"My fourth cat"

Mrs Kolcak, our neighbour, came to the door to say their big old cat had been scared up a tree after being set upon by the next neighbour's dogs. Specks of blood were on the rockery. Within minutes the West Midlands Fire Brigade arrived - five men in a big red fire engine. An extending ladder was raised. A young firefighter got the miaouing cat under one arm and carried him down through the awkward foliage. We clapped. "My fourth cat" he said. Cat, shivery but unhurt, went indoors to be fussed over.

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This is from the 'north central' section of Stephan Jaskulowski's map of Corfu. It shows Ipsos Harbour to the east. Ano Korakiana to the west. The the winding roads to Sokraki and Spartillas to the north. It's 10 years old but still works for getting round by car, bicycle and foot - philhellenism at work! As good a map of the island and the city as any I've seen. Of course there's the detailed sections of the Corfu Trail and, no doubt, military maps* we can't see.

Stephan went all over Corfu with a GPS on this amazing project. How well he must know the ground. The section of his map I've posted is unpublished. Stephan, in Nottingham, sent it to me and it's helpful for guiding visitors over the five kilometres between Ipsos and Ano Korakiana. I've put a white cross on the map to show the whereabouts of 208 Democracy Street.

To obtain Stephan's published map of the whole island while supporting Agni Animal Welfare Fund visit www.agni-animal-welfare-fund.com/Maps.asp or e-mail Stephan at thecorfumap@ntlworld.com

*In the sixth chapter of Prospero's Cell Durrell mentions in his diary - 8/8/38 - that 'Bocklin has walked over the hills from Metsovo and arrived in the island' ... 'a tough looking specimen of the new Germany'. Bocklin, who Durrell knew in Paris as a 'seedy blond youth', unknowingly allows Durrell to discover, in a guest room at the White House, 'a bundle of accurate architectural drawings of the main harbour and fortress.'

Stephan Jaskulowski's brilliant map

Stephan's map of Corfu
Originally uploaded by Sibad.

The more we roam Corfu - by cycle, car or on foot - the more I come to see the scale of the achievement of Stephan Jaskulowski in making this map of the island in 1996. Stephan was a working resident of Corfu in the 90s, found published maps of Corfu inadequate and in places hazardously innaccurate. Being a border state the authorities discouraged surveys. Over 3 years Stephan travelled over the island on foot, cycle, scooter and car with compass, altimeter and hand-held GPS checking roads, footpaths and tracks. This detailed map rich in additional information and inset plans of the city of Corfu is a unique labour of love. I wish Stephan would make a revised version that would pick up changes since he completed this project, but imagining the sheer scale of his original achievement I don't blame him hesitating. I still prefer this map to any other for exploring - and I don't want to know everything anyway and I can always ask for directions - though I'ver found that a gesture to take a right turn often means take a left and vice versa. The mainland stretched north to south in a tableau of varying greys in the damp air this morning. The shores are distinct and darker but beyond are the lighter and more distant peaks of the Grammos in Epirus - site of campaigns that 58 years ago concluded a catastrophe so terrible that even now it starts a lump in my throat to think of such happenings in a land we English have found so kind to us and of whose civility we hold such confident illusions. The vista is framed by the foreground of Vido Island and, even closer, Ipsos' breakwater and its cluster of masts including 'Summer Song's'. I caught the Korakiana bus into town to do some WiFi work and will catch it back to AK in an hour. Stephan e-mailed me on 8 May "Thank you very much once again for your very kind words and endorsement of the map." To get the map while supporting Agni Animal Welfare Fund visit www.agni-animal-welfare-fund.com/Maps.asp