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By Melanie, 5, June, 2013 8:00 am

Guest post by Rebecca Henderson of Ordnance Survey

The Forest of Bere is fondly known as the 100 Acre Woods and is a firm favourite of mine to stretch my legs, don the wellingtons and walk off the inevitable excesses of Sunday lunch.

Length of route:

Between 1-3miles
Starting point:

West Walk Car Park, Forest of Bere, Wickham, Hampshire. West Lodge’s postcode (opposite the West Walk car park entrance) is PO17 6JD.
Suitable for:
Walking and Cycling
Maps:
Ordnance Survey: 119 Meon Valley, Portsmouth, Gosport & Fareham

Forestry commission leaflet

It can be a little tricky to find, but is well worth the hunt, as not only is it a great short walk with beautiful scenery but there is also a large adventure playground for exploration. Although designed for kids, it does have the tendency to bring out the playful side of most adults!

There are three access points with car parks and easy access to the trail: Upperford Copse, Wood End and West Walk. West Walk car park is a good place to start as it is the closest to all the facilities; refreshment stand, toilets and playgrounds. The car park opens at 8am and closes at dusk, charging 2 hours at £1.50, 2 to 4 hours at £2.50 and over 4 hours £4.00. The Forestry Commission offers BBQ hire in the summer and it is a fantastic spot to settle down in the sunshine with a picnic or some treats on a barbecue.

The trail is sign posted, and you can do longer or shorter versions of the walk as it is a loop around the forest. My advice would be to stick to the path on your first visit or take a map if you want to explore as there are few notable land marks. The walk is not too taxing, with only one fairly steep incline, so it is ideal for people of any ability. After heavy rainfall it would be worth taking appropriate footwear as it can get a bit muddy. Remember to keep your eyes peeled along the way as people have made their own dens and wigwams nestled just off the main routes!

The playground has two sections. One is situated just off the West Walk car park which is cordoned off (so you can let little ones run free) and has a tree house, wigwam, and shingle stream. The other is situated in the forest opposite next to the BBQ area and features larger play equipment.

If you are looking to extend your visit, nearby is the beautiful village of Wickham. It is about five minutes by car from the Forest of Bere and you will find yourself in a setting that befits a Jane Austen novel. For the keen walkers out there, you can plot a route to walk to the village which is only two and a half miles away. The village has some quintessentially English tea rooms and boutiques to discover, my favourites are Lilly’s and the Chesapeake Mill. Lilly’s will draw you back time and time again with their home made cakes and friendly atmosphere.  It’s the perfect place to escape to on a Sunday!

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By Cartographic Design team, 4, June, 2013 8:00 am

Last month Paul attended a workshop on Web Cartography for National Spatial Data Infrastructure’s at the Faculty Club in Leuven, Belgium.

© Faculty Club 2013

Leuven is situated about 25 kilometres east of Brussels and is home to Anheuser-Busch In Bev, the world’s largest brewer group. The workshop saw a number of National Mapping Agencies (NMA’s) and other organisations get together to present on a number of topics around web cartography.

The workshop began with Sebastien Mustière from Institut Geographique National (IGN), France, giving the first presentation on the work done through their ‘Géoportail’, a web mapping service that publishes maps and aerial imagery ofFrance and its territories.

Sebastian spoke about the necessity for consistent styling and representation of features across all map scales focussing on the need to maintain user experience. He highlighted this by showing some work IGN have done to standardise map legends and to automatically derive up-to-date vector maps from vector geographic databases.

Continue reading 'Web Cartography for National Spatial Data Infrastructure’s Belgium, Leuven'»

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By Gemma, 3, June, 2013 8:49 am

We are delighted to launch the next iteration of our Linked Data service today at: http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk.

In preparation for this launch we created a beta version, which was designed for you to have a play around, test, and review against your current applications.

We had over 2,000 people test the beta version, thank you for your helpful feedback.

We launched Linked Data in April 2010 as part of the drive to increase innovation and support the “Making Public Data Public” initiative and have seen a continued growth of the use in government and research. This has allowed us to develop a deeper understanding of the use of Linked Data, which we have used to develop an improved service, it’s easy to use and access adhering to new standards making the data more open.

In summary, the improvements we have made are:

Continue reading 'New Linked Data service launches'»

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By Melanie, 3, June, 2013 8:00 am

A charity is enabling people to adventure and explore outdoors, regardless of how far they can walk, through the use of a ‘Tramper’.

Many of us enjoy exploring the grounds of  beautiful country houses, park areas or coast path.  We are blessed with a wide range of places to visit, where we can experience the changes in seasons, colours and sounds of nature and the peace and quiet that this can bring. Frequently such walks lead to a tea or coffee shop, with views that can continue to be enjoyed over refreshments.  Yet for many, this is where their outing begins and ends, due to being unable to walk even a small distance.

The Countryside Mobility scheme, run by Devon charity Living Options Devon, is ensuring that the South West is a truly ‘accessible’ environment for everyone by improving access to the countryside for people with limited mobility.

Based on the principle of urban Shopmobility schemes, ‘Tramper’ all-terrain mobility scooters are now available at more than 30 countryside locations across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Somerset with more to follow.

It is a scheme which is proving extremely popular with people of all ages who want to get out and enjoy the countryside, but previously were unable.

For Nevil Salisbury-Rood, from Chard in Somerset, the Tramper has been life-changing.

Nevil said: “I really enjoy wildlife photography and I visited the Penrose Estate in Helston, Cornwall and used the Tramper because I can’t walk very far. It allowed me to get around part of the lake and out onto the South West Coast Path which is something I would never be able to do normally because of my bad leg. The coastal views are fantastic and I shot some great photos”.

The Trampers can go up and down slopes, over bumps and tree roots, through shallow puddles, mud and soft ground and are for use by anyone aged 14 or over who has a permanent or temporary condition that affects their ability to walk.  With a top speed of four miles an hour they can keep pace with the briskest walking companion.

Continue reading 'South West Beauty spots open to all with ‘Trampers’'»

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By Jo, 31, May, 2013 8:00 am

In today’s age of automated systems and electronic data sources, it can be easy to forget that people are at the heart of what we do as an organisation. Keen to get back to the grass roots of what our organisation does, (collecting and maintaining of geographic data), I arranged to spend the day with one of Ordnance Survey’s nation-wide team of 250 surveyors.

I met Jeremy Thompson, a surveyor in one of the five London teams (which forms part of the South Region) at the London office, within the imposing National Audit Office building. Although three surveyors use this as a base, most surveyors work from home – Jeremy has an office set up in his garden shed!

As well as experiencing the move to homeworking, Jeremy has seen big changes during his 27-year career. He said: “I joined Ordnance Survey after completing my A levels, mainly for the reason of wanting a job outside and not being tied to an office. Geography and technical drawing were my two favourite subjects at school, so a job which seemed to combine the two seemed ideal.”

Jeremy explained that it is still quite common for people to associate Ordnance Survey with our paper maps, and not realise the level of detail which is captured by the surveyor. He said: “Since 1986, the job has evolved massively over the years; to working with digital data on a pen tablet instead of film documents and Rotring pens, and using GPS/GNSS, together with other modern-day equipment. The information we capture on the ground is used to inform a wide variety of organisations, across both the private and public sector. The range of rich data we now collect has widened greatly – it is much more complex, including a whole host of attributes, such as addresses and road routing.”

Each surveyor manages their own bank of jobs; with various criteria enabling them prioritise workloads. There are different types of surveying jobs scheduled on the system, all deadline based, and flagged up at various intervals – and the hours spent in front of a computer varies, dependent on each individual job. The surveyors can view intelligence about sites, which has been gathered from various sources, such as local authorities and commercial organisations. Information is also added from the network of surveyors who can make observations out in the field.  The combination of details enables the surveyor to prepare for a job, and have a full background of the site.

Our surveyor Jeremy in London

Continue reading 'Putting my mark on the map'»

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By Mike, 30, May, 2013 8:00 am

As a content editor based in Southampton, it’s easy to miss what’s going on in Scotland, home of the One Scotland Mapping Agreement (or OSMA.) Having recently updated the web pages for the OSMA team, I thought a round-up of news from north of the border was now due.

We recently released a new product that has some relevance to the recent ‘rainy season’ experienced in 2012. According to this Met Office article, as you may have suspected, 2012 was one of the wettest years on record, so the launch of the new OS MasterMap^® Networks – Water Layer alpha release seems like an appropriate choice for understanding our changing environment in greater detail.

The thinking behind this new product came from the Scottish Detailed River Network (SDRN) project: a collaboration between Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Water, local government in Scotland, and Ordnance Survey, tasked with delivering a highly detailed river network dataset in support of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009.

An alpha version of OS MasterMap Networks – Water Layer dataset (covering Scotland), was released by Ordnance Survey in December 2012 and is exclusive to public sector organisations in Scotland who are members of the OSMA.

What is the OS MasterMap Networks – Water Layer?

The new layer in OS MasterMap is designed for public sector organisations who are working on the challenges that our current climate brings to many communities. So, if you are a local authority looking at flood defence planning or you work for a central government organisation looking at disaster planning, this could be a product that will add real value to your digital geographic resources.

The water layer can help you plan work efficiently by providing details on rivers, watercourses, width and direction of flow, without you having to leave the office or get wet. This could be used to map your organisations assets, plan any construction, or review flood-prone areas against a digital backdrop of highly accurate geographic information.

3D fire incident maps

In contrast to the activity around water, fire services in Scotland are also benefitting from using digital map products provided through the OSMA.

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By Melanie, 29, May, 2013 8:00 am

We are at the Hay Festival this week so we thought we would share the fun with a couple of walks in and around Hay-on-Wye for our regular Wednesday walks on the blog.

The Literary Festival which runs from 23 May – 2 June includes some guided walks and also some foraging walks, but if you would like to explore the area more, there is also a  Hay Walking Festival which takes place from 10 – 14 October 2013.

This walk has been supplied by the team at the Hay Walking Festival.

The Wye, the Werns and LLanigon

This walk takes you down from the festival site to the river Wye through a very pretty area by the river  known as the Warren. It then follows the route of an old railway line to the main bridge at Hay with lovely views of the Wye. You don’t cross the bridge, but turn right instead into town taking the road back towards the festival site. Look out for a double footpath sign on the left to Llanigon and the Werns ( possible site of a temporary festival car park) and follow the sign to the Werns, walking up hill through Hay common.  You then follow a minor road into Llanigon for a short distance before picking up a footpath to return to the Festival site.

We’ve imported the coordinates and the route for this walk into OS getamap where you can print or download the details into your OS MapFinder app or GPS device. Alternatively, it’s on OL13 in our online mapshop.

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By Melanie, 28, May, 2013 8:18 am

We’ve now been at the Hay Festival for 6 days and in that time, we’ve been asking people where they’d most like to get lost in a book. We’ve been showing how we’d all be lost without Ordnance Survey and it seemed a nice touch to make the literary link to location information.

Our map shows a number of literary locations from the well-known Ambleside (home to Beatrix Potter) and Dorchester (birthplace of Thomas Hardy) to the less obvious Whitby (where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein) and Dumfries (home of Scottish poet Rabbie Burns).

We’ve been asking people where they’d most like to be lost with a book and some of the results might just surprise you!

And even though you might not be at Hay, we’d love to know where you’d like to get lost with a book, so do let us know of your favourite literary location.

We are at the Hay Festival this year explaining to people how the nation would be lost without Ordnance Survey’s mapping and how our data underpins so many things which people expect and rely on, but don’t realise we are involved. Things like supermarket deliveries, sat navs, planning bus routes, major building developments and national events like the Olympics all rely on Ordnance Survey data to help deliver successfully.

There have been plenty of “oh well, I didn’t know that!” moments and quite a few people answering three questions correctly in our interactive quiz to test your knowledge of Ordnance Survey and win a small prize  We’ll be letting you loose on some of the quiz questions at a later date! So, if you’d like to test your knowledge of Ordnance Survey do keep checking the blog or follow us on Twitter (@OrdnanceSurvey).

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By Gemma, 24, May, 2013 8:00 am

If you’re planning on visiting Pembrokeshire over the half-term holiday and want to explore the area and enjoy some great food – then we know the app for you! Real Food Wales is a new iPhone app from one of our GeoVation Challenge winners, and it can help you discover local, sustainable and delicious food along the Welsh Coast Path in Pembrokeshire.

Helen and Nicola Steer, sisters from South Wales, were one of five successful ventures in last year’s GeoVation Challenge, which asked entrepreneurs across Great Britain to use innovation and geography to come up with ideas to help connect communities and visitors along the new Welsh Coast Path.

The Real Food Wales team used their unique network of local knowledge to displaying a large selection of food businesses on an offline interactive map of Pembrokeshire. Real Food Wales maps over 150 of the best food businesses in Pembrokeshire, helping you access sustainable and delicious food. It’s the ideal app if you’re looking for a special meal at a restaurant, a bite to eat in a quirky café, the best sausage in town for your campfire or a food experience you’ll never forget.

The core feature of Real Food Wales is the interactive map, consisting of five zoom levels, which allow users to find the best places to eat out, buy food or have a foodie experience. The map of Pembrokeshire is stored onto your device, so you can access the information even when there is no mobile signal.

Continue reading 'Have a foodie experience with the Real Food Wales app'»

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By Melanie, 23, May, 2013 8:00 am

If you are a regular reader of our blog you will know about the wide range of things we get up to and about how our data is used in all manner of things from helping determine insurance premiums to working out which properties are likely to be affected by flooding, from getting your supermarket shopping delivered to the satellite navigation system in your car.

However, you’d be among a very few people in the country who are aware that we are involved in so many things. Sadly, the majority of people only know Ordnance Survey for our popular pink and orange outdoor leisure maps – OS Explorer Maps and OS Landranger maps  - and although they might know that we offer a mapping app for iPphones and iPads and an online portal, they probably don’t know about all the ways our data is used in our everyday lives.

But we have plans to change that!

And this week, we’ll be taking to the road to explain more about our data and how it gets used in our everyday lives and how, as a nation, we’d be lost without Ordnance Survey!

So, if you are heading to the Hay Festival, do visit our stand and meet the team. We’ll be there until Sunday 2 June chatting to people and running an interactive quiz to test your knowledge of what we do and how our data is used – with the opportunity to win some great prizes!

We’ll be explaining all the ways our data is used – by councils to save money through running services like waste collections more efficiently to insurance companies tackling fraud and making sure that your insurance is relevant to your location. We’ll be talking about some of the great case studies we have of our data being used to combat obesity in children, both by Change 4 Life, the Department of Health’s campaign and by a local authority who discovered (using a map) that in deprived areas, nearby takeaway restaurants were being used as an alternative to school lunches.

Continue reading 'Explaining what we do and how our data is used!'»