diff --git a/GPy/plotting/matplot_dep/maps.py b/GPy/plotting/matplot_dep/maps.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e18c7e68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/GPy/plotting/matplot_dep/maps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+import numpy as np
+import pylab as pb
+import matplotlib.patches as patches
+from matplotlib.patches import Polygon
+from matplotlib.collections import PatchCollection
+#from matplotlib import cm
+import shapefile
+import re
+
+pb.ion()
+
+def plot(shape_records,facecolor='w',edgecolor='k',linewidths=.5, ax=None,xlims=None,ylims=None):
+    """
+    Plot the geometry of a shapefile
+
+    :param shape_records: geometry and attributes list
+    :type shape_records: ShapeRecord object (output of a shapeRecords() method)
+    :param facecolor: color to be used to fill in polygons
+    :param edgecolor: color to be used for lines
+    :param ax: axes to plot on.
+    :type ax: axes handle
+    """
+    #Axes handle
+    if ax is None:
+        fig     = pb.figure()
+        ax      = fig.add_subplot(111)
+
+    #Iterate over shape_records
+    for srec in shape_records:
+        points = np.vstack(srec.shape.points)
+        sparts = srec.shape.parts
+        par = list(sparts) + [points.shape[0]]
+
+        polygs = []
+        for pj in xrange(len(sparts)):
+            polygs.append(Polygon(points[par[pj]:par[pj+1]]))
+        ax.add_collection(PatchCollection(polygs,facecolor=facecolor,edgecolor=edgecolor, linewidths=linewidths))
+
+    #Plot limits
+    _box = np.vstack([srec.shape.bbox for srec in shape_records])
+    minx,miny = np.min(_box[:,:2],0)
+    maxx,maxy = np.max(_box[:,2:],0)
+
+    if xlims is not None:
+        minx,maxx = xlims
+    if ylims is not None:
+        miny,maxy = ylims
+    ax.set_xlim(minx,maxx)
+    ax.set_ylim(miny,maxy)
+
+
+def string_match(sf,regex,field=2):
+    """
+    Return the geometry and attributes of a shapefile whose fields match a regular expression given
+
+    :param sf: shapefile
+    :type sf: shapefile object
+    :regex: regular expression to match
+    :type regex: string
+    :field: field number to be matched with the regex
+    :type field: integer
+    """
+    index = []
+    shape_records = []
+    for rec in enumerate(sf.shapeRecords()):
+        m = re.search(regex,rec[1].record[field])
+        if m is not None:
+            index.append(rec[0])
+            shape_records.append(rec[1])
+    return index,shape_records
+
+def bbox_match(sf,bbox,inside_only=True):
+    """
+    Return the geometry and attributes of a shapefile that lie within (or intersect) a bounding box
+
+    :param sf: shapefile
+    :type sf: shapefile object
+    :param bbox: bounding box
+    :type bbox: list of floats [x_min,y_min,x_max,y_max]
+    :inside_only: True if the objects returned are those that lie within the bbox and False if the objects returned are any that intersect the bbox
+    :type inside_only: Boolean
+    """
+    A,B,C,D = bbox
+    index = []
+    shape_records = []
+    for rec in enumerate(sf.shapeRecords()):
+        a,b,c,d = rec[1].shape.bbox
+        if inside_only:
+            if A <= a and B <= b and C >= c and D >= d:
+                index.append(rec[0])
+                shape_records.append(rec[1])
+        else:
+            cond1 = A <= a and B <= b and C >= a and D >= b
+            cond2 = A <= c and B <= d and C >= c and D >= d
+            cond3 = A <= a and D >= d and C >= a and B <= d
+            cond4 = A <= c and D >= b and C >= c and B <= b
+            cond5 = a <= C and b <= B and d >= D
+            cond6 = c <= A and b <= B and d >= D
+            cond7 = d <= B and a <= A and c >= C
+            cond8 = b <= D and a <= A and c >= C
+            if cond1 or cond2 or cond3 or cond4 or cond5 or cond6 or cond7 or cond8:
+                index.append(rec[0])
+                shape_records.append(rec[1])
+    return index,shape_records
+
+
+def plot_bbox(sf,bbox,inside_only=True):
+    """
+    Plot the geometry of a shapefile within a bbox
+
+    :param sf: shapefile
+    :type sf: shapefile object
+    :param bbox: bounding box
+    :type bbox: list of floats [x_min,y_min,x_max,y_max]
+    :inside_only: True if the objects returned are those that lie within the bbox and False if the objects returned are any that intersect the bbox
+    :type inside_only: Boolean
+    """
+    index,shape_records = bbox_match(sf,bbox,inside_only)
+    A,B,C,D = bbox
+    plot(shape_records,xlims=[bbox[0],bbox[2]],ylims=[bbox[1],bbox[3]])
+
+def plot_string_match(sf,regex,field):
+    """
+    Plot the geometry of a shapefile whose fields match a regular expression given
+
+    :param sf: shapefile
+    :type sf: shapefile object
+    :regex: regular expression to match
+    :type regex: string
+    :field: field number to be matched with the regex
+    :type field: integer
+    """
+    index,shape_records = string_match(sf,regex,field)
+    plot(shape_records)
+
+
+def new_shape_string(sf,name,regex,field=2,type=shapefile.POINT):
+
+    newshp = shapefile.Writer(shapeType = sf.shapeType)
+    newshp.autoBalance = 1
+
+    index,shape_records = string_match(sf,regex,field)
+
+    _fi = [sf.fields[j] for j in index]
+    for f in _fi:
+        newshp.field(name=f[0],fieldType=f[1],size=f[2],decimal=f[3])
+
+    _shre = shape_records
+    for sr in _shre:
+        _points = []
+        _parts = []
+        for point in sr.shape.points:
+            _points.append(point)
+        _parts.append(_points)
+
+        newshp.line(parts=_parts)
+        newshp.records.append(sr.record)
+        print len(sr.record)
+
+    newshp.save(name)
+    print index