Help - Mendip Cave Map

This updated Mendip Cave Map is based on the 2013 version of my Where's The Path site which will be found here. This Mendip Cave Map version adds markers for Mendip caves and selected cave survey overlays etc. I am afraid that the Cave Access data used (CSCC data) is now fairly out of date. An update has been requested from CSCC but has not yet arrived.

 There has to be a new version now, as both Google and the Ordnance Survey have upgraded their mapping software libraries (APIs) and have withdrawn support for their older libraries. The new libraries support tablet computers (Android and Apple) which the old libraries did not. The original WTP loaded both an OS and a Google library. The new version of WTP uses just the Google library and has one set of code for both desktop and tablet computers.

Please be aware that Cookies are used to preserve the state of the map display etc between visits. Some special features are used to improve the way the site works on a Tablet. 

The display of modern Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 mapping via OS OpenSpace has a daily limit. So please remember that if you use OS mapping full screen on a big display, you may well cause someone else mapping disappointment later in the day. Now that WTP can show the increasingly good footpath coverage on Open Street Map and out of copyright OS 1:25,000 mapping, it should still be possible to plan routes etc. after the daily quota of modern OS mapping has been used up. I am often asked if it would be possible to make a Pro or Premium version of the site that never runs out of modern OS mapping or includes 1:25,000 mapping. Well it would, but the licensing costs from OS are high and require a significant up front payment (crowd funding might be a way to address that). The proportion of daily OS map quota remaining is shown briefly at the bottom of the browser window whenever you click either Map tab with OS mapping selected..

How to use the site

Navigate the maps in the normal way with mouse drag and scroll-wheel zoom - or pinch zoom on a tablet. Double click and double tap will do a zoom in. As you move the mouse pointer over one map, or tap a Tablet with your finger, its position is shown on the other - as a blue arrow. If the zoom levels of the two maps are different, the coverage of one map is shown on the other as a blue box.

The controls on WTP 3 have been grouped together on Tabs to save space, especially when using a Tablet.

• A selector for the Base Layer
• A selector for an Overlay Layer
• A selector for a Grid / Graticule - No Grid, a Lat/Lon Grid, a UK OS Grid or a fixed interval UK Grid
• A button to press for this Help

• A selector for the Base Layer - use 'Hide' to select a single map display
• A selector for an Overlay Layer
• A selector for a Grid / Graticule - No Grid, a Lat/Lon Grid, a UK OS Grid or a fixed interval UK Grid
• A check box for linking the zoom level of the two maps together

If an Overlay is selected for either map, re-click the Tab to switch left-right mouse/finger drag, between adjusting the blend of the two map layers and panning of the map.

The following map base layers are available:

• Map               Google Map
• Satellite          Google Satellite
• Hybrid           Google Hybrid
• Terrain           Google Terrain or Physical, includes hill shading and some paths
• OS                 Modern Ordnance Survey via OpenSpace including 1:50,000 and Streetview but not 1:25,000
• OSM             Open Street Map
• OSM Land   Open Street Map Landscape, includes contours, hill heights etc
• OSM Cycle   Open Street Map Cycle, includes contours
• 1930s OS      Old Ordnance Survey mapping courtesy of Andrew Rowbottom
• Old 25K OS  Old Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 mapping courtesy of sabre-roads.ork.uk and Open Streetmap   
• Historical OS Old Ordnance Survey mapping from the National Library of Scotland
• Caves            Selected Mendip Cave Surveys
• Rakes            A detailed map of the Charterhouse Rakes
• SSSI             Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the Mendip area
• Old OS         Some historic mapping for the Mendip area
• C Terrain          Colour Terrain data for the Mendip area
• BW Terrain    Monochrome Terrain data for the Mendip area
• Bedrock        Bedrock mapping from the British Geological Survey - use right click to query for bedrock type
• Deposits        Deposit mapping from the British Geological Survey - use right click to query for deposit type
• Linear        Linear Feature mapping from the British Geological Survey

All the base layers apart from those from Google can be used as on Overlay on one of the Base layers. Two additional Google icon based overlays are available - a  Panoramio photo layer and a Weather layer. Details about the modern 1:50,000 mapping may be found here.

WTP3 uses some bespoke, in browser, technology to warp the modern OS mapping to the same projection used by all the other map layers. Only by this means, is it possible to overlay for example Old and Modern OS mapping or OS mapping and Google imagery.

On the right map, a button appears to control viewing of Google's 45 degree imagery where it is available. The button is used to change from tilted to top down view and the the button to change from top down to tilted.  Use the rotation button that appears in the zoom control to rotate the tilted view. Google Streetview is available on the left or right map.

• Displaying coordinates. Re-click the Tab or double click the text box to select the desired format. To freeze the displayed location and show its altitude, click or touch on either map. The location text may then be copied. To have the text track the pointer again, click or touch on the map. To change the altitude units, double-click the altitude text.
• Finding Bus Stops. Press the button and then click on either map. The first 10 bus stops within 1 km are shown (after a short delay). The 'Open Data' bus stop locations used may not be up to date or complete. Clicking on a bus stop marker should display up to date information about the stop.
• Placing Waypoints. Press the button, then click on either map. Click on the Waypoint marker to give it a name and description (for later export).
• Clearing Waypoints and Bus Stops.
• Getting a link to the page as currently displayed (Base Layers, Overlays, Zooms and Centre). To have a GPX file load automatically use a final URL parameter of gpx=myGpxUrl, preceeded by wpt=1 if you want the GPX load to show waypoints in addition to any Tracks or Routes.

• Entering text for a location to pan to or a name to search for. Parsing is done in the following order:
  • UK Grid ref e.g. "SU 800 600" with or without spaces
  • Two numbers separated by a space or comma are taken as a Latitude and Longitude pair
  • Text with a comma, e.g. a postal address, is submitted to Google Maps search.
  • If there are digits in the text, then a Postcode search is made.
  • Anything else is submitted to the Ordnance Survey Gazetteer. Search text can be for a hill, lake, river, village etc.
• Perform the search for the entered text. If more than one result is found then a selector is presented for you to choose the wanted result. If there is only one result, or a choice  is made, then the maps are panned to the result and the pointer is set to point at the result. The pointers are frozen, until the map is clicked or touched.
• Panning the maps to the current location provided by your browser.

• To construct a route simply click points on either map. If you are using a Tablet, use the side buttons to switch between panning the map and marking route points. On a Tablet, an offset pointer is used and points are placed when your finger is lifted. You may go back and move points around or insert points into a 'Leg' (not easy on a Tablet). You can use a right click to delete a node on a Leg. When Printing, each 'Leg' is shown as one row of a 'Route Card'. If the OSM Cycle map is used, then Open Cycle routing is used to between the start or end of you route and the click point. The start of your route is shown with a Green Circle marker, the start of each intermediate Leg with a Blue Circle marker and the end of your route with a Red Circle marker. You can click on any marker to add some descriptive text. On the Start marker you can set a start date and time. If you have a terrain profile data for your route, then the End marker will show an ETA and how long before or after sunset that is.
• A text box is used to show the length etc. of your route. Click on the tab or double click the text box to cycle through the available formats. Some of the formats are for area, and will shade the inside of a polygon built from your route.
• This is the 'Magic' bit. Press the button to enable or disable 'Magic' path routing. Many local authorities have release their Public Right Of Way (PROW) data as 'Open Data'. Barry Cornelius of rowmaps.com has done a fantastic job of collating these releases. For WTP, I have processed them so that as you hover over the map, whole path sections are shown and may be added to your route with a single click. If you start a route with a path, click near the end you want to start at. To add a path to a route click on it. If your route ended with a clicked path, the new path will be joined to it as the 'Crow Flies'. If your end of route was not a path, then a best guess at where you want to join the path and which way you want to go is made.
• Use this button to hide your route. When the button shows like this, you can press it to restore the previously hidden route. If you start a new route whilst one is hidden, the hidden route will be discarded.
• Use this button to reverse you route.
• Use this button to cycle through the available colours for drawing you route.
• Use this button to undo or remove the last leg of the route.
• Use this button to perform a terrain profile lookup of your route. The button will change to , the 'Legs' of your route will be coloured according to gradient (red for up, blue for down) and total ascent, descent and a hiking time estimate will be shown. To turn the look up off, press the button again .
• When terrain data is available for all the Legs of your route, press this button to show a profile display of you route. Press the button again to hide the display. You can move the display to one side, and leave it on whilst you construct or adjust your route.
• Press this button to bring up the Import / Export dialogue. Routes may be exported as GPX Tracks or GPX Routes to the on screen text area, to a local file, or to a Garmin device. Waypoints can be included in the export. Import can be from the text area, from a URL on the text area, from a local file or from a Garmin device. WTP will do its best to break up your import into sensible Legs e.g. by introducing a Leg on a Track or Route near a Waypoint.
• Once you have a route on screen, press this button to print a Route Card. The printout will use the same map Base Layer and Zoom as your Left/Top/Only map. The layout is rendered for A4 portrait printing.

The features from the old site that have not made it into the new site are KML import and export and the Grid / Magnetic / True North indicator. Route printing is much improved over the old site with 'bendy legs' being listed as a single table row.

That's it. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions please ask by email bill.chadwick2@gmail.com or use this Google Group

© Bill Chadwick 2013  bill.chadwick2@gmail.com

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