Well I have kept looking in WHSmiths for a 2013 road map but have not seen any, but then tonight I managed to purchase a 2013 AA road atlas at our local sainsburys petrol station, not many changes, Dishforth-Leeming A1 upgrade is on, along with the Carlisle bypass and Hindhead, will have a flick through to see what else there is although I always like A to Z maps better!

Haven't brought a new atlas of UK since June 2009 (2010 Atlas) as the changes have been minimal. But given A1(M), M74, M80 have all been built since then may buy one.

I much prefer the French system with there Atlas's. I wanted the 2011 Michelin Atlas when I went to France last year but could not purchase it to January 10th 2011 when it was released. At least you know then the Atlas is for that year and not 6 months behind.

I know why they do it for annuals so that they can be brought for Christmas, but I do not think there is mad rush of Christmas Presents of new Atlas.

Alright I wanted one as a boy, but I always wanted money so I could check all the atlas's in Smiths and buy the onme which was most up to dat

The same silly situation exists for some monthly magazines - where the August edition is on sale before the end of June - and therefore out of date during August!

This atlas will be available shortly...

brought ? [/grammarnazi]

The reason is the same for magazines as it is for maps: the retailer gets a better chance to sell off old, superseded stock if it still appears current. They just hide away the new release for a while, and unsuspecting customers still think they're buying the most up-to-date edition. It wouldn't be possible to do this if the dates matched reality, since the age of the old stock would be too obvious!

Actually I'd be surprised if any retailers deliberately do that. With the exception of partworks (the annoying ones that start at 99p, then go up to £7.99 for the next 999 issues) pretty much all Magazines are Sale or Return. Newspapers have to go back the next day, weeklies within 4-7 days and others within 14 days as a rule. Therefore as soon as the new issue comes in newsagents should be sending back the previous issue - these days this often means that the 'August' issue is returned in July. It's nonsense.

At least with Buses magazine, you can still buy the magazine during the month stated on the cover! The release date for the mag is the third Friday in the month, so it can be the 15th or the 21st when it comes out.

F1 Racing has recently had a Monaco Grand Prix PREVIEW issue - I got issue AFTER that one before the Monaco Grand Prix - well in advance! At least the one which came through the door a couple of days ago is July's - my PC Pro on the other hand is Augusts and come about two weeks ago!

The magazine "Tax Adviser", which is the journal of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, always arrives in the first few days of the month for which it is dated. But this isn't a publication that is on sale to the general public. Dating road atlases six months ahead seem to be a bit daft TBH. I'm intending to buy the 2013 edition of the A to Z Great Britain road atlas - I generally go about four years between buying new road atlases. I'm looking forward to having an atlas that shows both the A46 dualling in Nottinghamshire and the A1(M) upgrade in North Yorkshire as complete. BTW, does anybody know if AA Routeplanner takes account of the A46 dualling yet in terms of reduced journey times and whether a recommended route would include this section of road? It may be the case that some AA recommended routes now include the A46 between the A1 and the M1 whereas before the dualling they would not have.

£1.99 at Morrisons garage, Cribbs Causeway, yesterday. Same price as the 2010 one.

I got my AA 2013 atlas for £1.99 at an Esso garage this weekend.

One of my work colleagues was trying to tell me this would be the last AA atlas, as if this was a fact. I've had a Google around but can't find an evidence. I surely hope not!

Hi!

I've not been a fan of their atlases since they went over to using very pale orange blocks to denote villages and hamlets - have you ever tried reading one under tungsten (e.g., car interior) lighting?!

Chris Williams

The shading is a bit annoying in that regard but it's less cluttered than the old dotted blocks for villages.

I also was glad of the switch to yellow central reserves instead of thicker edge lines - that happened in 2003.

Well I had a look at the 2013 A to Z of the forthg bridge replacement and they have used the plan with the roundabout link in the wrong place.

That infamous last chance saloon for books and games that publishers have over-estimated demand for...The Works...Was groaning under a weight of 2013 AA atlases when I popped in yesterday (both UK and Europe versions). I nabbed 2 large boxed sets of English Heritage DVDs and a none-fiction book about spies all for £9. Nice to see so many celebrity hardbacks facing a quick trip to the pulping mill.

They've always had up-to-date AA atlases at knock-down prices (at least for the past several years), so if your theory is correct about the publishers over-estimating demand, they must do it incredibly consistently without learning any lessons!

On my recent visit to UK, I got round England quite well on motorways, A roads, B roads and C roads probably via a Michelin Road map I purchased from a newsagent here before I left. As I was advised no road directory or even a map in my Thrifty Hire Car, how mean are these people? Blimey they could get those map for a quid in bulk. Still I only paid £18 per day for a new Peugot 207 from Thrifty Car Rental, in Southampton, prepaid from OZ.

Who needs SATNAV, I don't.

My understanding is that companies like The Works and the Book People get special cheap editions of many books, sometimes printed and bound to a lower standard or on cheaper paper.