By Aimee Braniff Cree
THIS MAN has dedicated his life to producing incredible pub crawl maps in the exact style of the London tube map including a sweary rude version.
Graphic Designer Steve Lovell (49) from Rothwell, Leeds, England started making maps of local pubs and bars in Leeds in 2008 just for himself and has so far completed 45 of these boozer-filled maps.
Steve began sharing his work on Facebook and got a great reception, popularity got so high he even shared a map with comedian Barry Cryer who called him one day and said, “Magnificent…I could get pissed just looking at it”. This is Steve’s most memorable reaction to one of his maps and is one he will always cherish given Barry Cryer passed away in 2023.
“My interest probably started from when I first saw the London Underground map as a child. It fascinated me as it’s so clever, efficient and also visually pleasing,” said Steve.
“In the mid-90s I saw a small hand drawn diagram of Wakefield pubs in Harry Beck’s tube map style and the idea really stuck in the back of my mind.
“In 2008 I began work on my own pub map for Leeds, but it was turning out to be a much bigger difficult job than I expected and I had other things to be doing, so I abandoned it for a few years.
“I resumed work on it in 2013 and gave it my full attention. It still took much longer than it would do now, but it was very satisfying to complete.
“I made a bold move and paid a few hundred pounds to get some maps printed without knowing if anyone would be interested in them as I was.
“Facebook was becoming more popular and I also appeared in the press with my map and the first map was very successful. I got lots of great comments, especially when I was delivering some in person.
“Some people even invited me into their homes to talk about it or get me to sign it. That felt really strange, but in a good way.
“Subsequent maps don’t get the attention they used to, but I still like to update the ones I’ve created over the last ten years and create new ones when I have some time available.
Steve is now up to the sixth edition of the Leeds map. Newer Ones like Sheffield or East Yorkshire are still on their first edition.
Working on the maps is a labour of love for Steve and ultimately quite time consuming.
“Deciding which city to cover next has been a combination of working outwards from where I live in Leeds, and doing places that I have a connection or interest in.
“I begin by plotting places on a digital map using various sources of information from the internet.
“Then as best as possible, I try to check that each place I’ve found is still open by checking further sources such as Facebook, web pages and Trip Adviser.
“After all that I begin the challenging design work of condensing it all into a geometric diagram.
“It’s often a lengthy puzzle, but it’s satisfying to get everything to fit together by the end. When I’ve just about completed the design I usually like to visit the area I’ve done it for, take a few photos and have a drink or two.
“About seven years after making the first one, when I had to pay lots for hundreds of prints I’d never sell, I bought a large format printer so I can update the large maps and also not have a huge financial loss if they turn out to not be popular.
“However, printers break down, and websites cost money to keep running, so a lot of the time I’m just having to plough any profit into being able to produce and showcase them.
“There’s a lot of research and preparation work involved, and even after a map is finished, there’s still more to do, with photos and updating my website and other places they’re for sale.
“Depending on the size or density of an area to be covered the maps might take just a few days if it’s a small area like Durham City that I can fit on an A3 map.
“It can take a few weeks of hard work if it’s a bigger complex area like the full Sheffield area that goes onto a large 610 x 915mm map.”
Steve has created 45 maps so far and already has his plans for his next four areas to cover.
The full list of maps so far:
Barnsley Full, Barnsley Town, Bradford City, Bradford District, Bridlington, Calderdale, Chester, Darlington, Doncaster City, Doncaster District, Durham, East Yorkshire, Gateshead, Halifax, Harrogate District, Harrogate Town, Hartlepool, Huddersfield, Hull, Kirklees, Leeds Bygone, Leeds City, Leeds District, Lincoln, Macclesfield, Middlesbrough, Newcastle District, Newcastle City, North Tyneside, Pontefract & Castleford, Redcar & Cleveland, Rotherham, Scarborough District, Scarborough Town, Selby, Sheffield City, Sheffield District, South Tyneside, Stockton-On-Tees, Sunderland, Vulgarismap (sweary and rude), Wakefield City, Wakefield District, Whitby, York City, York District.
“I still have to do maps for the former North Yorkshire districts of Craven, Richmondshire, Hambleton and Ryedale, but then I’ll have covered all areas of Yorkshire,” said Steve.
“I’ve done plenty of non-Yorkshire maps, but after that I might consider tackling my first ones in Lancashire. The Leeds map has been the most popular by far.
“Sadly, some maps really haven’t been worth the time or trouble. In some cases One example would be the Doncaster map, where I only sold three copies in 14 months after creating it.
“Travelling abroad for my maps is quite unlikely as I’ll never even be able to do maps for everywhere in the UK first.”
Steve’s family and friends have been supportive of his venture and seeing his maps when he is out and about in Leeds gives him a sense of pride and accomplishment.
“My friends and family were all quite impressed when I did the first Leeds map in 2013 but I don’t announce new ones to them much now,” he said.
“I know of a small number of places that have some of my maps on the wall, but there are probably quite a few places that have them that I’ve not been to.
“It’s great to see people looking at my map in a pub or bar. It makes me feel quite proud of the achievement.”
Steve’s maps can be viewed and purchased at www.orderaround.co.uk
ENDS
