Get That Grade

Ordnance Survey maps give us a lot of information about the growth and development of urban areas. You can make deductions about the type and age of the housing areas in a town or city by looking at:

• the shapes of blocks of pink — which represent buildings
• the street patterns
• the amounts of open space amongst the buildings
• the distribution of churches and other public buildings
• its position in relation to the town centre

The two following types of housing are the most common:

Housing built in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.

Characteristics:

• Usually has a rectangular (grid iron) street pattern, with square or oblong blocks of buildings.
• The buildings are usually quite crowded, and lie close to the town centre.
• There is not much open space, although sometimes there are quite large formal parks nearby.
• Sometimes these areas have a lot of churches. There are often Church of England or Roman Catholic churches near the town centre (which have towers or spires.) Then there are Methodist and other chapels dotted amongst the houses. These do not have towers or spires. Nowadays, these areas of old housing may also have mosques, synagogues or temples — sometimes in converted chapels.
• There may also be old mills or factory buildings in these areas.
• Often near to a railway station or canal — the reason why the mills were built here in the first place, and why the houses were built around them.

Housing built since the First World War.

Characteristics:

• Usually nearer to the edge of the town.
• The street pattern has more 'crescents', 'closes' and so on, with curved and carefully planned streets.
• Few, or no, main roads through the estates.
• Areas of open space.
• Fewer churches, but there may be more community centres and sports centres.

In both types of housing it may be possible to distinguish between the better-off areas and the poorer areas. The simplest way is to look at the amount of open space amongst the housing. As a general rule, the more space there is, the more expensive the housing is. But take care — this is not always true!

Mapwork Activity

Study the map extract of Reading carefully. (This can be found at the back of your Get That Grade! book, and can be detached if you wish — but keep it safe!)

Imagine that you work for an estate agent based in Reading. You have properties for sale or to rent at the following locations:

A	697732 (house for rent)
B	662724 (house for sale)
C	710733 (house to rent)
D	724707 (house to rent)
E	671768 (house for sale)
F	744707 (house for sale)

(Note that you have not been given any details about the size or price of the houses. Try to estimate these for yourself, using your mapreading skills.)

The following people have come into your office, to enquire about houses. Which house would you recommend to each of them — and why?

1	A newly-appointed lecturer at the University. She has two young children.
2	An unemployed single parent who has been forced to leave the home that she had been sharing with her boyfriend. She thinks that she would qualify for a council house.
3	A 35 year-old, commercial traveller. He needs access to the whole of the south of England, but can afford somewhere with a pleasant environment. His wife, who does not have a full-time job, wants plenty of space to walk their three dogs.
4	A retired couple who want somewhere quiet, but with easy access to the countryside to follow their hobby — landscape painting.
5	A group of four friends who have recently left university and who want to share a house. They all work in Reading, but none can afford a car yet. They want easy access to the station and to nightlife.
6	A retired single man. He has to survive on the basic state pension, but is fully fit. He wants somewhere cheap but not too noisy. A small house would do, if he was near other people like him, and if he had somewhere that he could walk for exercise.