The Airdrie Rambler

I recently changed broadband provider. What has that to do with buying new maps I hear you ask. Let me enlighten you…

I have a subscription for OS maps, which gives me complete UK coverage at 1:50,000 and 1:25,000, which I can use on my phone and also on my laptop. Before going on a trip, I usually print off a few sheets at both scales to use while I’m on the hills. Much as electronic maps on a device are useful, they have their limitations. You can’t really use them with a compass, and their screen size is limited. A4 sheets are often ideal size as you can cover most walks in just a few sheets, if not one, they take up less space and fit easily in most map cases. You can also mark routes and waypoints on them, and this can not only be printed, but exported as a .gpx file to a GPS to use during the walk. At around £35 a year it’s great value (even better if you nab it in one of Ordnance Survey’s periodic sales), and I feel that I get my money’s worth.

Back to the broadband. I had ditched Sky and moved to Plusnet, and they had sent me a new wireless router. All was going well for most things, however I could not get my printer to connect to it, so I couldn’t print off any maps. After much huffing, puffing, effing and jeffing, I decided to just go out and buy the paper map for the area I would be walking in. Go Outdoors in Coatbridge is just five minutes away, so I headed in to check out their map department. They did have the map I was after, but on checking the legend I noticed the printing information, where it stated that the map was printed in 2016 – ten years ago! Hardly a “new” map! Out of interest I randomly checked some other maps on the display and found that most that came to hand were of the same vintage. Even local maps for Glasgow, Airdrie and the surrounds, and which I’d expect might have a higher turnover, were dated 2016. The latest date on any of the maps was 2021 (for OS map sheet 41 Ben Nevis – which is the current version).

I suppose that there’s an expectation by many people that if they walk into a shop and buy a new map they are getting the latest one, not one that was published a decade ago. By default, every printed map is out of date the second it is printed, but you need to ask yourself, what is likely to have changed since the last survey or publication? Hills, mountains, streams and rivers in remote areas will likely be unchanged, as development is limited there, but these areas aren’t immune to change. Windfarms are a prime example of a major change to hill use, bringing not only highly visible turbines, but associated infrastructure such as access roads.

So, if you are going to part with your cash for a paper map, check that they are stocking the latest version. Just visit the ordnance survey shop and check the map description for the survey and publishing date. If the shop doesn’t have the latest issue of the map you are looking for, and you can wait, you can order it from OS.

Here’s a few examples of differences between the paper map sheet (above) and the digital version.

The paper map sheet shows a phone is at Giggleswick Station.

The digital map shows that the phone is no longer there.

On the paper map a bunkhouse is showing at Skirfare Bridge Barn.

On the current digital map the bunkhouse is not shown. This seems to be a common theme with bunkhouses, although an online search does appear to show it is still there.

I’ll return to the topic of OS Digital maps in a few weeks, as I’ve noticed a difference in my local area between the detail on the 1:50,000 map and the 1:25,000 layers, and I’m awaiting a reply from Ordnance Survey.