The Metropolis

Can anyone spot the flaw in advice to use paper maps not smartphones to navigate the Notting Hill Carnival?

Mike Pollitt | Wednesday 22 August, 2012 09:51

How on earth do you read a paper map? Without a blue dot showing exactly where I am and what direction I’m going, how can I possibly be expected to…

I mean first of all you have to get the map the right way up. Then work out where you are on it. Then work out where you want to go. Then confirm that you’re going the right way, all while somehow keeping the map the same way up as when you started. This is the sort of sustained brainpower that my generation has long since outsourced to technology, so that we can concentrate on more important matters. Like finding links to gorgeous vintage maps of 1901 Notting Hill to coo over but never use.

No blame to the Met Police for trying to prevent theft by advising Notting Hill carnival goers to keep their phones in their pockets this weekend. Here’s the map they’ve produced. I’m just damned if I know how to use it.

Notting Hill Carnival Map from the Met Police

---