OpenStreetMap
Have walked a substantial part of Watlington civil parish in two outings recently, upon resumption of my excursion through the Oxfordshire Chilterns checking the Public Rights of Way. The weather on both occasions has been magnificent and the areas have been a delight to walk and view.
Walked the northern half of Ipsden today on the latest stage of my parish-by-parish walks in the Oxfordshire Chilterns. It was magnificent, with a mixture of woodland and superb open views on a gloriously sunny October day. It surpassed anything I had walked to date. We are blessed in this part of Oxfordshire with the sheer number of Public Rights of Way that give us an endless choice of walks. It caused me to think as I roamed: I remember the road atlases that displayed a green ribbon alongside roads considered to be scenic. I imagined such a feature in OpenStreetMap, seeing the views along the various paths today. I have to satisfy myself with viewpoints, perhaps. I express my gratitude to the Chiltern Society for the work its officers, path representatives and maintenance teams do in helping to provide such a beautiful environment. I offer my thanks, too, to Woodhouse Farm for making available a permissive footpath and bridleways that so enhanced my walk today. I invite anyone who can access this area to do so. You will not be disappointed.
Travelled to Madeira for a week at the end of February, staying at the excellent Pestana Grand Ocean Resort hotel. I have been prompted to compile this diary entry more than six months later because of lonvia’s user diary entry of 10th September, regarding https://waymarkedtrails.org/, and my particular interest, https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org. First, though, I must comment on the excellent level of detail in OSM for Madeira; I was extremely surprised, but so pleased, too, of course. It was of help in all ways: our journeys, our walks, and restaurants, even. What a difference it makes! We undertook three walks during our stay: the first, to get our legs moving, from the hotel, directly on the seafront, to Cãmara de Lobos alongside the beach. The second was to take no. 81 bus from Funchal to Eira do Serrado, then walk to Curral das Freiras (Nun’s Valley). What a scenic walk! The third was to take no.96 bus to Estreito de Cãmara de Lobos, then walk Levada do Norte (South) to Cabo Girão. We had hoped to walk from Monte to the botanic gardens, also, but there had been a landslip, unfortunately, and the way was closed. Second, lonvia’s waymarked trails were excellent in highlighting and naming the officially recognised walks: Madeira is such a complex arrangement of hills that it would be difficult to choose routes otherwise. Together, and continuing to use my same resources on my ‘phone, they contributed to a most enjoyable holiday. Finally, I recollect the usefulness of the waymarked trails as I walked sections of the Chiltern Way and created some of its child relations in JOSM.
Have spent a most enjoyable eight days shared between Santorini and Crete. I walked most of the length of Santorini from Oia to Akrotiri. Based near the delightful village of Megalochori, I have been able to enhance an area once again. My eTrex Legend has been replaced by my ‘phone, however. I use a combination of the excellent Locus Map, OpenStreetMap and GraphHopper to consult a map, plot hiking routes, record tracks and mark points to add to OpenStreetMap. The walking part of the holiday ended with an excursion through Samaria Gorge on Crete.
Have recently returned from a wonderful ten days at Kaligata in Kefalonia. I walked every day but one with my trusty eTrex Legend, recording tracks and features. It so happens there is little mapped in the immediate area of my walks. It is a pleasure for me now to fill a lot of that space.
Walked from Flackwell Heath to Bovingdon Green and back on Thursday. What joy, at lunchtime, to sit in the garden of The Crooked Billet in full sunshine on a January day! This latest walk allowed me to complete south of the M40 the relation 23309, The Chiltern Way. I hope someone will take up the baton to complete the east and west sides north of the M40. Meanwhile, I intend to continue to walk to its completion the Berkshire Loop that I began last year.
Walked from Goring-on-Thames to Mapledurham and back on Wednesday. I experienced all the difficulties of trying to walk a guide book in reverse on what was quite a convoluted route! It was the penalty I paid for easier parking at Goring. The highlight was exiting a wood on top of a hill before Mapledurham and finding a seat strategically positioned overlooking a wide sweep of the River Thames. It was a beautiful sight, in spite of the fog that never quite lifted that day.
One small stretch remained to complete the Southern Extension relation. I see today, however, that user_5121 has beaten me to it! I believe, therefore, The Chiltern Way - Southern Extension relation 1721477 is complete.
Having walked a section between Ewelme and Hailey a couple of weeks ago, I walked from Ewelme to Cookley Green and back yesterday. I could not have chosen a better day: a clear blue sky and fantastic colours of leaves on the trees and shrubs enhanced the superb views. It was while I was enjoying a well-deserved pint of Guinness in the 'Shepherd's Hut' upon completion and looking at my 'Explorer' map that I realised I had walked the wrong path on one section! As there is a car parking area at the very spot I made my mistake, I decided to walk the two miles return that afternoon. How glad I was! It proved to be the very best part of the day's walk.
The Chiltern Way Southern Extension in and around my area of South Oxfordshire is incomplete. I want to walk it in stages in order to make a useful relation in JOSM. Last week, I walked out and back between Rotherfield Peppard and Bix, a total of eight miles. Yesterday, I walked between Bix and Upper Maidensgrove, near Russell's Water, a similar overall distance, where the Southern Extension meets the main Chiltern Way.
Walked the Chiltern Way from Hambleden to Southend via Skirmett, Fingest and Turville. Walked Shakespeare's Way from Southend to Hambleden. The waymarking for this section of Shakespeare's Way is very poor, especially at path junctions - I was grateful for my Legend HCx and its British Grid coordinates.
Plotted my local civil parish boundary, Binfield Heath in South Oxfordshire, using a mixture of OS 1:10560 maps of 1913 held by Reading Library, which I photocopied, scanned, then calibrated using PicLayer in JOSM; OS 1:25000 First Series, courtesy of Andy Robinson and his excellent work to gradually obtain, scan, rectify and make available to OSMers sheets covering the country; and local information to update the alignments. I hope to extend the plots to adjacent parishes and begin to compile relations.
Caught the High Wycombe bus out of Henley to the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire boundary last Friday so that I could map everything along the Marlow road on my return walk. I covered more than seven miles, even though the point from where I started is little more than a mile from the town centre!
Started to waypoint establishments in the town centre yesterday. I am now looking at other towns in Mapnik and Osmarender alongside their equivalent in JOSM. The amount of sophisticated work done by some enthusiasts is an inspiration to me to do as much as I can to emulate them in my local area. I have much to learn yet in using presets and map features to their full and best advantage, but achieving more with every data input is so encouraging.
Walked from the southern outskirts of town along the riverside on Tuesday. A lovely sunny day, I was able to collect nearly all the data I needed for the area, while enjoying many visitors clearly appreciating our beautiful river Thames and its frontage at Henley.
Walked the northern part of Henley today, a total of ten miles. This more or less completes my data collection of the roads and footpaths in the Henley urban area. Next, I shall concentrate on the town centre detail - less foot-slogging and more water-holes, that's for sure!
Dates for the diary for anyone interested:
Henley Royal Regatta 1st to 5th July
Henley Festival 8th to 12th July
Walked the southern part of Henley yesterday to collect data for that part of the town still unmapped. I had to move the already existing railway line some distance to accommodate the new data. It needs further refinement yet.
Walked a further two estates on the western side of the town yesterday, following a fine walk from Binfield Heath.
Walked two estates on the western side of the town on Thursday.
Routing is a very good way to highlight errors in OSM data. I have begun a process to identify and correct roundabouts in my area of Oxfordshire, England whose directional arrows point anti-clockwise instead of clockwise, because I have found so many to be incorrect.