Tell me about Pearsons Guides
Greg Chapman
I was with a group of people last weekend who all said that they used
Pearson rather than Nicholson Guides.
The reasons given included that they preferred the chattier style of the
commentaries and the accurate idea of cruising times for the various pages.
I've never had a chance to see inside a Pearson Guide. :-( However, the
complete set has just gone on my "Christmas Present List"!!
But while I wait for Christmas and while I'm re-building and re-designing my
Waterwaysguides site, I would like to incorporate features which will make
it easier for the site to become a Pearson's Update site as well.
I already plan to break the long "Nicholson pages" down into individual
waterway pages and index them by guide. So it should be fairly easy to add
extra "Pearson Index" pages which point you to the same pages of updates.
Obviously I would have to add some more of the "flags" that I currently use
to distinguish the updates that apply only to the Nicholson 97 or Nicholson
2000 guides, so Pearson users could see which items apply to them as well.
Is this a feasible idea?
I assume Pearson's Guides are not updated in a single block as are
Nicholson's. What are the publication dates of the current versions of each
of their guides?
What other issues might affect trying to incorporate Pearson Update Details
into the existing Waterways Guides site?
Greg
http://www.waterwaysguides.co.uk
Jeremy Nunns
In article <9qie6d$e97$2...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>, Greg Chapman <greg@eastw
alton.freeserve.co.uk> writes
>I was with a group of people last weekend who all said that they used
>Pearson rather than Nicholson Guides.
>
>The reasons given included that they preferred the chattier style of the
>commentaries and the accurate idea of cruising times for the various pages.
>
>it easier for the site to become a Pearson's Update site as well.
>
>extra "Pearson Index" pages which point you to the same pages of updates.
>
>Nicholson's.
While I appreciate the 'Authority' of the Nicholsons guides,
with their OS maps and stuff, I always prefer to use Pearsons
for actually cruising. They are clearly written by boaters
for boaters.
The style could be described as 'chatty', or even 'off the wall'
if you were not feeling so kindly. Their reviews of facilities
near the canal have more detail (and personal opinion) than Nics,
but would be more prone to needing frequent updates - along the
lines of the recent discusion here about a buchers and nearby deli.
The mapping is of a very different style, which focusses much more
on the canal itself. There are useful aspects - a guide for a
given 'ring' will have all the pages mapped such that you always go
from Left to Right (or vice verca) for the whole ring, irrespective
of where North might be. This principle also makes the maps easier
to fit on the page with the text - if North does not have to be
at the top, the canal can usually be shown going across the page.
Of course, at Junctions and special cases like central Birmingham
they have a different layout.
I would agree that the realistic and clear cruising times shown
on each page are very useful. I don't have many recent Pearsons,
I think the newest I have is the 4th Edition of the Warwickshire
Ring, 3rd Reprint, 1993. As far as I know, they are each updated
individaully, rather than as a massive 'block' re-issue. This
might make it a challenge to refer to in the on-line updates, but
not impossible. I don't know if there is a single source of
knowing what all the current Edition numbers/Publication dates are.
Jeremy Nunns
--
Jeremy Nunns
Technical Director
Cybercard - real cards for real people
http://www.cybercard.co.uk
Greg Chapman
> I always prefer to use Pearsons for actually cruising.
> They are clearly written by boaters for boaters.
This is the impression that others have given me.
Their layout sounds more like the "What to do on the Broads" series by
Jarrolds, although these days those books, published annually, are rather
bland and full of advertising.
> Their reviews of facilities
> near the canal have more detail (and personal opinion) than Nics,
> but would be more prone to needing frequent updates - along the
> lines of the recent discusion here about a buchers and nearby deli.
More frequent updates isn't a problem, of course. However, style can be.
In a single book, by one author, a personal style is valid. One quickly
gets used to the author's preferences and interprets them accordingly.
"Infested with screaming kids and candy floss vendors", could mean "They
won't mind our Jason", then!" or "Steer clear of that!" according to your
circumstances.
However, I've never known quite how to handle this problem on my site. Many
of the submissions demonstrate lots of personal views and experiences of
particular pubs. I tend to sanitize them, though not always. Sometimes
because of fear of libel laws, sometimes because I feel there won't be
enough examples of that style of entry appearing, or conflicting styles from
others making submissions, so it will be impossible for the reader to know
quite what to expect.
As a result, I tend to prefer to keep to verifiable facts. I'd much prefer
"Egon Ronay's Pub Grub 1999" than "Made a great beef sandwich for me, after
official mealtime hours", even though the second may tell many people a
great deal more about the kinds of service to expect.
> As far as I know, they are each updated
> individaully, rather than as a massive 'block' re-issue. This
> might make it a challenge to refer to in the on-line updates, but
> not impossible.
I already have 1997 and 2000 flags. I'm assuming it wouldn't take much to
change them to N1997 and N2000 and then add P1993, where appropriate.
> I don't know if there is a single source of
> knowing what all the current Edition numbers/Publication dates are.
Probably doesn't matter too much. If someone sends me an update for an
edition I don't have, it'd go on my next birthday/Christmas pressy list!
:-)
Greg
Kevin Maslin
news:9qkcr7$864$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
> > I don't know if there is a single source of
> > knowing what all the current Edition numbers/Publication
dates are.
Why not ask the man himself? He already knows you are interested
;-)
He can be contacted via http://www.jmpearson.co.uk and he's a
very nice man!
Regards,
--
KEVIN MASLIN
Waterways Photography
Great Bridge, West Midlands, England.
ma...@kevinmaslin.co.uk