10 March 2004

Activity maps get personal at the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show

Latest site-centred and electronic mapping on display at the NEC

The very latest in personalised mapping for walkers and other outdoor activity enthusiasts will be on show at this year’s Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show at the NEC in Birmingham, from the 2–4 April.

Ordnance Survey will be demonstrating its tailor-made map service OS Select at the popular event, which is sponsored by the national mapping agency. Those wanting to explore the great outdoors can use OS Select to create full-size, full-colour maps centred on anywhere in Britain they choose – banishing the problem of inconvenient sheet edges for good. This service was recently extended to include the 1:25,000 scale Explorer mapping – the most popular scale for outdoor activities – as well as 1:50,000 scale Landranger mapping.

Although OS Select is normally an online service, anyone visiting the stand will be able to order and print out a personalised OS Select map centred on whatever location they wish, give it their own title, have their picture taken and placed on the cover, and see it produced instantly so they can take the finished map away with them.

In addition, the complete range of almost 700 Ordnance Survey off-the-shelf leisure maps covering every part of Britain at various scales will also be on sale on its stand, and show visitors will have the chance to win a mountain bike.

For those keen to use Ordnance Survey maps in electronic rather than paper form, four commercial partners of the national map maker – Magellan, Anquet, Hillwalker and Memory Map – will be demonstrating how their products, using Ordnance Survey mapping, can be used on the move when loaded on to hand-held navigation equipment.

For anyone wanting to brush up on their map-reading skills generally, daily Walking Workshops will allow ramblers and other outdoor enthusiasts to refresh their knowledge on grid references, the effective use of a compass and the interpretation of map symbols. These 45-minute sessions will take place in the NEC lecture theatre and will be open to children as well as adults.

Back on the main stand, there will also be a drop-in map surgery staffed by Ordnance Survey map experts: show visitors are invited to ask any question they like about Ordnance Survey maps.

Ordnance Survey Director General Vanessa Lawrence comments: "Ordnance Survey has long been associated with the recreational industry. To get the best out of Britain, our leisure maps are an essential accompaniment for many activities such as walking, cycling, climbing and horse riding. That's why we're sponsoring the superb Outdoors Show for the third year running, and demonstrating the very latest ways in which our mapping can be customised and used."

The show web site at www.theoutdoorsshow.co.uk gives further information and details on how to book tickets.

Notes for Editors

• Ordnance Survey is Great Britain’s national mapping agency. It is responsible for creating and updating the master map of the entire country, from which it produces and markets a wide range of digital map data and paper maps for business, leisure, educational and administrative use.

  The Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show takes place from Friday 2–Sunday 4 April 2004 (Friday 2 April 10.00 am–6.00 pm, Saturday 3 April 9.00 am–5.00 pm, Sunday 4 April 9.00 am–5.00 pm).
  
  For more information visit www.theoutdoorsshow.co.uk
  
  Ticket hotline: 08700 10 90 86 (Mon–Fri, 9am–8pm; Sat and Sun, 10am–5pm)
  
  Door Prices. Adults: £12 (early booking price: £10), Child (4–16 years): £6 (early booking price: £5) and OAPs (60+): £6 (early booking price: £5); Infant under 4 years: free; Disabled: £6 + £6 per helper (or in advance: £5 + £5 helper).

  Ordnance Survey, the OS symbol and Landranger are registered trademarks and Explorer and OS Select are trademarks of Ordnance Survey.
  
  Magellan is a registered trademark of Thales Navigation, Inc.

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