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Ordnance Survey maps are an enduring love of mine: utility hand-in-hand with high art
150 or so steadily accumulated from the late ’60s until about five years ago when I succumbed to the OS’s Android versions: identical to the printed ones but costing a fraction of the price with GPS functionality that allows tracking and recording of walks and travels, accurate enough to show the small detour from path to piddle behind a tree
The recently introduced Tablet-and-PC version allows access to the entire catalogue of 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps for about a pony per year: record your adventures out and about on your phone, come home and mull over them on your PC: great stuff but not and never will be as annoyingly enjoyably tactile as trying to open a map masquerading as a sail on a windy hillside or drying a sodden one on the kitchen table prior to applying sellotape to the worn torn creases. They were always a bugger to fold correctly anyway
Which kind of brings this ramble back on topic: those lovely paper jobs will remain as attractive ornaments on the bookshelf, slowly foxing away, whilst the virtual versions will be the ones gandered at and used because they’re just so damned convenient, and cheap
Messrs Ebay have disposed of my Timeforms, my Wisdens, my LPs… maps next…hmm?
Whither paper, wither dead tree
Timeform annuals are classy works of art and their main function is to be admired*. The fact that they are advertisements for the money-making arm of the business is great; a brilliant advert that makes money rather than costs it. The raw data of their contents is a by-product of Timeform’s other business, the collection and analysis of horse racing information. The information moves from the computer to the page through the brains and artistry of the horse afficianados in the Timeform organisation. Stop publishing the Annuals, and Timeform moves from a category of its own, to the category containing Racing Post Ratings, BHA Ratings, IFHA Ratings and a myriad of similar simple number-cruncher outfits. The difference between its old category and its new one is that the former is all about the horse, and the latter is all about the gambling. It is a loss of status in the horse racing world. It’s all downhill from here.
This is tremendous analysis from MV.
I grew up being told by the racing media what Timeform thought of this or that horse, what Timeform’s opinion was on this or that issue etc. Loss of status, loss of influence. Even their website – “FREE BETS!!!!” – is primarily a tawdry advertising board for scores of bookmakers. What a shame.
Mike
Was a relatively late convert to Timeform. In terms of consuming racing form, having it in an offline database has always been my thing. Computer Timeform and Timeform i always seemed to come with user friendliness warnings, the offerings from Raceform and Proform in that sphere always more attractive.
But I’ve come to love the Race Passes service over the last couple of years. In terms of descriptions, analysis, and notes, Timeform are still unrivalled in telling the story of the individual racehorse. Their work has a consistency, solidity, integrity and accuracy to it, that I’ve never found elsewhere. Granted the competition is scarce.
I purchased my first ‘Racehorses’ in 2009, to commemorate what remains my favourite flat season ever, 2008. Can only echo the sentiments previously expressed, they are beautiful books. Superb journals that any sport would be proud of. A flagship product that elevated Timeform well beyond a company that provided information for punters. A company that told the story of horseracing. Its a real pity that the global plc that now owns the brand, doesn’t deem it viable to continue what is essentially a significant element of the heritage of horseracing.
Can only hope that something like a ‘Greatest Horses’ for each season will eventually emerge, containing perhaps a final end of season master rating for every horse that ran.
Timeform need to be careful imo. The card ratings, flags, verdict, tissue, 123, Stars and pace information are all available for free these days. They’ve really only got the analysis left as a product worth paying for.
Very sad to think that by now I should have been enjoying “Racehorses of 2020” if it were not for the demise of the Timeform annuals as announced last October.
At the time, outgoing publisher Geoff Greetham was quoted as saying “Innovation will find a way of continuing this Timeform tradition”. I haven’t seen any sign of developments since though unless I’ve missed something!
Is there anything else out there that provides a summary and commemoration of each racing season still? Obviously I’m not expecting Timeform annual standard, but is there anything at all, be it printed or digital?
Best Racehorses of 2020 Volume 1 and 2, written by Dr Sieglinde McGee, is what your looking for Marlingford.
Bit confused by that reply Dynamite21. Surely this forum is a sensible place to ask people who share a common interest for their recommendations? My question was not for the type of factual information that can be found easily by a Google search.
At the risk of uttering heresy, I found the essays in said tomes at best, verbose, and, at worst, pompous and unreadable.
Great slabs of copy, all run on into a single paragraph and all too often disappearing up their own fundament.
How life, the universe and everything (in racing) needs to change from a Halifax (or anywhere else, come to that) perspective I do not require in my life, thank you!
The last issue of the Black Book each season was: 1. Infinitely more reader friendly. 2. Equally if not more, useful. 3. Cheaper!
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I meant to follow up on a point from further up this thread…
IanDavies mentioned the Timeform Black Books. I know these have been discontinued along with the annuals, but I never quite understood what they were and would be keen to know a bit more about them.
If I understand correctly, the Black Books were a weekly publication containing a brief write-up of every horse that had run so far that season i.e. similar to the annuals, but without the essays and photos. If I’ve understood this right, it sounds as if the initial instalments for a new season would be quite slim, but the Black Book would be quite a hefty tome towards the end of the season.
Have I understood this correctly? Thanks in advance
The black book was a horse by horse production, yes Marlingford similar to Racehorses without the long essays and photos – just the basic useful information but not as much information as the old race by race Perspective or the much better new publication Race Passes. I wasn’t a frequent buyer of it, but (if my memory is correct) the black book had every horse in training, including those yet to run that season. So the size was roughly the same all through the season. Not sure about the two year olds when they were first introduced, whether it was once in training or once entered up.
Value Is EverythingTimeform House now up for sale in Halifax.
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