A YORK pub map that first launched in September 1998 has had a major revamp in honour of its 20th anniversary.

Graphic designer and map enthusiast Jim Somerville, 70, came up with the idea for a pub map in the 1990s and created one based on his home town, Pontefract, as a bit of a joke.

It proved so popular he decided to do one for York and pitched it to York Brewery. Guides for Hull, Lincoln, Liverpool and Norwich followed.

York Press:

The original map, York Overground, was inspired by the iconic London tube map design, but instead of tube routes, each coloured line flagged up a different pub crawl.

It has sold in its thousands, as well as inspiring a host of imitators.

Jim felt there was little point reproducing this type of map again and put a new design to the brewery, who jumped at the idea.

The newly named Navigator now incorporates tourist attractions as well as a fully updated pub guide and focuses solely on the city centre area. It features 132 pubs.

He said: "I believe it has everything that a visitor to York would want to see."

The map has been drawn to scale using specialist computer software, rather than being based on existing maps available online, and Jim stresses that he has put in the legwork.

He has covered each route several times to make sure that hostelries haven't appeared or disappeared in between drafts, and, of course, has stopped at many of them for a little light refreshment.

When pushed for a favourite watering hole, Jim said: "The Minster Inn, on Marygate, has still got the traditional layout and no gimmicks. It's as it was in Edwardian times.

"The Yorkshire Terrier, on Stonegate, is another small, traditional pub and The Maltings, on Tanner's Moat, has a great range of beers.

"Compared with a lot of places, York has fared very well, with far more pubs opening than closing in the past 20 years."

Jim has also finally let slip that there was a mistake on the original Overground map, but said that not one person had noticed it in the 20 years it has been on sale.

The new, poster-sized Navigator map is screen-printed on high-quality card and costs £24 from York Brewery, on Toft Green, the Braithwaite Gallery, on Low Petergate, or direct from Jim at jimsomerville@mail.com