Geograph - a great idea?
Well, my application for next year's TGO Challenge is in the post. Risking life and limb (but mainly my liver) I have applied with my old mate Alan Sloman. We won't know whether our application is successful for a few weeks, but we've already started dusting off the maps of Scotland to start planning possible routes.
Now, we're both fairly experienced, and used to looking at an OS map to work out out what we think the ground will be like, but from time to time we get a surprise. Then last year fellow challenger, Roger Boston posted a message about Geograph
Geograph is a site dedicated to photographing every 1 km OS square - and already they have an impressive collection. All you have to do is type in a grid reference for any square (not within the square, but the square itself, so a typical reference might be NN3345). If there are pictures, you can view them, complete with a little excerpt from the OS map showing exactly where the photo was taken.
I think it's a great research tool, although some people reckon that this sort of thing takes away the element of adventure from backpacking in unfamiliar territory. Personally I'd disagree - this is more like a series of trailers for a show, just showing enough to whet your appetite, without giving too much away. So I hope that it will encourage people to strike out a bit more.
Which is probably how I found myself in all those bogs....... Seriously, though, it's worth a look. And who better to fill in some of the blank squares than a challenger?
Now, we're both fairly experienced, and used to looking at an OS map to work out out what we think the ground will be like, but from time to time we get a surprise. Then last year fellow challenger, Roger Boston posted a message about Geograph
Geograph is a site dedicated to photographing every 1 km OS square - and already they have an impressive collection. All you have to do is type in a grid reference for any square (not within the square, but the square itself, so a typical reference might be NN3345). If there are pictures, you can view them, complete with a little excerpt from the OS map showing exactly where the photo was taken.
I think it's a great research tool, although some people reckon that this sort of thing takes away the element of adventure from backpacking in unfamiliar territory. Personally I'd disagree - this is more like a series of trailers for a show, just showing enough to whet your appetite, without giving too much away. So I hope that it will encourage people to strike out a bit more.
Which is probably how I found myself in all those bogs....... Seriously, though, it's worth a look. And who better to fill in some of the blank squares than a challenger?
posted by Phil at
Thursday, September 13, 2007
3 Comments:
Hi Phil,
I've seen Geograph before and I like the idea very much. I've plans to send them some piccies in the future but first I HAVE to finish my own written TR of this years Challenge. The link for my TGOC pictures can be found in the gallery.
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Yes, the Geograph concept is a great idea. I don't know why people would think it detracts from the adventure of backpacking, it merely gives an overview of the landscape and in fact encourages us to explore further.
We have some primary geograph photos on there already. With our penchant for god-forsaken parts of our country, some of our backpacks have been entirely within uncharted regions of their coverage map!. We don't have any in TGOC country though.
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