I’d like to add more of the England Coast Path (officially the “King Charles III England Coast Path”) to OSM. This overpass query shows the current state of the path - I’m particularly interested in adding missing bits in Suffolk, but it would be nice to update elsewhere too.
The official route data (comes with a downloadable .gpx file) doesn’t permit redistribution though, from the terms and conditions:
You are not permitted to copy, sub-license, distribute, sell or otherwise make available the licensed data to third parties in any form.
Given I can’t use this data source, I’m a bit stuck as to how to add more of the path to OSM. Other than walking it on the ground, and using a recorded track to work out the route, does anyone have any advice or suggestions of other ways I might be able to get the data from somewhere that has an OSM compatible licence?
Might be worth checking if Strava heat map shows this.
I’d imagine the technicalities would be that you can map the highway from Strava (it’s a permitted source) but you couldn’t name it as England Coast Path (since that is not in Strava and is instead coming from the official route data). Unless you can find another permitted source or know for certain that is the name and that knowledge is not derived from the official route data.
That’s the fun bit! (It’s also how much of the Wales Coast Path was mapped.)
You could potentially ask National Trails for permission, of course, pointing out that having the ECP mapped in OSM will make it accessible to many more people via popular walking apps. But honestly, walking it sounds like a bunch more fun.
Might be worth checking if Strava heat map shows this.
The Strava heatmap around the coast often shows multiple paths because the terrain is quite complex, so there’s no obvious one path. Here’s an example:
I am currently walking the path, can confirm it’s fun Between the signposting not being great, and deliberately going ‘off piste’ to take a more direct beach route, I don’t think they way I’m walking it really suits recording the official route unfortunately.
I’ll ping National Trails an ask and see what they say, thanks for the suggestion.
I’m currently walking the Suffolk part of the coast path bit by bit from north to south as a mini project, and will fill in the KCIII path where it’s signed as I go. It might take some time though, so maybe someone else will get there first (particularly on the southern parts).
The official route data is created by Natural England and is available to download and use under OGL3.0.
Available from a few places, I use the one below.
The data usually needs reprojection from OSGB36 to WGS 84, but even if a few metres off it is not a major issue as you should be adding an existing path to Charles III path relation
Between the signposting not being great, and deliberately going ‘off piste’ to take a more direct beach route, I don’t think they way I’m walking it really suits recording the official route unfortunately.