OS MoT 1922-23 Legend

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clareskelton
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OS MoT 1922-23 Legend

Post by clareskelton »

Is there anywhere I can find a legend for this map anywhere online?
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c2R
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Re: OS MoT 1922-23 Legend

Post by c2R »

Hello,

Steven might come in with a better answer, but...
There's some discussion here: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... t_Road_Map

It says that it is based on the One Inch 3rd Edition with overlays (as discussed) - we haven't got around to those yet as they don't feature numbering.

Is there anything more specific we can help with?
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From the SABRE Wiki: OS Ministry of Transport Road Map :


The Ministry of Transport Road Map (colloqually known as MoT Maps) series were the official maps to show classified roads, following their publication by the Ministry of Transport on 1st April, 1923. As such, they are possibly the most important resource documenting the early days of road numbering in Great Britain.

The equivalent mapping in Northern Ireland was the Road Map of Northern Ireland


[[File:MoT map key 1922-23.JPG|thumb|right|1922-23 edition

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Steven
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Re: OS MoT 1922-23 Legend

Post by Steven »

c2R wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 20:12 Hello,

Steven might come in with a better answer, but...
There's some discussion here: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... t_Road_Map

It says that it is based on the One Inch 3rd Edition with overlays (as discussed) - we haven't got around to those yet as they don't feature numbering.

Is there anything more specific we can help with?
Mmm, not quite! They're actually based on the Half-Inch Map of England and Wales (Large Sheet Series) and the Half-Inch Map of Scotland; which were themselves based upon the One Inch materials.

However, as if by magic, the relevant SABRE Wiki page linked to now has keys from both a 1922-23 edition (with green B roads) and a 1936-37 one (with purple B roads).

They're not very exciting mind!
Steven
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From the SABRE Wiki: OS Ministry of Transport Road Map :


The Ministry of Transport Road Map (colloqually known as MoT Maps) series were the official maps to show classified roads, following their publication by the Ministry of Transport on 1st April, 1923. As such, they are possibly the most important resource documenting the early days of road numbering in Great Britain.

The equivalent mapping in Northern Ireland was the Road Map of Northern Ireland


[[File:MoT map key 1922-23.JPG|thumb|right|1922-23 edition

... Read More
clareskelton
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Re: OS MoT 1922-23 Legend

Post by clareskelton »

That's great, thank you. Is there anything to decide whether they were public roads or private driveways?
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Steven
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Re: OS MoT 1922-23 Legend

Post by Steven »

clareskelton wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 21:53 That's great, thank you. Is there anything to decide whether they were public roads or private driveways?
Not on MoT maps, no. If you're looking for that sort of thing, then MoT maps as Half Inch maps are the wrong scale; and even One Inch maps (whilst theoretically showing private roads on Popular Edition maps) don't differentiate on most series. You probably want at least the Six Inch scale, but maps at that scale are outside my specialisms unfortunately.

I'd recommend asking the good folk at the Charles Close Society perhaps.
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FosseWay
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Re: OS MoT 1922-23 Legend

Post by FosseWay »

Steven wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 22:08
clareskelton wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 21:53 That's great, thank you. Is there anything to decide whether they were public roads or private driveways?
Not on MoT maps, no. If you're looking for that sort of thing, then MoT maps as Half Inch maps are the wrong scale; and even One Inch maps (whilst theoretically showing private roads on Popular Edition maps) don't differentiate on most series. You probably want at least the Six Inch scale, but maps at that scale are outside my specialisms unfortunately.

I'd recommend asking the good folk at the Charles Close Society perhaps.
I think most map makers, including the OS, deliberately steer clear of the minefield of trying to define public and private roads. Many OS maps have a caveat printed on them that the representation of a road or path is no evidence of a right of way. On later maps that show public footpaths, bridleways and other categories of rights of way, this warning is applied to other representations of roads etc.

There's basically a practical grey area with OS symbols. Coloured roads (all classified, plus yellow roads on 1"/1:50 000 maps) can more or less be presumed to be "public". Public footpaths, bridleways and similar are marked accordingly. In between are the "white roads", which can mean more or less anything. In towns, they are generally public roads, though I wouldn't presume a through route for motor vehicles given that anti-rat-running schemes are too detailed to show up at this scale. In the countryside, my presumption in advance is that you can't drive on them (either they're private or it's not physically possible). When it comes to access on foot, I tend to look at the circumstances. A lane that joins an obvious public road at both ends is highly likely to be useable on foot and possibly on a bike or horse. A lane marked with the same symbol and same size that just leads from a road to a collection of buildings is highly likely not to be accessible.

I should stress once again that all of this is just the result of my personal experience of several decades of using OS maps to navigate on foot. IME the best maps for this, and for determining the accessibility of a given track or road, are the 1:25 000 series. Even if they don't show rights of way, as the out-of-copyright ones on SABRE Maps don't, they are detailed enough to tell whether they connect two public roads or areas, or whether they are just the access to a farm or similar. And all 1:25 000 maps, even the old ones, have some form of colour scheme for roads that we with 99% certainty can say are publicly accessible with a car. The six-inch maps are clearly a lot more detailed, but make no hard and fast distinction in their symbology between a farm track and the Great North Road.
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