Data sources
Where every number comes from.
Every dataset the site uses, the licence it is used under, and the credit that licence requires. If a number on the site cannot be traced to this page, it should not be on the site.
OpenStreetMap route relation 77976 (South Downs Way)
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/api/v1/details/relation/77976
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-08-17
Follows the walkers' clifftop route over the Seven Sisters, not the inland bridleway. Natural England's official line is to be compared before launch (OPEN_ITEMS).
Environment Agency LIDAR Composite DTM 1 m
https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/13787b9a-26a4-4775-8523-806d13af58fc
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: Terrain: Environment Agency LIDAR Composite DTM, contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
Downloaded: 2026-09-14
England only. Fetched via WCS in EPSG:27700; the service silently zero-fills beyond ~50 km of extent, so requests are tiled at 25 km.
OS Maps API, Outdoor style (OS OpenData)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026
Basemap for the 2D map. Requires NEXT_PUBLIC_OS_MAPS_KEY; falls back to OSM raster tiles in development only.
OpenStreetMap route relation 2376086 (South West Coast Path)
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/api/v1/details/relation/2376086
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-18
Coming-soon trail: drawn on the Britain map and measured for the true-scale bars only. Not yet checked against the official line.
OpenStreetMap route relation 4080347 (Pennine Way)
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/api/v1/details/relation/4080347
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-18
Coming-soon trail: drawn on the Britain map and measured for the true-scale bars only. Not yet checked against the official line.
OpenStreetMap route relation 9649 (Offa's Dyke Path)
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/api/v1/details/relation/9649
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-18
Coming-soon trail: drawn on the Britain map and measured for the true-scale bars only. Not yet checked against the official line.
OpenStreetMap route relation 65239 (Cotswold Way)
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/api/v1/details/relation/65239
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-18
Coming-soon trail: drawn on the Britain map and measured for the true-scale bars only. Not yet checked against the official line.
OpenStreetMap route relation 16287 (West Highland Way)
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/api/v1/details/relation/16287
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-18
Coming-soon trail: drawn on the Britain map and measured for the true-scale bars only. Not yet checked against the official line.
OpenStreetMap route relation 38791 (Hadrian's Wall Path)
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/api/v1/details/relation/38791
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-18
Coming-soon trail: drawn on the Britain map and measured for the true-scale bars only. Not yet checked against the official line.
Natural Earth 1:10m Land (v5.1.1)
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/master/geojson/ne_10m_land.geojson
Licence: Public domain
Attribution: Made with Natural Earth
Downloaded: 2026-09-18
The land under the Britain map. Clipped to the British Isles and simplified to ~300 m by scripts/fetch-britain.ts; the result is committed at content/britain/land.geojson.
OpenFreeMap vector tiles (OpenMapTiles schema, OpenStreetMap data)
Licence: ODbL 1.0 (data); tiles served free, no key
Attribution: © OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap
The guide's story map basemap, in the dark and positron styles with our ground and water colours patched in. Attribution shows in the map's control.
OpenStreetMap places to stay and named places near the route
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Accommodation counts © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-19
Overpass queries for tourism=hotel|guest_house|bed_and_breakfast|motel|hostel|camp_site and pubs tagged accommodation=yes within 3 km of the route, plus place=town|village|hamlet nodes to name the stops. Counted by scripts/research-beds.ts; a count is what mappers have added, not what is open or has a bed free. docs/DATA.md has the method.
OpenStreetMap drinking water along the route
Licence: ODbL 1.0
Attribution: Water points © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Downloaded: 2026-09-19
amenity=drinking_water, man_made=water_tap and drinking_water=yes within 400 m of the route, by scripts/research-water.ts, into content/trails/<slug>/water.json. Cross-checked against the South Downs Way team's drinking-water leaflet (June 2013): every tap it lists is on OSM. The National Trails website's own map data is not used — its terms allow no commercial reuse or scraping.
Natural England, National Trails (England)
https://naturalengland-defra.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/national-trails-england/about
Licence: Open Government Licence v3
Attribution: Contains Natural England data © Natural England, OGL v3
Downloaded: 2026-09-19
Used to check our OSM lines, not to draw them: scripts/check-official-line.ts measures every point of ours against it. The South Downs Way matches the official main line within 100 m everywhere (docs/research/official-line-south-downs-way.md).