Orkney the Right Way Up
The Stones of Stenness, Orkney. Photo: Mark Woodsford-Dean
Sometimes it helps to look at things upside down, and when it comes to maps, there is of course no such thing as upside down, as enterprising kiwis have realized who sell maps of the world with New Zealand centre-stage up at the top. ‘Great’ Britain then becomes a little island down at the bottom. 
There’s nothing like perspective for gaining perspective!
And so, when we were up on the far-flung islands of Orkney last week, our wonderful guides Helen & Mark Woodsford-Dean, who run Spiritual Orkney.co.uk, pointed out that in earlier days these islands were at the centre of a flourishing world – surrounded by the now-named Scandinavia, Iceland, Scotland, the Faroes and further afield Greenland. Turning the map the right way up helped us appreciate this. More on what we found there next week!
3 Responses to “Orkney the Right Way Up”
What a fascinating piece. I shall be turning maps around from now on in relation to areas and groups of people. It seems to make it easier to sense their actions and how and why they spread like they did. Fascinating!
Thank you for this Philip. It has got me wondering how it would be if I could turn my inner maps on their heads.
Another useful turning of the map is this: take a map of Britain and Ireland and turn it so that the “west” axis is top. Many relationships become instantly more understandable, I think.
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