Diverse, Mapping Related, Articles

• The Cartographic Sandbagger, or, Mapping a Norwegian Blue an article courtesy of Dr Brendan Whyte of the National Library of Australia, on a map/chart used as a prop, in the Yorkshire Television produced 1978-1980, British spy drama television series The Sandbaggers. The episode mentioned may be viewed via this YouTube link and a full resolution version of the 1989, 13th edition of the chart may be viewed via this link. Citation : Whyte, Brendan (2023), The Cartographic Sandbagger, or, Mapping a Norwegian Blue, The Globe, No.94, pp.57-70.
• Looking at today's maps or imagery of the Tanami Desert region of the Northern Territory there is almost no evidence of previous activity. During some 60 years of the 20th century however, several routes crossed the area. Six such routes were selected for digital restoration and display on a common map base providing a different view of the Tanami. Note that today travel in this region is restricted.
• Mapping a Continent, a 1948 article by then Colonel Lawrence FitzGerald, OBE, Director of Military Survey about the status of mapping Australia at that time (Walkabout, Australian Geographical Magazine, Journal of the Australian Geographical Society, Vol.14, No.10, 1 August 1948, pp. 9-15 accessed at : https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-739085301).
• Map Production Story, a 1979 publication by the Army Survey Regiment. The Army's method had many parallels with the methodology used by Nat Map.
• The Topographical Map Series of Australia, a 1965 publication by BT Tyson, University of Melbourne; revised and edited extracts for the website, 2021.
• A brief review of the worldwide introduction and use of Timeballs.
• Bomford, AG and Paterson WSB, (1958), The Survey of South Georgia, Empire Survey Review, Vol.XIV, No.108, pp.242-247.
• Lewis Hubert Lasseter (1880-1931) later and more commonly Lewis Harold Bell Lasseter died a lonely death in the bush searching for a fortune in gold. This article by Paul Wise, does not repeat the Lasseter story or the search for his reef of gold, but is about reconciling various locations, from the literature, connected with the region and the Lasseter story. In doing so maps of the time from explorers and others are examined as many of the place or feature names relevant to the region and Lasseter, are spelt differently by different people and other place names are not depicted on modern maps or listed in gazetteers. WARNING : This article contains the names and images of deceased aboriginal persons.
• April 2015 commemorated 100 years since our nation's involvement in the First World War. Frank J. Doolan's 1934 paper The Survey of the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, provides another view of that monument's design and construction. The Shrine was carefully designed so that a natural ray of sunlight would fall on the word love, on the Stone of Remembrance at 11am. For the next five thousand years the design would see that this event occurred within 2 minutes of 11am on 11 November. Melbourne's adoption of daylight saving time in 1971/72, however, caused a problem which was solved with mirrors.
• The Lost Tribe (More correctly survivors of a lost society unable to continue without the other groups which formed the fabric of a culture that had sustained their people for 25,000 years) by Bob Goldsworthy. This article was first printed in Natmap News 50 of December 1984, but is republished here along with another referenced article. Photos of the encounter taken by Bob, Bobroff, Ed Burke & Jim Combe can be found here.
• Circa early 1970s Track Notes to drive from Laverton To Ayers Rock via Warburton (WARNING : these notes are some 40 years old and are provided for their historical value and not for navigational purposes as the tracks and their locations have changed).
• Not all mapping is about discovery as reported in "Australian scientists 'undiscover' south Pacific island".
• A dated (circa mid-1980s) but nonetheless interesting technical insight into the DETERMINATION OF MAGNETIC DECLINATION.
• Australian Mapping.

  ---

  Canning Stock Route Related

  • Conditions in the Canning Basin Desert (Traves, Douglas Moffatt; and Casey, John Newbery (1954), Conditions in the Canning Basin Desert, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, Record 1954/56, Department of National Development, Canberra) reported the results of a geological ground survey by a party of eight men one of which was Syd Kirkby then a cadet surveyor with the Lands Department of Western Australia.
  • Wells of the Canning Stock Route, which supplied water to the Nat Map parties of the geodetic survey, Aerodist and others, have almost disappeared. Photographs of the Wells of the CSR from several sources, taken in the 1960s & 2000s and supplied to Paul Wise, show the well's general deterioration over time.
  • Map mosaiced from the four sheet series comprising Wiluna - Kimberley Stock Route - showing positions of wells constructed 1908, 1909, 1910 - By A.W. Canning LS. The map may be zoomed and/or panned by the tools or simple dragging.
  • In Reg Ford's 1979 paper The Division of National Mapping's part in the Geodetic Survey of Australia, Reg briefly mentioned Natmap's 1964 contracting of Mr Bill Moyle of Carranya Station to undertake the grading of a new track from Old Billiluna homestead to Well 51 and to then continue with further track-work southwards to Well 45. With access to historical information held by Natmapper's Des Young and Kevin Snell, McLean & Wise retrace Moyle's route to determine if any sign of it remains today.
  • In the late 1960s Dave Chudleigh (then from the Australian Survey Office, Canberra) together with Russell Wenholz traversed the Canning. An account of their journey can be read here. Russell Wenholz completed a more extensive account of their Canning journey in 1983. In recent years Russell's manuscript was converted to a digital format with the addition of maps and photographs. In his 2016 Preface, Russell noted that this digital conversion was not perfect and the information and views of that earlier era are different today. Nevertheless, Along the Canning Stock Route : An account of the First Motor Vehicle journey along the full length of the Canning Stock Route is a valid record, and Russell's contribution is greatly appreciated.
  • Laurie McLean's notes on the Canning Stock Route and related Explorers who first went into the western deserts of Australia
  • Notes from vehicle travel via the Canning Stock Route, Gibb River Road, Darwin and Jabiru during August-October 2007, by Laurie McLean and Lawrie O'Connor.
  • NATMAP SURVEY BEACONS IN GOOD CONDITION AFTER 46 YEARS by Laurie Mclean with additional material by Paul Wise.
  • Author Phil Bianchi kindly supplied some later material related to the Canning Stock Route (CSR). The official photograph of AW Canning, from the Battye Library, WA that our website had been using was shown to be incorrect. A mistake was made by the library in captioning a photo and the error has been, and is still being, perpetuated by many authors and websites. The attached explains how the error was found and now our website contains the correct photograph of Canning.

    Phil also supplied a number of photos relating to places mentioned in the above CSR articles. These photos can be viewed here.