Well, silly me, I volunteered to sort out the map for the event on a GPS survey basis. So, a fortnight ago, I was out getting sunburnt, PDA in hand, GPX tracking and POI-ing the ground in Kelvedon Hatch in Essex. The result is as you now find the map, once it's updated/refreshed today...

What you're seeing is the track plan of the event as it'll be over the weekend of 15th-16th May; there are a couple of areas plotted for car parking and such like, but specific items aren't going on the map, as they're subject to change on the day (where the various trade stands, exhibitors, and so on, are going to be placed, for example).

The surveying took the best part of five hours. Plotting it on the map took a week and a half!

Oh yeah... WHERE is this taking place? See their website - it's a heck of an event!

http://www.bunkerbash.co.uk/

Well, I'm on leave from the job this week (winter leave allocation), so why the heck not play with the OSM Tracker software (osm.wiki/OSMtracker) I loaded onto the PDA? Seems to work, anyhow :) Just uploaded a track of a pub I know (Fox & Hounds, Donnington), that serves a very nice Pale Ale (Arkells Brewery. Unlike many, they've definately got the taste just right :) Nice brew, that!), and a rather nice spot of lunch, too! It was empty today, but I'll put that down to the weather, as it was heaving it down a little while ago!

Anyhow, back to the OSM Tracker... it works well on my "HTC Touch Pro 2" Windows Mobile phone/PDA, and certainly, after the required setting were added, ties in nicely with the GPS - the camera support didn't have to be configured, it was there right away, although I haven't quite got the hang of adding photos to the OSM just yet. That'll come in time (probably later today!), once I've played around a bit more with JOSM.

Only hiccup today? Trying to remember the THREE username/password combinations I use for OSM, the Wiki, and the Forums! Whoops!

Oh, the weather? Yeah. WHAT summer? (evil grin) - Welcome to Autumn!

Right, done :-)

All POIs entered, updated., or (in the case of the post Office) moved, as required. We're gonna need a generic non-specific shop POI/icon, by the way (see below).

All roads updated and where necessary changed, added, and/or removed.

All land usage now correct.

Footpaths now render correctly (as tunnels, but what the hey, they go though the block of flats at Ground level, so technically I suppose it's a tunnel, since there's a right of way through to the canal-side footpaths behind.

All the shops in that block are through-and-through, by the way, in that they lead right through the ground floor of the block to the canal-side plaza behind.

All the buildings in the slice now have the correct shape and outlines (and wasn't that a task to get the data - just as well the Hospital's a public building, or that would have been a bit of a problem!

Major OSM issue arising from this slice effort: We need a new generic shop icon and entry to be supported in JOSM as well as Potlatch - myriad shop classifications are all well and good, but having all manner of shops but the one you need is a bit of a nuisance.

All-in-all, not bad for a days collection and another days' data entry :-)

Hope everyone has fun at the Mapping party :-)

Well, just about there now. Amazing how many times one can go over a map, and find little bits to fix, amend, and others that just don't render *quite* right until you hit the correct items (which often defy common sense) in defining their "ways" (Good grief, I almost sound like a Zen Master there!)... anyhow, like I said, just about there, now.

Buildings have now, I think, been properly shaped so as to (1) reflect reality and (2) render properly.

Footpaths have been defined, redefined, and mucked about with a few times, in order to (1) reflect reality and (2) render correctly. Still not quire there yet, but I think this last edit this afternoon may just have cracked it. have to wait for the database update to see if I've got it this time. Should see in a couple of hours, anyway.

Changed a couple of bits to the north side of the slice where the Council's temporary street cleansing depot is; when the construction effort gets around to that bit, the depot and it's next door public car park'll disappear. Also added the road names (where missing) and, I think, finally got a handle on why Dudley Street wasn't rendering quite right. Think that's fixed now too.

All in all, not a bad weekends' work, "Even if I do say it what shouldn't", as my grandmother used to say every so often!

Well, I can't make it to the mapping party, so I decided as I'm on a couple of days off, to deal with Slice 3 over the weekend. Glad I did - it's a veritable mess of changes. Ways have been closed, new ways added (mostly in a few new footpaths, a foot bridge, and a couple of new roads), and a shedload of points of interest. Add to that the new buildings going up in the area, and the changes of land usage, and it's one heck of a challenge to get it right!

Mental note; Next time, bigger sized note paper for all the copious notes I keep taking!

Comprises "Slice 2" of the work effort. See osm.wiki/London/Summer_2009_Mapping_Party_Marathon

Tidying up Wedgwood Mews, which is one of those "odd" roads. It's a cul-de-sac, which passes THROUGH a building - in a manner of speaking.

The pub is the Pillars of Hercules, on Greek Street (osm.org/?lat=51.51426&lon=-0.130862&zoom=18&layers=B000FTF). The pubs' first floor joins the building next door, with the road passing under that, at ground level - weird!

I'm pretty sure this isn't the only occurrence of this in the UK, but mapping it's been interesting, to say the least. I've had to delete the original Wedgewood mews, and replace it in two parts - a tunnel for the first part, where it passes through the pub, and a normal residential road for the rest of the cul-de-sac. I've then had to connect up all the nodes to form a two-section road, and re-connect it to Greek Street.

I'm glad JOSM can allow me to do that, because there's no way that potlatch can!

Also edited the building that houses the branch of Barclays Bank, on the eastern junction of Soho Square and Greek Street. Due to a screw-up on my part earlier in the tracing project, I mistakenly logged it as an ATM! I've now cured this with a reclassification, so hopefully the next data merge should properly reflect it as a building, not an oversized ATM! Oops!

Comprises "Slice 2" of the work effort. See osm.wiki/London/Summer_2009_Mapping_Party_Marathon

Construction works at south east corner of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road updated; Falconberg Court no longer exists, there's just a huge hole in the ground there. It's very long-term works, so the road and path have therefore been deleted.

Various buildings deleted/updated with new data following last nights' mapping party effort. Includes the groundsmans' hut at the centre of Soho Square!

Major updates now pretty-much completed, points of interest to follow.