[Talk-GB] The Map vs The Ground (was: NCN numbering)

Frankie Roberto frankie at frankieroberto.com
Thu Jul 1 12:03:18 BST 2010


On 1 July 2010 09:59, Henry Gomersall <heng at cantab.net> wrote:

As a cyclist, I'm keen to say I'd find the a representation of what is
> on the ground more useful. One of my pet annoyances with maps is when
> they don't agree with data on the ground. Imagine trying to find an
> obscure cycle route, labelled as RCN on the map with a sign that says
> NCN. Its an extra layer of confusion that I've often encountered with
> crap (usually foreign) maps.
>

As an aside, one interesting thing I spotted on a recent holiday in the Lake
District was that the OS Explorer maps often showed two paths side-by-side.
One was a public footpath (green dashed line), the other simply a path
(black dotted line). The guidebooks often suggested following the dotted
line, which confused me, until when I got there I realised that there was
only one physical path to follow, and that this matches the dotted line.

As I understand it, what's happened in these cases is that, over time, the
physical path has deviated from the legal right of way (either through
re-paving, or short-cutting, etc). In a couple of instances, I even spotted
official notices warning people that the legal right of way was being
updated to match the physical one.

There's clearly a lag in the time it takes to update the legal rights of
way, hence the situation of seeing two paths on the map. Pretty confusing,
although I'm not sure what could be done about it (would it be better to
only show the physical paths in these instances?)

Frankie

-- 
Frankie Roberto
Experience Designer, Rattle
0114 2706977
http://www.rattlecentral.com
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