OpenStreetMap
I've been mapping around Ingleton and Bentham in North Yorkshire, and have come across a nice little conundrum.
Two rivers run into Ingleton form the North and the NorthEast. On the NPE, the northernmost one is Kingsdale Beck; the northeastern one is shown as the Greta. After they join, both are called the Greta - no problem.
I map the area, and plot the rivers, including, from my local knowledge and various local sources, the present names of the rivers - the northern one now known as the Twiss, and the northeastern one the Doe (also marked as such on the current OS); once again, after they join, both are called the Greta - no problem again. If I'd left it there, it would be done, finito. BUT...
I carry on digging into local sources, just getting caught up in the local history thing, and today I have found compelling evidence that the names are all mixed up! According to a local historian, John Bentley, who cites some impressive references, including the local angling clubs and narratives of ancient boundary marking, the northern river is the Doe, and also known as Kingsdale Beck when it is in that dale, and the northeastern is the Twiss - another compelling piece of 'evidence' being that this river (keep up now- currently known by most as the Doe)flows through an area having Twisleton Scars, Twisleton Dale House - well, you get the picture.
The problem now is: do I map it as it apparently should be, or do I help perpetuate the mistake which even 'knowledgable' locals have made?
Answers on a postcard...
Phil
Tali'sman
Diskuse
Komentář od Minh Nguyen z 16. 01. 2009 v 05:26
There is the
loc_nametag, but as far as I know, neither Mapnik nor Osmarender make use of it. Maybe the tag is used by the Name Finder service, though.Komentář od Minh Nguyen z 16. 01. 2009 v 05:27
loc_name, by the way, is supposed to be what the locals call the river. Sonamewould then be the official name.Komentář od chillly z 16. 01. 2009 v 11:52
Beware of OS maps. We tend to trust them in the UK, but they are made by people too, and those people can make mistakes. There is an area close to me that the OS mark as Swanland Dale - there's no such place and there never has been, except that the local council's definitive maps are based on OS maps so suddenly it becomes a real place. You can always put a note against the way for the river explaining your choice of name.
Komentář od LivingWithDragons z 17. 01. 2009 v 12:53
You could contact the local authority and ask them what the name of the rivers are officially.
What ever you do put something for the value of 'note' then a later mapper won't think you got the name wrong or copied OS.
Komentář od barrieu z 17. 01. 2009 v 16:51
I know this area very well, however, I also have an appalling memory for names. My personal point of view (probably based on the above sentence), is that names don't really matter. Before the Ordnance Survey there must have been thousands of crags, brooks, peaks etc that were not formally named and the good people at the OS (army officers at the time), would have badgered locals in the pub for clarification, what a lark I would have if this happened now !
The other thing is that like 'chinese wispers' with the various accents in the chain of cartography corruptions would likely occur on a frequent basis.
(How many river Avon's are there in Wiltshire, and isn't Avon a corruption of Afon which means river.)
I think that the OS derivation is now 'standard', as it probably has 150 years of common usage, and as you say, the locals will even have adopted these interpretations over the years.
Therefore, don't worry too much, just keep mapping, after all the rivers don't have a care what you call them !