Trails

I found something odd the other day, a bridleway that I've known for years as the Hudson Way with a sign on it for the Wilberforce Way. I've done a bit more digging, including talking to a helpful chap at the local council. The bridleway is indeed the Hudson Way, named after the railway tycoon who built the railway line, now abandoned, that the way follows. Wilberforce way is much more extensive and follows a slightly odd looking route until you discover that it was created by a multi-faith organisation and so drops in on churches and the like along the way.

The very helpful Mr. Carl Duck from the council told me I could get a pamphlet from the tourist info office, which, not being a tourist in the area where I live, I hadn't visited. It was useful, because as well as finding a pamphlet for the Wilberforce way I also found some stuff on the Trans Pennine Trail as well as a couple of local attractions we had forgotten about and might be worth a visit.

The pamphlet suggests I might like to use the Wilberforce way as a pilgrimage, rather than just walk it, I don't see the difference, but then how many multi-faith people are there who need a pilgrimage? I hope that not being of any faith doesn't bar me from using it. The map on the sheet is very crude, but it's still useful - I can visit the places that the route goes, find it on the ground with the nice new signs that have been put up and add it the OpenStreetMap.

The same sort of process can apply to the Trans Pennine Trail. The sheet tells me that it is a mixed use trail from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. All of it is for walkers and cyclists and much of it is for horse riders (with their horses) too. I've seen a few signs around this area but never bothered with them, now I'll have to seek them out; a really great day's outing.

On another tack, I wrote to the National Grid asking them if OSM could use their shape-file data showing where their power lines and towers are. They haven't replied yet, and I'm not hopeful. People hate saying "No".