Internet research tools and notes

For my Emmerdale and "Secret Bases" Pages, I found the following websites invaluable:-

To begin with, you can access the latest definitive 1:50000 and even 1:25000 scale Ordnance Survey (OS) maps at Get-a-map.

Next, at Multimap, you can access aerial photographs of England and Wales (plus much of Scotland), OS maps of the UK at 1:50000 scale and crucially, overlay the maps on top of the aerial photographs.

In May 2007, Multimap launched a new look site, introducing many of the hugely popular features from Google Maps, complete with Ordnance Survey maps. In January 2009, after much negotiating, OS 1:25000 scale maps were added to Multimap's functionality too, in addition to the existing 1:50000 Landranger detail.

The aerial photography data on Multimap is derived from flights performed by Getmapping in 1999. The photography for Scotland is not yet complete and the necessary post-production work means that it is likely to be another year before it appears online.

Of additional use is Streetmap, which like Multimap allows you to construct hyperlinks within your own web pages, direct to positions on OS maps. In March 2009, Streetmap added OS 1:25000 data as well as the 1:50000 scale, just as Multimap had done two months earlier.

Of extra use is the Government's own MAGIC (Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside) website. Through this website, you can access Ordnance Survey's 1:10000 scale series of maps (for England only) which often (but not always) reveal extra detail and labelling which is absent from the 1:50000 and 1:25000 maps.

Unfortunately, the interactive mapping part of the MAGIC site is rather slow to initially load, even on fast Broadband connections. It is not as easy to use as the Multimap, etc., sites and a full explanation is beyond the scope of my own website. However, once you are over the initial lengthy loading period, it is well worth persevering with and there is a tutorial guide included on the MAGIC website to help you.

It is worth remembering that whilst all the mapping sites contain OS data, they do so by keeping licensed copies of the OS data on their own servers, rather than direct links to the OS site. This means that this data can be perhaps a year or two out of date. For the latest definitive mapping data, always go to the Get-a-map site.

Likewise, Getmapping is continually re-flying areas and also increasing resolution of its imagery. For the latest definitive aerial photography data, always use the Getmapping website rather than Multimap.

Map link options

Have fun by doing your own experimentation by choosing map links from Multimap (default), Streetmap, Get-a-map or MAGIC. Select from the drop-down lists on my Emmerdale or "Secret Bases" Pages and then just click the GO! button to refresh the page. Then experiment even further with links to Getmapping aerial photos (close-up and wide view), instead of the map links!

Consider exploring in even greater depth by choosing aerial photos from Google Maps, which feature the same imagery used on Google Earth. Alternatively, the Windows Live Local website allows you to zoom in close-up to Getmapping's aerial photos - better than their own website does! Finally, choose Google Earth KML placemarks, which launch the program and fly to the location automatically!

Your map link options are:-

Multimap and Streetmap

Remember that, by choosing Multimap as your map link source, you can take advantage of their aerial photograph and map overlay links, once on their site. The Streetmap links show an arrow pointing to the relevant location, whilst Multimap's feature a red circle.

In May 2007, Multimap launched a new look site, introducing many of the hugely popular features from Google Maps, complete with Ordnance Survey maps. In November 2008, Streetmap finally caught-up and mimicked Google Maps too. In a major development in January 2009, Multimap featured both 1:50000 and 1:25000 scale OS maps. Two months later in March 2009, Streetmap got the extra detailed 1:25000 scale OS data too.

Ordnance Survey's Get-a-map links with full navigation

The "Get-a-map (navigable)" map link option causes the full OS Get-a-map website to load for each location chosen. The initial view is at true 1:25000 scale with the relevant location at the centre of the display. This option allows you to pan around and zoom out firstly to 1:50000 scale and then further out to various road atlas scales, then zoom back in again.

For the "Get-a-map (1:50000)" and "Get-a-map (1:25000)" options, static displays of both 1:50000 and true 1:25000 versions of Get-a-map's data are provided, but without the navigation tools. Please be aware that the static Get-a-map images take a while to load, especially on old modems. Unlike Multimap and Streetmap, no pointer device is used on the Get-a-map images, but the displayed maps always show the featured location right at the centre.

MAGIC maps at 1:10000 scale – close-up and wide

The "MAGIC map (1:10000) (close-up)" option will present a true 1:10000 scale map - the most detailed available for free - courtesy of the UK Government's own MAGIC mapping service. For your convenience, I present it as a magnified view, zoomed in to 1:5000, but remember that the detail of the data is still only 1:10000 scale.

The "MAGIC map (1:10000) (wide)" option gives the same scale data but the view is of a wider area, as normally presented at that scale.

In addition, full navigation tools are available on the MAGIC website so you can pan around and also zoom out further to the 1:25000 and 1:50000 data, as seen on the OS Get-a-map website. Again, the featured location on MAGIC is always shown at the centre, as no pointer device is used.

Remember that the 1:10000 data only covers England. Using these map source links for locations in Scotland will produce an error message on the MAGIC website. For locations in Wales, you'll be presented with a blank map and you'll have to pull out to 1:25000 scale once the web page has loaded, to view the available data.

Multimap PNG and Streetmap GIF map images

Alternatively, choose "Multimap PNG map image" or "Streetmap GIF map image" as your map source. These two options link to Portable Network Graphics (PNG) or Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) images of maps which you can then save or print.

You can also choose a large map format to take advantage of, say, 1024 by 768 or 1280 by 1024 pixel monitors to display a bigger PNG / GIF image. Depending on your browser settings, the image might be automatically resized down to fit in the window. You may need to change this browser setting so that the image is shown full size and you can then pan and scroll around it.

My "Map type" option allows you to switch between the normal OS 1:50000 Landranger map data, detailed street atlases and large scale overview atlases. The street atlases are obviously of limited use in the more rural locations.

Getmapping's aerial photos – close-up and wide

Once you've experimented with all the map links, you can then try my Getmapping aerial photo links! The "Getmapping photo (close-up)" option provides links to close-up low-resolution preview pages of Getmapping's aerial photos, the full versions of which are available for purchase. The "Getmapping photo (wide)" option provides links to wider low-resolution previews of the same locations. Even wider aerial photo views may be obtained by experimenting further, once on Getmapping's website. In all cases, the featured location is shown in the centre of each aerial photo image.

Certain locations are now covered by Getmapping's newer so-called Ultra Detailed imagery, shot in 2002, which is twice the resolution of their Standard Detailed data from 1999. Another survey of a small selection of UK locations was performed in 2004. Further details are available on the Getmapping website.

Please note that when using my Getmapping aerial photo links for the first time, you will initially be presented with an intermediate page on Getmapping's website, asking whether you are a home or business user and you need to simply click the relevant button to continue.

Remember that Getmapping's coverage of Scotland is not yet complete. This means that many locations "north of the border" on my "Secret Bases" Page will result in the message "No preview data", when trying my Getmapping aerial photo links. Having said that, in May 2005 Getmapping uploaded a significant new set of photos covering large areas of the Northern Highlands.

Google Maps and Live Local aerial photos

Google Earth KML placemarks

Choose the Google Maps option to link straight to the same aerial photo imagery as used on Google Earth! Choose the Live Local option to link to Getmapping's imagery, but with the ability to zoom in close-up! The Google Earth KML placemark links cause the program, where installed, to launch and fly to the featured location automatically!

These three options have been made possible through a special algorithm that converts between the normal eastings and northings co-ordinates as used on Ordnance Survey maps and the latitude and longitude co-ordinates needed for Google Earth, Google Maps and Live Local.

Once on the Google Maps and Live Local websites, you can switch between the photos and maps, zoom in/out and pan around! If no Getmapping imagery is available on Live Local for a particular location, you just need to zoom out a few levels to see other providers' lo-res imagery.

The Google Earth KML placemark option will add each location you visit to the temporary placemark store so that you can save them all and create a tour to be played back whenever you like!

Problems with Opera browser

If you are using the Opera browser and my "Google Earth KML placemark" map link option doesn't launch the Google Earth program, you just need to follow these simple steps to rectify the problem:-

• Select the Opera browser's Tools menu
• Go to Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Downloads
• Click on the Add or New button, depending on the Opera version
• Type application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml into the MIME type box
• Type kml into the file extensions box
• Click on the Open with default application option
• Click OK and then OK again to exit the Tools menu
• Exit completely and restart the Opera browser

Google Earth and Google Maps

www.emmerdale.me.uk www.secret-bases.co.uk

In June 2007, in a major update to Google Earth's UK imagery, all of the locations on my Emmerdale Page and most of the locations featured on my "Secret Bases" Page became available at high resolution. Make sure you also check out my own embedded implementations of Google Maps, which use Google Earth's hi-res imagery when you switch to "Satellite" mode. On my Emmerdale Page, you can go on a fully interactive virtual guided tour of all the filming locations. On my "Secret Bases" Page, you can use Google Maps to zoom into and pan around the locations featured.

www.emmerdale.me.uk www.secret-bases.co.uk