WHEN Dan Robinson couldn't find a 'gorgeous map of the Cotswolds' to put up on his wall, he decided to make his own.

And Dan, who lives in Stroud, enjoyed the process so much that he has turned it into a business.

He used to have an electric bike enterprise, which involved a lot of thinking about routes and maps of the Cotswolds.

And when the lockdown affected his firm he had a rethink and started to create hand-made maps digitally instead.

He taught himself illustrator software and now creates maps with a vintage appearance that can be personalised.

They are printed on canvas or paper and presented in a wooden frames.

Dan's geologist parents moved to Stroud in 1988, when he was seven, and he followed suit, getting a degree in geology from Birmingham University in 2003 and a Masters from Imperial a year later.

He says: “After graduating I worked in many places around the world, carrying with me an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to do my own thing.

"In 2011 I returned to the Cotswolds and established an electric bike shop.

“In 2017 I started a new business called the Cotswold Discovery Trail which brought cartography and graphic design skills into my life for the first time.

"The business saw me criss-crossing the Cotswolds determining the routes, devising questions and sampling the beer in many a country pub.​

“I looked for a gorgeous map of the Cotswolds that I could hang on my wall at home, but there was nothing out there.

“This was a huge surprise, as it's a celebrated area for its natural beauty, loved by those who live here and popular with tourists from all over the world. Therefore I decided to design my own.”

For more details visit: thecartographicarts.com/

Photographs by Simon Pizzey.