Working with the Swindon Link!

We are excited to announce that Peoples Map is now working with the Swindon Link newspaper to get Swindon mapped.

The Swindon Link is a community magazine that is published on a monthly basis. It was first published for the West Swindon community in December 1978 and then in North Swindon from January 1994. Swindon Link is distributed monthly free of charge over 23,000 homes in West and North Swindon. A further 3,000 are left in public places around the town.

Roger Ogle, the Swindon Link editor, realised the need for up to date maps of the Swindon when he moved there more that 30 years ago. He has been creating and publishing maps of West and North Swindon since then. These maps are free to the public as it is paid for by advertising on the brochures and is distributed in the same way as the magazine. These maps, regularly updated by Roger, is still the most up to date maps of this area as he receives the details of new developments direct from the Local Council. Towns like Swindon have undergone major development over the past 30 years as illustrated by the two Getmapping aerial images below. These show how North Swindon has developed in 6 years from 1999 to 2005.

Image 1: 1999 Getmapping Aerial Image of North Swindon

Image 2: 2005 Getmapping Aerial Image of North Swindon

Conventional Map companies are struggling to keep up with rapidly expanding towns and that is why collaboration such as this between Peoples Map and Swindon Link (the public) are so important. I asked Roger what his reason was for creating these maps and he mentioned that Swindon was expanding rapidly, and still is, and because of the layout of the modern day developments, it was very easy to get lost. He was local to the area and felt the need for a up to date map of his local area. A example of one of these maps he created for North Swindon is illustrated in Image 3 below.

Image 3: North Swindon Map by Swindon Link

The Peoples Map is now working with the Swindon Link to involve the Swindon community to get mapping. Together, we want to excite Link readers in the People’s Map and get them actively involved as users and contributors. The two parties will work closely together over the coming years to develop a relevant and up to date map of Swindon. The Swindon Link recently published this article regarding the collaboration between Peoples Map and Swindon Link: http://www.swindonlink.com/features/show/84

Swindon is still ‘virgin territory’ in the People’s Map. We hope that the people of Swindon will react to Roger's article and join in to help keep the map of Swindon up to date. Over the coming months the Peoples Map Blog and the Swindon Link will be keeping you informed on the map progress, so watch this space - and get mapping for yourself and your community.

If you think the Peoples Map can contribute to your community in the same way as we do with Swindon Link, and you have any ideas on how, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us at info@peoplesmap.com and we can discuss this in further detail.