More gaps in the maps

The new CycleGM route maps which replaced the old CycleCity Guides map, have been “temporarily” unavailable for some time now because two copyright disputes have still not been sorted out.

Meanwhile criticism of the maps has been growing steadily. We commented before on some pretty significant ommissions – Irlam lock and the Gorsey Bank Bridge – but there are lots more subtler ones too.

The old map shows a 500 metre short cut across the golf course, which although not a cycle path, is a right of way, so you can legitimately wheel your bike along it, and so avoid a mile or two of cycling round the outside on main roads. But the new map gives no indication at all that this useful facility exists.

Heaton golf course old cycle map

Heaton Golf course cycle map-new

There are lots more cyclist-useful short cuts like this one which have simply failed to make into the new maps – because the new maps were made on the cheap using inadequate baseline data, by a company which had no previous experience of producing useful maps for cyclists. Allegedly.