Can I rely on Ordnance Survey maps to show rights of way accurately?
Britain’s national mapping agency, the Ordnance Survey shows public rights of way on its published maps at 1:25,000 scale and at 1:50,000 scale – the popular Explorer and Landranger series available in bookshops. The OS obtains all of its rights of way information from definitive maps supplied to it by local highway authorities like The Council. Whenever a change is made by the highway authority – a footpath diversion perhaps or the upgrading of a footpath to a bridleway for example – the authority informs the OS which then ensures that the change is shown when the relevant Explorer or Landranger map is next revised. Definitive maps are, more often than not, printed at a scale of 1:10,560 or 1:10,000 so there is a slight reduction in the precision with which the exact line of a path can be shown when transferred to 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 mapping. Even so these maps are more than adequate for most purposes – navigation, study or planning your walk or ride. You should be aware that publish
