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.
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, 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.
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 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.
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.
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 and Kenya. Or
our collection of travel games – Scrabble, Bananagrams, The British Railway
game, our travel chess and draughts boards – all from Stanford’s.
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. 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!
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’ll buy books online from small book businesses and 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 every
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.
If you are a true adventurer
blessed with an exploratory, adventurous nature, then please donate if you can.
https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/support-stanfords
https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/support-stanfords
Thank you.
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Hi, we always look forward to hearing your comments, tips and thoughts. Drop us a line or two below. Take care now. Steve and Maggie