Settlements
Why Settlements Gather at Crossings
Why settlements gather at crossings: learn how bridges, fords and junctions concentrate movement, and how maps and…
The reading room
All articles
Explore regional geography through the shapes of landscapes, the growth of settlements, the routes between places, the lines on maps and the names that carry local meaning.
Routes
A River Valley or a Ridge Route?
River valley or ridge route: compare gradients, visibility and connections to see which path best explains movement…
Routes
The Old Road Beneath the New Street
How to trace an old road beneath a new street: read maps, street plans and field clues to separate persistent…
Boundaries
The Boundary That the Landscape Does Not Mark
Learn how to read a regional boundary the landscape does not mark, distinguish its administrative purpose from…
Place Names
A Place Name, Read with Care
A place name, read with care, can suggest language and landscape while showing which historical claims still need…
Our point of view
A map is a beginning, not an explanation.
Regional character emerges from land, settlement and connection. We look for the distinctions that hold up, and question the tidy stories that do not.