Gary's Maps

Welcome to this for page my tube style maps (updated 19/3/25).

First, a bit of background. I made the St Albans pub map for my own amusement in late 2023 and posted it to the St Albans People Facebook group, as I thought a few people might be interested in it - St Albans is of course famous for its pubs. The reaction I got was amazing to say the least, with many asking if prints were available, and even requesting things like T shirts, mugs, tea towels, etc.

In response to that, I had a small run of A3 prints made, just to see how they would go. I wanted good quality, so I went for high quality 250gsm silk finish art paper. I sold them to those who had initially enquired, and a few friends. They quickly ran out, so I had some more printed and added an A4 version. The landlords of The Mermaid pub in St Albans then offered to sell them. After that, Phoenix Barbers  in Marshalswick, which is a barbers during the day and a bar in the evenings, enquired about making a version that was around 1.2m wide that they could print on their blind. I made a few tweaks and sent it to their printers. You can see the blind down and blind up result below. They then started selling the maps too. I also bought some frames and framed a few. They also sold well, especially in the run-up to Christmas. I was also contacted by St Albans Museum + Gallery, who asked if I would be interested in selling my maps in their gift shop. Of course I was, so they also started selling them too. I was also contacted by CAMRA who asked if I would like to sell it at the St Albans Beer festival. I'm sure you can guess my reply. More recently, The Gate pub in Bricket Wood has also started selling them.

After the pub map, I next made one of the curry restaurants (my favourite food), but that was just a small fun one. The next was a full road map of Park Street village, where I live. Not really intended for sale, but there was interest in it, so I had a small number of prints made. You can see it below.

I have also had a sample T Shirt, mug and some post cards of the pub map made, just to see what they look like. They all look good and I've worn the T shirt, but due the the small size, the pub names aren't really readable, though they are still nice designs (I would say that wouldn't I). If there is any demand, I can have those made to order.

I don't have any mail order facilities yet, but it's something I'm looking into. I would also like to find a few stockists in areas not already covered to sell them, and maybe at some summer events, either by buying from me in bulk, or on commission, if you know anyone who is interested.

I'm also looking at tea towels, tote bags and possibly larger canvas prints. I'm also open to suggestions on anything else. I also have plans to do other similar maps. I am currently looking into doing one of all of the closed pubs of St Albans, but there are lots of them (far more than I expected), and reliable information on their locations is quite difficult to find. Time will tell what else I can think of.