Urban Ambling

by Mercator

Gerard Mercator was born in Flanders ( now part of Belgium ) in 1512.
It is unlikely that he ever travelled more than 100 kms from where he was born.
Despite this, he devised a projection which resulted in maps of the then known world.
The book of maps he produced was named ‘An Atlas ‘. He gave us the word. His map projection was still in use 400 years later!
We spend so much time travelling to other places that we forget there is much to see and learn in our own surroundings. There is interest and comfort in the ordinary things in our lives.
I hope these podcasts will encourage you to engage in a bit of serendipitous , and happy, ambling in your area.
Mercator.

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Episodes

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The Mouth of Hawkesbury: The Lambert Penninsula and Barrenjoey

As you travel down from Brooklyn to the rivers mouth at Cowan Water you will see ahead a high ridge of land. This is the Lambert Penninsula. Behind it...

•Jul 9, 2026

Brooklyn: A Great Hawkesbury Town.

Brooklyn is on Sydney’s northern edge, but is totally different to the rest of the city.It is a small isolated settlement on the Hawkesbury River. Arr...

•May 17, 2026

The Greenway

An historic goods railway corridor becomes a link between the Parramatta and Cooks River.If I had to choose only two words to describe The Greenway, t...

•Mar 3, 2026

Bloodworth and his bricks

James Bloodworth, like James Smith, was an early arrival in Sydney Town.The similarity ends there, however, as Smith's time was not successful, but Bl...

21h 24m

•Jan 23, 2026

Has History Missed James Smith?

At 47 years of age , James Smith paid his fare for a passage to Botany Bay with the First Fleet. The arrangement was made with Captain Sever of the La...

•Nov 25, 2025

Not a Convenient Drain - The Cooks River

Abused, Ignored and avoided were apt descriptions of the Cooks River over the years from 1788 to the mid 1970’s.It started as a Arcadian Wonderland, b...

•Sep 19, 2025