The Sixth Day of Christmas – Wither Shall I Wander, Up Tyley’s Bottom? – I would like a Dap Map

On the sixth day of Christmas we have six geese a laying. My thoughts went to goosy, goosy gander and wandering. One of my fascinations is anything to do with maps and walking, discovering, treasure hunting and map related puzzles. My present to you this sixth day is a collection of links to map related quests, so arm yourself with your post code, map co-ordinates or GPS info and see what you learn about your area: (Health warning, if you are easily distracted, make a cup of tea now and if you have Spotify click here for the playlist, you may be here some time)

MapZone – breaking you in gently, this is an interactive resource aimed at children from Ordnance Survey but so fabulous, map jigsaws to match county and country maps; the squirrel's nuts (takes me back to Day 1), crosswords and so much more.

Ordnance Survey select – create your own paper map with your home at its centre.

Geograph – The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland and you can be part of it.  Take a photo, submit it and if they like it, your photo will become part of the database.  Beware their standards can be quite exacting.

Ordnance Survey Explore – find routes, create and share routes. Here is a special present from me, a walk for anyone with strong legs and time in the Cotswolds. Called 'Up Tyley's Bottom', which is funny enough, but for some who read this might be even funnier.

Bench - Marks – now if ever a geek award was to be offered for things map related this would have to be a suitable candidate. Small brackets attached to buildings such as schools and churches, find them, log them, their condition etc. At the time of writing The database contains13,000 non-pillar flush brackets, consisting of 2,947 2GL brackets, 5,143 S-series,4,893 G-series, 16 L-series, and 1 other

Geocaching – The hiding of small boxes, marking them with GPS co-ordinates, setting clues and tracking their contents as they move around the globe. I love this stuff, really anoraky, embarrasses the children; ticks all the boxes actually.

Land Registry – Not so much a game of hide and seek, unless of course you are interested in arguing about ownership, boundaries etc. It is amazing how much information is held and publically available at little or no price.

Then of course there are a host of others for example Weather maps,  Flood Maps,   Public Health 


For the iphone there are a huge range of map related Apps, my favourites so far are geocaching, MapMyRide GBLocate and PhotoOverlay.


Adding maps to blogs and websites – I have yet to perfect this but you can use Get-a-map and OSOpenspace – one of my New Year's Resolutions will be about mastering that lot.

By the way the most 'boring square' in the UK maps is at Ousefleet, in the 1:50 000 scale map, just below the word Ousefleet is a square with just a tiny bit of pylon line. Here it is:

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

All of this and I haven't even touched on Google Maps and mashables; if you've got the rest of your life to do nothing else, work your way through this lot….. http://mashable.com/2009/01/08/google-maps-mashups-tools/


And if you are stuck in 20 feet of snow and want a little something to read I recommend Map Addict by Mike Parker


 
My quest for you all, in the last 24 hours I have been much exercised by those little black or white shoes; with or without laces that were essential wear for PE at school. I would quite like to map what they are called in different parts of the country. I went to school in the South Cotswolds and called them daps. Where did you go and what were they called? I would like to create a Dap Map!

Oh and one other thing, would you like to add yourself to the visitors map on the right there? Thanks.

For those that are still following the legs quest another 32 arrived today; so far 92 have been delivered.



And....... drum roll......... here it is so far...The Dap Map at 18.44 

 

The North Wind Doth Blow – The World in the Middle of December – White Wine in the Sun anyone?

When I started my blog back in Mid May, I wasn't sure if I would a) keep it up and b) find a voice. In the meantime I have wittered on about all sorts of things, quite a lot of food, but all sorts of other stuff too, see the index of sorts on the right. The common theme tends to be the passing of the seasons. This time of year always finds me reflective, probably writing the Christmas letter has something to do with it. Certainly when I wrote the 2008 letter I did not expect to decide on a complete job change; a lot has happened this year. One of the pleasing sides of blogging is seeing that people choose to view the blog from around the globe. The map above is the analytics for the blog since it started. Not surprisingly mostly from English speaking countries and parts of Europe where I already have friends or family; but plenty of other places too. The one thing I haven't written much about is my love of all things map related, so one of my 12 days of Christmas blogs will redress that. In the meantime if you are keen on maps, mapping and cycling this is your official invite to join the 12 Days of Christmas Party #12DCP.

The wind is whistling around our house at the moment driving icy blasts from the North and we have had intermittent slow flurries today and yesterday with a severe weather warning for tonight and tomorrow. The complete opposite to the Tim Minchin White Wine in the Sun Christmas, he is attempting to challenge the x factor et al songs for the top spot – see what you think.

Spotify link for the post (doesn't include the Minchin) here - list in words in first comment.

Pub Quiz – Round 3, Seek and Ye Shall Find, in which……

..the questions are based on maps, mapping and directions. Remember this quiz was set for Saxtead Old Mill House, a pub in Suffolk. For the last three questions people were given a printed picture, I will try to set up links to the original sites; which will make your job very easy!

1	What do the letters GPS stand for?
2	An international treasure seeking game where participants track down hidden 'treasures' based on their GPS co-ordinates is known by what name taken from the words for earth and a hidden storage space
3	What is the name for the medieval map kept in Hereford Cathedral?
4	Harry Beck designed a simplified topographical map of where?
5	Dava Sobel wrote a book with the sub title The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time; what was it called?
6	This hobby is reputed to have begun in South West England in 1854 when a Victorian gentleman named James Perrott hid his calling card in a jar in a remote area by Cranmere Pool on the moors of Dartmoor
7	There are nearly 13,000 flush brackets around the country all logged on the ordnance survey database. What is the term used for them, which is also used for any standard by which something can be measured or judged?
8	The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland, and you can be part of it. Where are these stocks and whipping post?
9	Where are these roof tops?
10	Where is this iconic image?