Aerial photos - better than Google Earth / maps

???? i'm pretty sure I've neve rinstalled anything to use local.live.com. There are certainly areas of the country which are covered by much higher resolution photos on there than Google Earth, much of Hants & Dorset for example.

However there is not any universal level of coverage on any of these systems across the entire British Isles therefore it is potluck as to whether you get good definition or a blurry mess like Rolf Hariss's paintings....

"Bob" wrote in news:WJaji.129033$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

Google ... clear picture that allows me to identify the car on my drive, and on one memorable instance see myself in my own back garden (just).

M$ ... I can make out a grey ribbon that is probably the road outside my house.

In message , Chris Wilson writes

Google - I can see all of my garden railway

M$ - I can only see phases 1 & 2 of my garden railway, the photo is so old that phase 3 is not included.

Some joins are atrocious, see Proctor yard near Duluth USA (sorry, can't give you grid reference (latitude & longitude) as M$ doesn't give them, whereas Google does.

Jane Sullivan wrote in news:cutL8ViUUWjGFAq$@yddraiggoch.demon.co.uk:

...

That's a point, google appears to update every few months, M$ image is at least 18 months old+ (as noted via cars on drive and outside house)

As an aside it's not until you look that you (a) appreciate how many folks in SE London have swimming pools and (b) just how many homes look near identical in a lovely part of the world just outside of Bromley. :-)

Chris Wilson wrote in news:Xns9964EDD919702ulmbritwarcouk@62.253.170.163:

...

(I used PSP to magnify the image!)

Not everywhere. It's still showing a row of historic buildings near me which were flattened by the council three years ago. I'm only sorry Google Earth didn't exist 40 years ago.

(kim)

)

You just got lucky. Where I live the M$ image is just as out of date and blurry as the Google one.

MBQ

It's like the fad for "wonder foods" and tabloid statistics. People will believe something is the best thing since sliced bread, based on the flimsiest of evidence, with no attempt to verify the facts for themselves.

MBQ

It looks like it's pot luck which system is best in your area. In Preston, the resolution is good on both systems, but the ability to see the raw, undistorted images makes all the difference on the M$ system. Also, a very recent update to the Google aerials results in a change of image set right across the middle of Preston station, and the two don't even allign properly.

For Lancashire, there is the Mario Maps which include 1940s aerials, which are very interesting.

Adrian

Bolton doesn't appear to be in Lancashire anymore? I'm sure it was last time I was there. It must have moved.

(kim)

Both systems tend to be better in urban areas, and the coverage is good for both in Preston except Google now has a change of image-set right across the middle of the station, which is quite nasty.

Excuse me! There's no need to be pompous about it. I never said it was "the best thing since sliced bread" or anything vaguely close to that.

I just pointed out that M$ has clearer, higher resolution images available than Google. I believe that the area I am looking at is covered by both M$ and Google at their highest quality, so my comments are at least as valid as anyone elses.

For your information, I am not a tabloid reader, and treat claims about "superfoods" with healthy scepticism.

Adrian

Kim

I come from Bolton (in fact I'm there now!) and I can confirm that Bolton is NOT in Lancashire, in the same way that Old Trafford (home of the Lancashire cricket team) is NOT in Lancashre. We have been part of Greater Manchester for many years now, although as far as the Post Office is concerned, the change never happened.

The boundary is between Horwich and Adlington (Chorley).

Adrian

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England which has a population of 2.55 million.[1] Greater Manchester came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county consists of ten metropolitan boroughs, including the City of Manchester and the City of Salford.

Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authorities. However, the metropolitan county, which is some 496 square miles (1276 km²),[2] continues to exist in law and as an administrative frame of reference.

In message , Adrian writes

Post Office, or Royal Mail?

The Royal Mail postcode checker shows a Bolton address, quite correctly, without any mention of Lancs or Manchester. The Bolton News (local newspaper) still shows an address in Bolton, Lancashire.

Some individuals and businesses stubbornly cling to postal addresses as they were before reorganisation in 1974, and even refuse to use Postcodes. Some new counties (e.g. Humberside) later got changed back. I believe that Royal Mail no longer requires the county, as long as there is a valid Postcode.

PS Bolton was still in Lancashire c 1966 when someone counted 4,000 potholes in the roads.