Titanic was owned by the White Star Line shipping company and at 269m (882 ft) in length she was the world’s largest passenger liner in service at the time. She was one of three Olympic class ocean liners commissioned by the company, the other two being the HMHS Britannic (who was sunk after 11 months service during WWI) and their older sibling, RMS Olympic (who served a long career, earning the nickname “Old Reliable”).

KML file via GPSed.com

All three of the Olympic class liners were built by Harland and Wolff (who are still in business) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The drydock where the ship was fitted out has been preserved as a museum to this day, and the 259m long space gives us a clear view of the massive ‘physical footprint of the Titanic’.

Nearby we can see Belfast’s iconic twin shipbuilding gantry cranes Samson and Goliath (who are owned by Harland & Wolff). By comparison the drydock beneath these 70m (229 ft) tall cranes is 556m (1,824 ft) long – in fact it’s the largest drydock in the world.¹

Also nearby is the SS Nomadic – a ship built by Harland and Wolff as a tender for Olympic and Titanic. Today she is the last surviving White Star Line vessel in the world. In the aerial imagery here she is not much more than a hull, but Harland and Wolff have in the past few months completed an initial phase of restoration that replaced the missing bridge and flying bridge decks, as seen in this ground level photo.

Soon after Titanic sank, proposals were made to salvage her wreck (despite the fact that her exact location was unknown). Of course even if divers had been able to somehow locate the wreck, they couldn’t get anywhere near deep enough to actually retrieve anything.

Despite repeated attempts to locate her, Titanic remained resolutely lost for the next 73 years, until she was finally found by a team led by Dr. Robert D. Ballard on 1 September 1985.

Titanic is in two main pieces 600km (370 miles) south-east of Newfoundland. The bow is located here, and the stern is here, about 600m (1,970 ft) to the south.

James “deep sea diver” Cameron and his digital effects team recently created a new animation of how they believe Titanic collided with the iceberg, sank, and reached the ocean floor².

There are various museums around the world that have items on display that have been recovered from the wreck of Titanic, including the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich; the Sea City Museum in Southampton; the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool; the Titanic Historical Society’s museum in Massachusetts; and there’s a permanent exhibition of Titanic artefacts at the Luxor in Las Vegas.

While not strictly a museum, the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick, has an “Olympic Suite” which is decorated using paneling, mirrors, stained glass windows and other furnishings removed from the RMS Olympic‘s first class lounge when she was being dismantled in 1936. The first class lounge on Olympic was identical to that of Titanic so a visit here could potentially be a great way of experiencing Titanic‘s splendour.

Meanwhile, in Inverness, Scotland, this guy (the one next to Mater) has built a 100 ft Titantic replica out of a couple of old caravans and a shed. Sadly it seems that he was refused planning permission for the model, which now faces an uncertain future. I believe the model has been built on the other side of his house, so it isn’t visible on Street View, but could that be it in the satellite imagery?

Meanwhile, the wreck of Titanic continues to decay at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, losing an estimated 100 kilos of hull per day to iron-eating bacteria, and within time she will disappear into the seabed completely.

Locations: England, New York, Northern Ireland / Categories: Monuments, Movie Locations, Street Views, Structures, Towers, Watercraft

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All existentialism aside, Loughareema is very real and can be visible if seen at the right time. The loch possesses a unique topographical feature known as a chalk “plug hole” that often becomes jammed with peat causing the Loughareema depression to fill. The loch then drains, often quite rapidly until the uneducated passerby would never even know it existed in the first place. Here we see that the Google Street View car was lucky enough to see the loch in its “plugged” state.

And here it is almost completely devoid of water, save a small stream and lots of mud:

© Copyright Mike Simms and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

For an interesting comparison of Loughareema when it is full and when it is “invisible” take a look at this Google historical satellite imagery. The first aerial photo, taken in 2001, shows only a small stream, whereas more recent photo shows the loch in all its watery glory.

It is entirely possible that even the road engineers who built Loughareema Road were fooled by its disappearing/reappearing magic trick. Due to its location right smack in the middle of the loch, the road is often known to be covered with water, making crossing treacherous.

It was during a particularly bad state of flooding that, in 1898, a colonel rushing to catch a train in the nearby town of Ballycastle misjudged the depth of the loch’s waters causing himself, his coachman, and two horses to meet a watery end. In fact, local lore states that the coach and its passengers still haunt Loughareema to this very day… of course only when the loch is full!

Thanks to The Guardian.

Locations: Northern Ireland / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Street Views, Weirdness

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Let’s begin by looking at several of the claimants to the title of Oldest Pub in Britain. The Guinness Book of Records officially recognises Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans.

Originally named the Round House, the current name was taken from the barbaric sport which used to take place in the bar. While the octagonal building dates to the 11th century, it was moved to its current location in 1599. This fact leads to disputes about the legitimacy of its claim to be the oldest pub.

It’s unsure exactly when Ye Olde Man & Scythe in Bolton was built, but it was mentioned in historic documents from 1251.

However, it too has been rebuilt over time, with only the cellar remaining from the original building.

Continuing a somewhat predictable naming theme, Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham claims to have been built in 1189, though no official documentation proves that, and the current building is about 300 years old.

With no clear winner, I’ll claim the Trip as my personal favourite of the three, having had my share of pints in its tiny rooms and caves carved out of Castle Rock.

The Sheep Heid in Edinburgh claims to be Scotland’s oldest pub, dating the site to 1360.

While they probably no longer sell the food for which the pub is named, it is a listed building with a famous skittle alley about 140 years old.

The Skirrid Mountain Inn claims to be Wales’ oldest pub, with an interesting history serving as a courthouse, with condemned prisoners being hung from a beam in the bar.

Moving on to other superlatives, Britain’s highest pub is also somewhat disputed. The Tan Hill Inn at 528m above sea level is generally considered the highest.

Anything at this altitude in the Pennines sees its share of weather; in fact after this past new year’s, revellers spent 3 days trapped in the pub because of snow. I can think of worse places to be stuck, and by all accounts a jolly time was had by all.

The Cat & Fiddle in Derbyshire is contesting the title however, with measurements placing it anywhere from 515m to 540m.

Meanwhile, Street View takes us to the top of the Glenshane Pass (305m) and Northern Ireland’s highest pub, the Ponderosa.

A number of pubs boast somewhat gruesome histories or legends, including Bristol’s Hatchet Inn, where the front door is rumoured to be covered in human skin (underneath the paint).

Meanwhile, the Bucket of Blood in Phillack takes it’s attractive name from an incident many years ago when the landlord, fetching water from the well, pulled up a pail full of human blood.

The victim is purported to be the local tax collector, with his ghost believed to haunt the pub to this day. A hearty red ale is served to take advantage of this story.

To Scotland, and the more heart-warming story of Edinburgh’s Grayfriars Bobby’s Bar, named for a dog which, in the 19th century, spent 14 years watching over the grave of his owner.

A small statue of Bobby is visible outside the pub, which is near the graveyard where Bobby kept his faithful watch.

Also in Edinburgh, the Canny Mans is notable both for the vast collection of random objects which adorn the ceilings and walls, and the strictly-enforced list of ‘rules’ outside the pub, giving it a reputation as somewhat unwelcoming.

Finally, Glasgow’s Horse Shoe claims the longest bar in the world, though that is disputed by a number of other establishments.

With an estimated 50,000+ pubs in Britain, this is just a tiny selection. Where do you raise a glass?

Thanks to Alex and James for the Scottish locations, and kevinoakgrove for the Ponderosa.

Locations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales / Categories: Buildings, Street Views, Weirdness

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Google collaborated with the National Trust to allow the Street View trikes to gain entry to 20 of the National Trust’s protected locations.¹

Dorset’s Corfe Castle overlooks the village of the same name, and provides picturesque views of the English countryside from the ruined battlements. Partially destroyed during the English Civil War, pieces of the castle were “borrowed” for construction in the village, where some of the original stones and door frames remain.

There are fantastic views off the north-eastern coast of Northern Ireland at Downhill Demesne and Mussenden Temple. Designed as a library, the temple was built in 1785 near the edge of the cliffs, and by 1997 was in serious danger of being lost to coastal erosion.

Plas Newydd is a Welsh country house which dates from the 14th century, where you can man the cannons across the Menai Strait. Don’t try to ask for directions though, as it’s in the Welsh village with the famously-long-winded name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch².

Here in Scotland we have our own National Trust, who were unfortunately not involved with the project. However Google did also add images from the beautiful coastline of Loch Ness.

Although we’ve not had any reports of a Nessie sighting (yet), another mystery has been spotted: Some say he’s the Loch Ness monster, all we know is… it’s The Stig!

Yes, for reasons as yet unknown, Top Gear’s faceless racing driver has been captured just hanging around at the side of the road. What on earth for we wonder? Wasn’t his last appearance on Street View enough?³

You can see all 20 of the National Trust sights on Street View at this special Google Maps page.

Locations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Street Views

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However in recent years, thanks to the Good Friday Agreement, there has been a move away from the political murals to more community-based murals, and in this post we shall deal with murals relating to sport; industrial heritage; and the arts within the city.

Sports

There are many sporting heroes of Belfast, probably the most popular of all being George Best: without doubt Northern Ireland’s greatest football player.

There are many other murals to the NI international football team, including one in honour to a famous victory over England.

There are also murals to local football clubs Glentoran FC and Linfield FC.

Gaelic games are more favoured in Nationalist areas, with murals to Ard Eoin Kickhams GAA club and to Liam McCarthy.

There are 2 murals to other local sporting heroes, Snooker player Alex Higgins and Kickboxer Gary Hamilton.

INDUSTRY

Belfast is also very well known for its industrial past. RMS Titanic was constructed in the Harland and Wolff dockyards.

Historically, Belfast has been a centre for the Irish linen industry (earning the nickname “Linenopolis”) and Short Brothers (now Bombardier) also manufacture aircraft in the city.

ARTS

CS Lewis, author of the Narnia books, was born in Belfast in 1898 and like any son of Belfast he also has a mural or two. There is also a mural to traditional Irish music and a nod to Picasso’s Guernica.

And, to finish off, there is always someone with a sense of humour: “Santa is a British Agent” and “TV Licence Men Beware”.

There are many more murals, visit murals of Belfast to find some of them.

Locations: Northern Ireland / Categories: Buildings, Monuments, Street Views

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Because seven out of the top ten are all within the continental U.S., today we’re looking at the Top 5 Golf Courses scraped from their list, whilst allowing only one entry per country.

#5 Hirono Golf Club, Kobe, Japan

Situated between rolling hills overlooking the city of Kobe, Japan, the Hirono Golf Club is the location of a very exclusive 18 holes. Its claim to fame isn’t the number of major world competitions it’s held², instead it’s simply how hard it is to get in. Apparently this is the course that all other Asian courses are measured against, but I’m not sure how anyone would know; given that getting a tee time at Hirono is nigh on impossible.

Coming in at #37 on the Golf.com’s list, the C.H. Alison-built course is the only entry in our worldwide Top 5 that comes from a non-English speaking country.

#4 Royal Melbourne (West), Melbourne, Australia

Just south of the main urbanised area of Melbourne is the West course of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club which is known for its “intricate bunkering, tough but fair challenge, variety of shotmaking, and exceptionally fast and true greens”. Designed by world renowned course architect, Dr. Alister MacKenzie it’s ranked 6th on Golf.com’s list, but comes it at number 4 on our improved version!

#3 Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Our third course was designed by Old Tom Morris for just 4 guineas. Considered the best in Ireland, the Royal County Down opened in 1889 and today is considered the tenth most exclusive club in the world.

The imagery isn’t the brightest, but does capture the climatic conditions of Northern Ireland perfectly. However, according to the club website, the Royal County Down is one of the most photographed links courses in the world, and with rolling greens peering out over the Irish Sea, it’s easy to see why.

#2 St. Andrews (Old Course), St. Andrews, Scotland

This is of course where the game of golf began. Officially recognised as being designed by “nature”, the 14th century-built Old Course at St. Andrews is the blessed hope of all that play the game. It is the oldest course in the world and probably #1 on the “must play” bucket-list for most golfers. For our list, it comes in at #2 (#3 on Golf.com’s list).

The Open Championship,³ the oldest professional golfing competition, has been held at the Old Course at St. Andrews every five years since 1873. Unfortunately, the last time a Scot won was in 1910.

The Old Course is held in the public trust by an act of Parliament, and every Sunday golfing is banned for the day to allow the course to rest, so it is instead enjoyed by locals for family picnics and leisurely strolls through the greens.

#1 Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley, New Jersey

Finally we reach the Pine Valley Golf Club. Originally built upon 164 acres of marshland by George Arthur Crump, today the private course sprawls nearly 2 sq km in the thick pinelands of New Jersey.

According to Wikipedia, Crump, a hotelier who knew the area from his hunting expeditions, was subject to obsessive idiosyncrasies that ultimately contributed to designing the #1 course in the world.

Some of those peculiarities included:

1. Holes should not be laid parallel to each other.
2. Consecutive holes should not play in the same direction.
3. Players should only be able to see the hole they are playing on.

Don’t expect to play here anytime soon however – to get a tee time at Pine Valley you have to be personally invited and accompanied by one of the board members! Interestingly, Tiger’s been invited, though he’s never played.

Have you played Hirono, taken in the views at the Royal Down, or paid homage at the Old? What do you think about Golf.com’s assessment of the “best”? Have they got it spot on or are there others that deserve the honour? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to leave a link to your favourite course.

Locations: Australia, Japan, New Jersey, Northern Ireland, Scotland / Categories: Stadiums and Sport

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After long negotiations with Britain’s national mapping agency, we’re extremely pleased to announce that from today the website previously known as Google Sightseeing is to become ORDNANCE SURVEY SIGHTSEEING.

Ordnance Survey is one of the world’s largest producers of maps, and from now on we’ll only be linking to their highly detailed printed maps, and pointing out interesting features represented by a vast array of different icons.

We plan to feature footpaths, cycle paths, topographical sightings, water features and much, much more!

One of the most exciting features we’re bringing to you today means that each time you click through to our map, you’ll need to decide whether you need to see the OS Route, OS Road, OS Tour, OS Landranger, OS Explorer, OS Explorer Active or OS Landranger Active map! You’ll also be able to set the scale of the map at this point, but you won’t be able to change your mind again later.

Users of our map page API should be aware that as of today, latitude and longitudes will no longer work in the query string, and all lookups must instead be performed using an OS Grid reference. Additionally, all KML files will henceforth become GML format, and all previous files will cease to work.

Of course, using all this OS map data isn’t free, so we’ll be expecting all of our readers to chip in some cash to pay for the maps.

We’d like to thank you all for your support over the last four years, and sincerely hope you’ll continue with us on the latest leg of our journey towards inevitable Geographic Nirvana.

Update: Due to overwhelming popularity of the new site we’ve already burned through all our venture capital and “Ordnance Survey Sightseeing Inc.” are now bankrupt. The administrators are planning to revert the site to “Google Sightseeing” on April 2nd, 2009.

Locations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales / Categories: Site News

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• England: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Derby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Southampton, York
• Northern Ireland: Belfast
• Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow
• Wales: Cardiff, Swansea.

The BBC claims that 22,369 miles of roads have been imaged in the UK alone, which has taken a year to complete. Interestingly Google appear to have already begun the next stage of the process, as camera cars have been spotted in the last few days in more rural locations, as well as countries that still have no coverage at all.

However The Guardian claims that the biggest challenge in the project was was actually the British weather last summer – as the cars’ cameras are rendered useless by rain and snow.¹

We’ve been posting loads of things onto our Twitter feed already, but here’s a roundup of some of the best ones seen… so far!

Here’s the best available view of Anthony Gormley’s awesome Angel of the North in Tyneside:

Qantas managed to get themselves some bonus coverage for their sky advertising stunt in Liverpool:

Twitter users all over the country have been finding themselves:

Here’s a couple of Londoners who might not want to be seen in public after this. The one wearing antlers is apparently comforting the other guy, who appears to be puking into a pint glass… Classy.

Also in London, many famous pieces of art have been captured, alongside this rather poignant piece by UK super-graffiti-artist Banksy:

In Cardiff a couple has had their happy day recorded for the world to see, and a van man on his lunch makes his feeling known:

In Bristol the car has captured a nasty looking bike crash in progress:

Also, Google have announced that hidden somewhere in the UK imagery is the stripy-jumpered Wally – of Where’s Wally? fame! I imagine there will be vast competition to be the person that finds him!

Our very own Rob Witherow submitted this in an attempt to take the crown of Ultimate Google Street View Sightseer, but somehow we think the real Wally will be slightly more… 3-dimensional!

Street View launched in the US in May 2007 and is already available in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain and Italy. The Netherlands version of the service also launched yesterday, bringing the total number of countries covered to nine, and where some images have already started being removed! Presumably as the guys at Google use sites like this one as filters to spot any dodgy imagery…

Thanks to Stuey, Rob Maddison and the whole of Twitter!

Locations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales / Categories: Street Views

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Street View has arrived here in the UK at long last, and Google have given us imagery in many parts of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Additionally, Street View is now available in the Netherlands for the first time, and while they were at it, Google has added several new cities in France and Spain!

Coverage is extensive, and covers all of the UK’s major cities. Both of the GSS HQs in Edinburgh and Oxford have coverage, and London has an absolutely staggering number of blue lined streets!

In Edinburgh the images appear to have been taken mainly during the Edinburgh Festival, which explains why there’s lots of odd looking people around.¹ You can see the seating for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in place on the Castle Esplanade.

Here’s London’s seat of power, Downing Street, showing off their awesome security measures, which has been captured alongside all of the other standard tourist sights like the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

In Belfast, it seems that the famous Northern Irish political murals aren’t safe from Google’s face-blurring software!

The Netherlands has also received a large helping of Street View today with coverage of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Here’s the “Coffee Shop Extase” and Sex Museum:

Other reports are coming in of new Street View imagery in France (including Calais and Le Havre), Spain (including expanded coverage or Barcelona), Northern Italy, and expanded coverage in numerous US states.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest news, and new Street Views throughout the day.

Google Maps Mania has a good selection of London sights to see, but what else have you found?

Locations: England, France, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales / Categories: Site News, Street Views

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While there are several claims to be the world’s largest maze, the most legitimate seems to be the Peace Maze, in Northern Ireland – which is officially recognised by the Guinness book as the largest permanent hedge maze in the world.

The path of the Peace Maze is 3.15 kilometres (2 miles) long, and contains many features symbolic of The Troubles; most notably a divide which has to be crossed to get to the end.

There are many non-permanent mazes, often created from corn or other plants. This one outside York claimed to be the largest when it opened with a Star Trek theme in 2006, but in the current view it is somewhat smaller.

At Temple Hall Farm Regional Park near Leesville, Virginia, there’s a maze celebrating 100 years of flight.

Across the country near Olympia, Washington, a TV fan has clearly paid homage to his favourite series by creating this CSI themed maze.

Back in England, we have a Monster Maze at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in North Somerset. Like many maze owners, the people in charge here make grand claims about their maze’s importance – but in truth this is just one of many attractions that claim to be the world’s longest hedge maze.

Finally here in Conholt Park, Wiltshire, we find what might be the most bizarrely shaped maze ever – a giant foot! (Perhaps this is related to the World’s Largest Fingerprint?)

See our Maze category for loads more interesting mazes!

Thanks to Marc Armstrong, DJ Swammi, Kel, Jim Culp, john and Chris Branagan.

Locations: England, Northern Ireland, Virginia, Washington / Categories: Large Type, Mazes

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