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Growth of Coverage
Other than Collins/Bartholomew, R P A Smith was the first of the present-day Scottish publishers to produce street maps on a commercial basis, although, just previously, the first maps in the house style of R P A Smith Street Plans were produced in 1980 for the former Strathkelvin District Council, based at Kirkintilloch near Glasgow.
It was apparent at that time that very few Scottish towns had a decent street map commercially available, and shortly afterwards, it was decided to proceed with the first two titles - Kirkcaldy and Lanark - to test the market. Following the success of this venture, it was decided to expand the range, concentrating initially on towns in Fife and Lanarkshire. Interest from retailers, wholesalers, local authorities and tourist boards over subsequent years has guided the publication programme.
A rough indication of the areas where communities are covered by our maps is shown on the outline map of Scotland. Over the last few years, it has been possible to complete coverage of the mainland Scottish towns (that is, all of the former burghs) except for the cities of Aberdeen and Glasgow, suburban Edinburgh, Clydebank, Rutherglen, Dunoon and the towns of southern Ayrshire (east and south of Ayr), Galloway and east Dumfriesshire. In addition, nearly every village with 1,000 or more inhabitants is included; plus all the main smaller settlements. The most recently published maps include Galashiels/Melrose/Selkirk, Johnstone/Linwood, Whitburn/Armadale, Greenock/Gourock/Port Glasgow, Troon/Prestwick, Irvine & the Garnock Valley, Strathaven/Stonehouse, Campbeltown/Lochgilphead, Renfrew/Erskine/Houston, Haddington/Dunbar/North Berwick, Musselburgh/Tranent/Prestonpans, Dumbarton & Vale of Leven, Helensburgh, Hawick/Jedburgh/Kelso/Duns/Eyemouth and Ardrossan/Largs/Saltcoats/Stevenston.
At the time of writing, about three quarters of our maps in publication have been revised or first published within the past two years. Certainly in Scotland, NO OTHER QUALITY STREET MAP PUBLISHER COMES ANYWHERE NEAR MATCHING THIS RECORD! Around 30 new publications are produced each year, making R P A Smith possibly one of Scotland's most prolific publishers.
It is our eventual aim to complete coverage of all the settlements in Scotland with a population of over 1,000 (although many villages with a lesser number of inhabitants have been, and will continue to be, included on our Street Plans). It is not inconceivable that the three largest cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen may one day be covered.
The process of survey work, map drawing and index compilation is necessarily time-consuming because of the extra detail in our maps; thus it has taken already taken about 25 years to produce the 97 Street Plans now in publication. We estimate that another seven to ten titles would be required to complete mainland Scotland, plus another three or four if interest from the island communities is forthcoming. Publication of these maps depends on the publisher being made aware of specific demand.
For the past 24 years, our Street Plans have been printed by the Dunfermline Press, a long-established firm based at the Pitreavie Business Park, Dunfermline, Fife, KY11 8QS. Our maps are therefore very much a Scottish product, produced with pride in the many cities, towns and villages, the character of which we attempt to portray.
