OS Maps API Release Notes

November 10th 2022

Minor style and layout improvements for mobile devices. Fixed some map displays failing due to outdated OpenLayers CDN links.

November 9th 2021

The elevations data panel and mini-graph shown when viewing a British GPX file have been updated to use OS Terrain 50 elevation data rather than SRTM data. The reasons for this are explained in the new OS Terrain 50 page, which developers might be interested in. Also, the site has undergone a much-needed content update, internal sort-out, de-lousing, and fumigation. So please let me know if anything which used to work is now broken (email address at the bottom of this page).

July 24th 2021

The site has been re-written to use the new Ordnance Survey Maps API code. This was necessitated by the planned withdrawal of the OS OpenSpace code (in August 2021) on which this site was formerly based. The old code had been running since 2008 but would no longer work once OS switch off access to the old OpenSpace server. This has forced some changes to the site as follows:

The new good stuff:

• The site now contains 1:25k scale maps in addition to the 1:50k maps we had previously. Yes, the OS crown jewels for hikers and riders are now publicly available for free!
• GPX files now load up showing the full extent of the route or track (at the cost of the tile images loading more slowly than before).
• GPX distance and elevation summaries have been re-worked. If a GPX file has elevations in it, then they will be summarised as ascent and descent as before.
• Elevations and a graph using SRTM data have been added to allow a comparison against GPS-recorded elevation data (which is usually hideously inaccurate). This is nothing to do with the new OS APIs but they seemed like a useful addition.

The new not-so-good stuff:

• The new OS code only works with modern browsers. In particular, Internet Explorer will no longer work here. Recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox et al. should all be fine.
• There is a monthly limit to the free access of 1:25k and 1:50k OS Leisure maps. If the limit is exceeded, then the OS maps won't render. The limit resets every month and is pretty generous for small hobbyist sites like this. So if an OS map suddenly doesn't work, then I'm afraid you'll have to wait and try again at the start of the next month. There is a payable option to increase the limit, but that would mean I would somehow have to recoup the costs from users - a complication I have no wish to explore. The whole point of this site is free access to OS maps. Hopefully it won't get abused.

If the changes made have broken something you used to rely on, then perhaps try OS Maps, which is terrific value for money. It has all the online OS features you will likely ever need, including plotting & viewing saved routes and importing & exporting GPX files.

If you find any other problems then please drop me an email at bobosola@gmail.com.