around.
Highlights include:
Mud
Trees
Some useful paths
Upper class snobbery
Peaceful roads and avenues
After this outing, the whole school sector was now red.
Castlepoint Sector
This sector is named for the large shopping complex which lies just to the north of the 1 mile boundary. It is on the border of Queen's Park and, like the school sector, contains some very big houses and posh looking streets.
Highlights include:
A mysterious building that turned out to be a church
Random patches of woodland
An unexpected view point
A skip full of random items
A community centre in need of some care and attention
Graffiti on a shed
After this trip, the whole top section of the map was looking impressively red.
Boscombe Sector
Contrary to its modern reputation, it's clear that Boscombe was once a nice area. If you look, you can see the shadows of a richer past. The houses, while they look a little run-down and in need of repair, are quite large.
I was surprised not to find more items of interest in this sector, It was mainly residential, with few random sights to photograph.
Highlights include:
A park I was not previously aware of
A cat
Churches, which are always the best buildings for some reason
An old car being thrown out with the rubbish
Daffodils by Shelley Manor
Sea views
After this trip, unsurprisingly, the map was even more red.
Charminster Sector
This was a mainly residential sector, as well as being the smallest of my sectors, so there was not too much of interest. Nevertheless, there were a few things.
Highlights include:
A patriotic household flying flags
Another church
Winton recreation ground
A wrecked car
The Tuk Tuk Thai, an internationally renowned restaurant
After this trip, there was even less white space. Not much to do now...
King's Park Sector
The largest of my map sectors, and the one which will probably take the longest time to cover.
Highlights include:
The park itself
More churches
Bournemouth Deaf Centre
Demolition
Bad parking
A nice building which isn't a church, for once; it's a school for chiropractors
A weird sculpture
A painted missing dog poster. Apparently, it was never found...
After this sector, a large portion of white had been obliterated.
Empty Sector
This sector is so named because I knew absolutely nothing of what it contained before setting out to explore. As it turned out, it was pretty... well, empty. It contained almost nothing but residential streets. There were a few shops and interesting buildings, but there were no green spaces, and only one church.
Highlights include:
Pubs
A church
Shops
A language school
Not much else
And so, finally, I was finished.
It took a long time, but I now know far more about the surroundings of my house than I did previously. This is not a task I carried out for enjoyment. It was more about discovery, and the great sense of achievement on completing it. I'm not going to lie, it did get boring trudging up and down extremely similar streets. But then it suddenly became worth it when I stumbled across the most unexpected things.
Exploring your local area is something I would recommend to all of you. You needn't visit every single street, or have specific targets set out. Just start somewhere near where you live, but you are unfamiliar with, and take it as more of a dérive. You, like me, might be pleasantly surprised by some of the things you find.
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(none yet)6 comment(s)
posted by Fealix on April 13th, 2010 7:47 PM
Well done sir you really got about everywhere!
posted by rongo rongo on April 15th, 2010 8:10 PM
I like your method of the 1-mile radius and sectors.
A few weeks ago, I walked several blocks on a street near my house, and found myself in a schoolyard that I'd never seen before. Then, I ran into a coworker who lives on that street. Your completion does a great job of showing how many unexplored places are right near home.
posted by Kommando on May 9th, 2011 4:47 PM
you have an awfully large number of churches near you.
That seems to be a nice town you're living in. Also I find that completion inspiring. Now I wanna do this task as well!!