Maps

Topographic maps

A good road atlas is all that is necessary to follow this guide. Make sure to obtain an edition with the standard grid overlay. In most cases, the grid squares are at 10km intervals. The grid references used in this book are good to 1km. e.g. Conwy on the north coast has a grid reference 278 377. The leading 2 and 3 can be ignored, they are used in the Ordnance Survey Routemaster series (1:250,000 scale) and define the 100km grid lines. Other maps, particularly road maps, use a letter system to define 100km square grids--see the map on the left. Conwy’s reference in that system would be SH 78 77.

Geological Maps

The British Geological Survey publishes maps at various scales.

A single map covering the entire country is the 1:250,000 scale Geological Map of Wales, 1994, British Geological Survey. This map is bilingual, English and Welsh.

Folded maps at the same scale require 6 separate maps to cover Wales, namely, Liverpool Bay, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay, Mid-Wales and Marches, Bristol Channel, and Lundy.