Hook Road in Surbiton is dotted with a few handsome villas that survive from the 1870s. One of these, a Victorian townhouse at number 15, bears a blue plaque for the famous novelist and poet Thomas Hardy. It comes as a surprise to many to learn that Thomas Hardy was living in this vicinity in the mid-1870s. And perhaps even more surprising to know that Hardy's famous novel, Far from the Madding Crowd, was published at the time he lived here in Surbiton. Age 33 and newly married to his wife, Emma, the couple were starting their married life in lodgings here. Far from the Madding Crowd was about to launch Thomas Hardy's career. A further point of interest for the neighbourhood is that Hardy wrote poems about Surbiton, Southborough and Long Ditton whilst living here. History of the neighbourhood Hardy's home at St David's Villa was one of a row of houses built circa 1872 on the Hook Road, then also known as Southborough Road. This was a turnpike road, and the row of ... Read more
2,500 map plottings for Betjeman’s Best British Churches
One of our greatest projects for Harper Collins publishers recently involved the mapping and photography of churches around Britain. Altogether we plotted the location of 2,500 churches using digital GPS data and translating it onto printed maps. It represents a massive achievement and huge improvement on the original black and white map bullets in the earlier editions of the book. With the OS and GPS coordinates given for people with SatNavs and mobile devices, Thameside Media is delighted to have had the opportunity to bring this classic work into the digital age. ... Read more
Our World Whisky book wins prestigious award
Thameside Media, the owners of Maproom, are proud that World Whisky has won the IACP award for Best Cookbook. The publication, published by DK, involved us mapping all the whisky-producing nations of the world as well as photographing literally hundreds of the finest whiskies ever produced. For more samples of this book and Thameside's other award-winning media projects see Thameside Photography - World Whisky project ... Read more