Top 10 blogs for 2018
A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the OS blog over the last 12 months and been keeping up to date on all things maps and data. We’ve totted up the figures to work out your favourite blogs from 2018…so take a look and catch up on any you missed first time around.
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Great Britain’s largest islands
The stunning poster created by Joe Harrison in our GeoDataViz team, working with the University of Sheffield, showcases the 82 islands of Great Britain which are larger than 5km2. It also created wide debate about what was and wasn’t an island and even what is Great Britain!
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/06/britains-largest-islands/
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ITV’s 100 Walks
This programme in January provided inspiration for future GetOutside adventures across the country. Voted by thousands of people, the top 100 walks were counted down.

Photo (c) ITV BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE WALKS : TOP 100
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GeoDataViz: map symbols
Part of a series from our GeoDataViz team discussing the elements of a successful data visualisation, this blog on using map symbols proved the most popular.
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/01/geodataviz-map-symbols/
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Timepix launch
The Timepix site includes thousands of historic surveying photos and much more. Take a look:
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/03/see-historic-photos-ordnance-survey-timepix/
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Benchmarks added to OS Maps
A bonus if you’re already a fan of trig-bagging, the historic archive of all 500,000 OS benchmarks was added to OS Maps online. Find out if there is still one near you:
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/10/benchmarks-added-to-os-maps/
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OS Open Zoomstack trial launch
With over 900 people taking part and overwhelming positive feedback, the trial quickly became a fully-fledged product being worked on at OS. Watch this space for more info, or try it out yourself right now:
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/07/join-os-open-zoomstack-trial/
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OS OpenData formats trial
Thank you to everyone who trialled different formats for our OS OpenData products.
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Mapping the English Football League
Another corker from the GeoDataViz team with a stunning visualisation showing all of the English Football League stadiums.
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/08/football-stadiums-mapped/
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Public rights of way
A popular query coming in on social media is where people can explore. This reminder on the right to roam and detailing useful map symbols is still proving popular.
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/07/right-to-roam-public-rights-of-way/
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April Fool!
We worked with Country Walking on this story about a newly-discovered Scottish island…
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2018/04/mapping-new-island-april-fools-day/
Happy reading everyone and see you in 2019!