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Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

bbc.com

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Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#31

Post by barrkel »

DanBC wrote: post #22
dkarp wrote: post #5

The project page: https://slowways.uk/ As they say, there are many paths in the UK but it can take a lot of research to find long routes that don't leave you on a busy road with no pavement. I hope this project is a success and can't wait to use it.

Yes. Or some footpaths cross major roads with no real crossing in place. It's a bit scary using this foot path crossing, especially in poor weather or at night. Cars can travel at 70 mph (112 km/h) on this road. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6832617,-1.9031193,3a,75y,...

I think you meant this bit: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.683784,-1.9032482,3a,53.7y...

It's got more of a wooden frame up and down the embankment, a Public Footpath sign and look right / look left warning paint.

It looks like a poor compromise to retain an existing right of way when building or upgrading the dual carriageway.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#33

Post by laegooose »

enriquto wrote: post #25
tinus_hn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of companies that’ll create a professional looking website for your product, whether it exists or not. That doesn’t mean anything. What I find more surprising is announcing such a project if there is no result yet, now they get buzz and create disappointment and I don’t see what they gain for it.

That was my point. Announcing that something will (i.e. may) be available in the future is a sure way to shoot yourself in the foot and lose a lot of sympathy.

It is also a sure way to get some attention from potential users and contributors which is good for the project

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#34

Post by adwww »

dazzawazza wrote: post #24
topbanana wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fact each county maintains its own 'definitive map' of public rights of way. That's how they're protected. This is mine https://explorer.geowessex.com/?layers=48&basemap=26 Definitive maps https://www.ramblers.org.uk/advice/paths-in-england-and-wale...

For those who don't know, the Rambler Association has been fighting for new and ancient foot paths and "rights to roam" for 90 years in the UK. England in particular has a long and complex history of land being gifted by royalty and clergy to sycophants leading to the rest of us being screwed over for literally a thousand years! Green and pleasant land indeed!

I don't disagree, and the opaqueness of land ownership here is a real problem.

That said, England does have a fantastically extensive network of public footpaths.

It's really something you don't appreciate until you go somewhere without such a network.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#35

Post by adwww »

leokennis wrote: post #11

Fantastic initiative and set up and presented in a nice, understated and sensible way. I’m wondering if similar projects would work outside of the UK. As far as I know, the UK is pretty unique in the fact that basically all land is freely accessible by anyone, except when explicitly forbidden? For example here in the Netherlands, basically anything that isn’t a public street is off limits, except when the owner of th…

> basically all land is freely accessible by anyone, except when explicitly forbidden

That's not strictly true for England. Although it's not illegal to trespass (outside of power stations, military bases and ports) unless you cause damage while doing so.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#36

Post by Angostura »

arethuza wrote: post #20
varispeed wrote: post #18

This is great. When I was looking for my missing cat I discovered so many hidden trails in my borough that was just amazing. For example a gap between two residential homes I thought it leads to someone's garden but actually it was a quite long public footpath with signs of homeless people camping on it. I also found two abandoned properties that I wouldn't see in Google Maps. One of which was totally overgrown with…

I found OpenStreetMap invaluable for places to walk during the lockdown earlier this year - it has a lot of paths that aren't on OS maps at all.

If they aren't on OS, they probably aren't public rights of way. OS is definitive.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#37

Post by arethuza »

Angostura wrote: post #36
arethuza wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found OpenStreetMap invaluable for places to walk during the lockdown earlier this year - it has a lot of paths that aren't on OS maps at all.

If they aren't on OS, they probably aren't public rights of way. OS is definitive.

I'm in Scotland - I don't think that applies to the same extent. I should note that most of the footpaths around here were built by the farmers who own the land!

"While in England and Wales, highway authorities have a duty to maintain legally recognised maps of rights of way, in Scotland different legislation applies and there is no legally recognised record of rights of way."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_way#Scotland

I do a lot of walking in Scotland and I've never paid any attention to whether a path is described as a "Right of Way" or not - mostly it seems of historical interest for places like the wonderful "Jock's Road":

https://www.heritagepaths.co.uk/pathdetails.php?path=38

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#38

Post by arethuza »

pjc50 wrote: post #2

I really appreciate how this guy understands that the map is not the territory - the mere appearance of a line in a dataset doesn't mean it's really walkable in practice, and he wants people to research what the situation on the ground is.

Another potentially quite serious problem is up to date information on whether things like bridges are in place - its fairly common for footbridges not to be shown on maps or for bridges on OS maps to have long since been washed away or so dangerous as to be impassable.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#39

Post by arethuza »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #29
chrisseaton wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people in the United Kingdom would be using Ordnance Survey. Also, I think Ordnance Survey's record of the use of these footpaths has significant weight in keeping them legally protected. So Ordnance Survey is the best tool here.

Except OS data is surprisingly badly suited to this. OS doesn't have a topological (=connected, routable) database of public rights of way. The green lines you see drawn on a Landranger map are just that: lines on a map. I don't need to explain how having a routable database would make a project like Slow Ways so much simpler. OS, of course, doesn't have accessibility information like stiles, gates, or surface qualit…

OS maps are invaluable for wilder areas (e.g. Scottish Highlands) but they seem pretty poor compared to OSM for low level walks here in Fife. The don't show a lot of paths, paths they do show don't really exist and often they show narrow paths as tracks.

Another weird thing that happens on OS maps is that some paths are shown on 1:50,000 maps but not on 1:25000!

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#40

Post by [deleted] »

arethuza wrote: post #37
Angostura wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they aren't on OS, they probably aren't public rights of way. OS is definitive.

I'm in Scotland - I don't think that applies to the same extent. I should note that most of the footpaths around here were built by the farmers who own the land! "While in England and Wales, highway authorities have a duty to maintain legally recognised maps of rights of way, in Scotland different legislation applies and there is no legally recognised record of rights of way." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_w…

[deleted]
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