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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

#51

Post by saagarjha »

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…

A few years ago I learned that Rancho San Antonio has an extension that goes all the way up to a couple hundred feet of my house, accessible by an unmarked, easy to miss little trail at the west end of Stevens Creek: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.3223461,-122.0789312,3a,75y,.... It leads the Hammond-Snyder Loop Trail (which hasn't been much of a loop for years–it's been closed for a watershed project that should've ended a while ago) which is a nice way to get to Anza Knoll, which is not all that tall but has a pretty good view of the valley (a more obvious way to access it is on the other side of Cristo Rey Drive). If you follow the train tracks it goes past a culvert for Stevens Creek under I-280 next to which seems to be the local hangout spot for teenagers–it's heavily graffitied (unlike any other part of Cupertino I have seen) and it looks like someone's constructed a sort of BMX park out of the dirt. And this is just from me walking in an ~2 mile radius in the suburbs! There's a whole lot of cool things you can find while walking that no online mapping service will cover.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#52

Post by g_p »

dTal wrote: post #50
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.

Most regrettably, Ordnance Survey isn't free.

An awful lot of OS data is actually available directly from them under the open government licence in recent years. Recently they added their UPRN (unique property reference number) database and some other ones.

OpenMap Local and OpenZoomstack are both available as open data, and give an awful lot of what most people are looking for when it comes to map data.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#53

Post by jimnotgym »

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.

OS is certainly not definitive, although they are very good.

1) There is a disclaimer on OS maps that says so

2) The definitive map is held by local councils

3) A right of way can exist without registration, and is created through use. The medieval alley ways in my local town only recently became registered after hundreds of years of use. They were always rights of way and you could not have prevented their use.

4) There is a right to roam in Scotland and a limited right to some land in England and Wales under CROW Act.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#54

Post by rwmj »

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…

During lockdown we discovered many walks that I'd not found in 10 years of living here. I also dug out my paper OS map of the area which is more complete than online references.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#55

Post by swarnie_ »

inglor_cz wrote: post #49
DanBC wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,...

Holy shit, people are expected to cross THAT on foot?

I highly don't recommend it. I've known several people killed on the A419/A417.

Re: Slow map: Mapping Britain's intercity footpaths

#56

Post by IanCal »

jvm_ wrote: post #48

Another resource for finding footpaths/routes is https://www.strava.com/heatmap They've aggregated tons of bike and running routes so you can see where other people have ran/biked before. Good to use in the woods when the trails aren't very obvious, just use the 'find me' button on the map and then you can see where you are and which trail goes where.

This is fantastic thanks. I've moved to a new area, and some of what's here looks like it might be people in cars (some is definitely on trains) but I can see some good routes over fields. Particularly this shows me that a lot of people go down a route I thought connected but wasn't sure and couldn't find the time to check (a long way back if it's not part of a loop).
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