Re: [Talk-GB] Locating postboxes - any photos around?

[Chris Hill]

LeedsTracker wrote:
> Apologies for cross-posting, and sorry if you already knew about this.
> I searched talk-gb via Google and found nothing, and this was new to
> me until a few days ago.
>
> A nifty project that uses OSM to locate postboxes:
> http://www.dracos.co.uk/play/locating-postboxes/
>
> If Royal Mail won't provide a map, then OSM and Dracos' project could
> do so in time, which could be useful PR for OSM.
>
> Quote: "The Royal Mail supplied a list of every postbox's location –
> unfortunately, it did not have useful co-ordinates, only postcodes or
> sub-postcodes and some textual data. So I wrote this site: look up the
> postboxes near you by entering the first half of your postcode, locate
> one whose location you know on the map, pick which postbox you've
> located, and submit. The pages also include postbox last collection
> times, if we know them."
>
> Even handier:
> "You can add postboxes and their references to OSM – use a key of ref,
> and this site will automatically pick them up every week or so."
>
> I tend to map with a camera and take photos of the front plate of
> postboxes where possible. The reference needed is at the bottom of the
> plate, e.g. LS1 258
>
> Hope this prompts a few more to join in! 6,654 postboxes located so far...
>
> cheers,
> LT
>
>   
I too have been chasing post boxes based on the Royal Mail list.  I have 
completed some of the Dracos links,.  If you do gather any references 
you should add then to OSM yourself, Dracos is rightly not updating the 
OSM DB with the data added to his site.  The locations are sometimes 
very obscure: Blog 


I think it's a great way of improving the detail in an area - I've 
always found more stuff to add than just post boxes
 
Cheers, Chris

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Re: [Talk-GB] Locating postboxes - any photos around?

[LeedsTracker]

2009/1/14 Andy Robinson :
[snip]
> and one or
> two that for some reason don't show up on Matthews site despite being in the
> OSM db.

I wonder if that is because they are not in the postcode area you
think they are.

This doesn't apply if you have collected the postbox ref yourself, but
when you are tagging boxes geographically on the dracos site.

Boxes that I felt sure were in LS2, for example, turned out to be in
LS3 or LS6. I ended up going through LS1-16 and found more boxes than
expected.

On another matter, I notice dracos' postcodes also end up on
http://www.npemap.org.uk

Anyway, glad it's not just me who feels they've "gotta catch'em all"!

cheers,
LT

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Re: [Talk-GB] Locating postboxes - any photos around?

[Ed Loach]

Andy wrote:

> Yes, I've been associating the majority of the post boxes in
> North
> Birmingham with Matthew's dracos site for a bit. In doing so
> I've found
> that a few I don't have because they are collection points
> associated
> with post offices and sorting offices (no box to get the
> reference from)
> and one or two that for some reason don't show up on Matthews
> site
> despite being in the OSM db.

I've been trying to find the postboxes in Tendring district (roughly
CO11-CO16) and tagging them in OSM, then when I've done a load I
email Matthew to ask if he can reimport from OSM (as it isn't
automated). Matthew tells me his site doesn't currently send
information back to OSM though he also mentioned someone was looking
at doing that somehow.

There is one postbox in Clacton I can't find. I've been up and down
the road about half a dozen times and can find no postbox there at
all. It's all houses so I don't think it is even a post
office/sorting office reference. In this area every post
office/sorting office either has a postbox outside with the
reference on, or very occasionally build into the building itself.
This one postbox (CO15 157) is the first I've been unable to locate.
I also need to double check Clacton High Street to find CO15 47
(though the reference that looks like a postcode isn't actually for
High Street, so I may have to hunt around the side streets to find
that one). I have noted that in some instances the reference is the
name of the road opposite the postbox and not the one it is actually
on.

Ed



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Re: [Talk-GB] [Talk-gb-thenorth] Locating postboxes - any photos around?

[Al Girling]

On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 01:38:25AM GMT, LeedsTracker wrote:
--%<-- 

> Even handier:
> "You can add postboxes and their references to OSM – use a key of ref,
> and this site will automatically pick them up every week or so."
> 
> I tend to map with a camera and take photos of the front plate of
> postboxes where possible. The reference needed is at the bottom of the
> plate, e.g. LS1 258
> 
> Hope this prompts a few more to join in! 6,654 postboxes located so far...

I've just checked the map from the link you posted and am disappointed
to see only one of the many post boxes I've mapped included.  I guess
this is down to not having a reference number tagged.  Ho hum, guess
I'll have to go around collecting these and updating.

I notice the map used is the OSM one, but has "powered by Google" in the
bottom left corner.

Off to get some references.

Al

-- 
Alistair Girling

Home-page:  

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Re: [Talk-GB] Locating postboxes - any photos around?

[Andy Robinson]

LeedsTracker wrote:
> Apologies for cross-posting, and sorry if you already knew about this.
> I searched talk-gb via Google and found nothing, and this was new to
> me until a few days ago.
>
> A nifty project that uses OSM to locate postboxes:
> http://www.dracos.co.uk/play/locating-postboxes/
>
> If Royal Mail won't provide a map, then OSM and Dracos' project could
> do so in time, which could be useful PR for OSM.
>
> Quote: "The Royal Mail supplied a list of every postbox's location –
> unfortunately, it did not have useful co-ordinates, only postcodes or
> sub-postcodes and some textual data. So I wrote this site: look up the
> postboxes near you by entering the first half of your postcode, locate
> one whose location you know on the map, pick which postbox you've
> located, and submit. The pages also include postbox last collection
> times, if we know them."
>
> Even handier:
> "You can add postboxes and their references to OSM – use a key of ref,
> and this site will automatically pick them up every week or so."
>
> I tend to map with a camera and take photos of the front plate of
> postboxes where possible. The reference needed is at the bottom of the
> plate, e.g. LS1 258
>
> Hope this prompts a few more to join in! 6,654 postboxes located so far...
>
> cheers,
> LT
>   
Yes, I've been associating the majority of the post boxes in North 
Birmingham with Matthew's dracos site for a bit. In doing so I've found 
that a few I don't have because they are collection points associated 
with post offices and sorting offices (no box to get the reference from) 
and one or two that for some reason don't show up on Matthews site 
despite being in the OSM db.

Cheers

Andy

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Re: [Talk-GB] Locating postboxes - any photos around?

[Gregory Williams]

> -Original Message-
> From: talk-gb-boun...@openstreetmap.org [mailto:talk-gb-
> boun...@openstreetmap.org] On Behalf Of LeedsTracker
> Sent: 14 January 2009 01:38
> To: talk-gb@openstreetmap.org; talk-gb-theno...@openstreetmap.org
> Subject: [Talk-GB] Locating postboxes - any photos around?
> 
> Apologies for cross-posting, and sorry if you already knew about this.
> I searched talk-gb via Google and found nothing, and this was new to
> me until a few days ago.
> 
> A nifty project that uses OSM to locate postboxes:
> http://www.dracos.co.uk/play/locating-postboxes/
> 
> If Royal Mail won't provide a map, then OSM and Dracos' project could
> do so in time, which could be useful PR for OSM.
> 
> Quote: "The Royal Mail supplied a list of every postbox's location -
> unfortunately, it did not have useful co-ordinates, only postcodes or
> sub-postcodes and some textual data. So I wrote this site: look up the
> postboxes near you by entering the first half of your postcode, locate
> one whose location you know on the map, pick which postbox you've
> located, and submit. The pages also include postbox last collection
> times, if we know them."
> 
> Even handier:
> "You can add postboxes and their references to OSM - use a key of ref,
> and this site will automatically pick them up every week or so."
> 
> I tend to map with a camera and take photos of the front plate of
> postboxes where possible. The reference needed is at the bottom of the
> plate, e.g. LS1 258
> 
> Hope this prompts a few more to join in! 6,654 postboxes located so
> far...
> 
> cheers,
> LT

It also makes for an interesting way to do mapping. In a few recent
lunchtimes I've been making a list of a few as-yet unreferenced
postboxes and going out to get the locations and references. I then map
other things I see on the way as well, e.g. I've been doing filling in
of roads where we don't have names.

Of course Royal Mail's descriptions for the locations of some of the
postboxes leave a little to be desired, but that's just part of the fun!

Gregory

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