June will see the closure of the second London map shop in a couple of months, although fortunately neither have ceased trading.

On the 19th J.A.L.Franks will be leaving their New Oxford Street premises to a shop near Victoria station, while in April Tooley Adams & Co left Cecil Court near Leicester Square for the home counties. Both had come to the end of their shop leases and, faced with the demands of rapacious landlords, decided to leave.  Both have active web sites, making an expensive shop front less of a necessity. 

Unfortunately  this appears to be the trend in London: the independent businesses are leaving to be replaced by mobile phone shops and sandwich bars. What will London have to offer those over the age of thirty?

On a happier note: Douglas Adams, the 'Adams' of Tooley Adams & Co., has used the closure of their shop as an excuse to retire at the age of 67. He joined Francis Edwards in the early 1960s, working with his step-father, R.V.Tooley, thus contributing extensively to Tooley's various publications. In recent years he has used his position as elder statesman of the London map trade to dispense knowledge and irritate his juniors with stories about the days when Speed world maps were ten-a-penny and lunches tended to last all afternoon. Why were the rest of us born too late?

All at MapForum.Com wish Doug a long and happy retirement.

• This site is best viewed on a PC with a screen resolution of 800 x 600 or more, with Netscape Navigator.
• All adverts set in the articles are links to a pop-up page dedicated to that advertiser, where their contact details can be found. Watch for the "hand" cursor and link colours.
• Most small images are links to larger images, which appear in pop-up windows. Again, watch for the "hand" cursor and link colours.
• It is best to close these pop-up windows after use, as another link might use that window if left open, even if minimised.
• To print an article open the frame in a new window. In Netscape click the right mouse button on the frame you want and select "open in a new window". Explorer users might try finding the page in their "Temporary Internet Files" directory (sub-directory of Windows)