SABRE Maps
@maps.sabre-roads.org.uk
The largest freely available online archive of twentieth century georeferenced OS maps of Great Britain and Ireland at "road map" scales from 1:25k to 1:633k including One Inch, Half Inch and Quarter Inch mapping.
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps
For #MapMonday, we're continuing through our "catch-up" of the OS One Inch Fifth Edition additions that we've recently acquired, with a couple of new sheets from 1935 added - one of which isn't a One Inch #map at all, but the Two Inch Map of the Isles of Scilly from that year. buff.ly/P6evyFH
February 9, 2026 at 6:01 PM
For #MapMonday, we're continuing through our "catch-up" of the OS One Inch Fifth Edition additions that we've recently acquired, with a couple of new sheets from 1935 added - one of which isn't a One Inch #map at all, but the Two Inch Map of the Isles of Scilly from that year. buff.ly/P6evyFH
We are always super careful about how we refer to the unbuilt Belfast Urban Motorway...
February 6, 2026 at 8:16 AM
We are always super careful about how we refer to the unbuilt Belfast Urban Motorway...
The OS One Inch Fifth Edition from the 1930s is a very flawed #map series. It changed standards, got called "muddy", changed layouts and only covered the south of England. Yet it's one of our favourites, so another 12 additional sheets from 1934 have gone live on SABRE Maps today. buff.ly/4MsHl9Z
February 2, 2026 at 6:01 PM
The OS One Inch Fifth Edition from the 1930s is a very flawed #map series. It changed standards, got called "muddy", changed layouts and only covered the south of England. Yet it's one of our favourites, so another 12 additional sheets from 1934 have gone live on SABRE Maps today. buff.ly/4MsHl9Z
Thanks to our volunteer development team, the Traffic Counts information on SABRE Maps has been hugely improved with more accurate locations, better graphs and data from Northern Ireland too! You can click on each traffic type to diplay, and see just how busy roads really are. buff.ly/XH6mVqm
January 26, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Thanks to our volunteer development team, the Traffic Counts information on SABRE Maps has been hugely improved with more accurate locations, better graphs and data from Northern Ireland too! You can click on each traffic type to diplay, and see just how busy roads really are. buff.ly/XH6mVqm
Following the success of our introductory Zoom talk on SABRE Maps, we'll be holding a second one around our Grid Calibrator tool, showing how we georeference maps, and how you can help! There will be opportunities to ask questions, and click along! buff.ly/TzVhjsT
January 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Following the success of our introductory Zoom talk on SABRE Maps, we'll be holding a second one around our Grid Calibrator tool, showing how we georeference maps, and how you can help! There will be opportunities to ask questions, and click along! buff.ly/TzVhjsT
After all those maps from 1975, it's #MapMonday and time for the first modern OpenData #map of 2026!
OS Miniscale is smilar to the old Ten Mile or Route Planning maps and therefore great for looking for major changes in GB over time. Can you find the changes from our 2025 layer?
buff.ly/pIyUpVm
OS Miniscale is smilar to the old Ten Mile or Route Planning maps and therefore great for looking for major changes in GB over time. Can you find the changes from our 2025 layer?
buff.ly/pIyUpVm
January 19, 2026 at 6:01 PM
After all those maps from 1975, it's #MapMonday and time for the first modern OpenData #map of 2026!
OS Miniscale is smilar to the old Ten Mile or Route Planning maps and therefore great for looking for major changes in GB over time. Can you find the changes from our 2025 layer?
buff.ly/pIyUpVm
OS Miniscale is smilar to the old Ten Mile or Route Planning maps and therefore great for looking for major changes in GB over time. Can you find the changes from our 2025 layer?
buff.ly/pIyUpVm
Thank you to everyone who attended tonight's Zoom session on "An Introduction to SABRE Maps". We hope that you enjoyed it, and that we answered the questions posted fully.
We're looking to hold another session in mid-February, so look out for the announcement!
We're looking to hold another session in mid-February, so look out for the announcement!
January 14, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Thank you to everyone who attended tonight's Zoom session on "An Introduction to SABRE Maps". We hope that you enjoyed it, and that we answered the questions posted fully.
We're looking to hold another session in mid-February, so look out for the announcement!
We're looking to hold another session in mid-February, so look out for the announcement!
Did you guess that this set of maps originally published in 1975 would be at the Half Inch scale?
We have three sheets available dotted across Ireland at a fascinating time when the old T and L roads system was being replaced by the modern N and R roads. What will you find?
buff.ly/HKHyQq5
We have three sheets available dotted across Ireland at a fascinating time when the old T and L roads system was being replaced by the modern N and R roads. What will you find?
buff.ly/HKHyQq5
January 12, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Did you guess that this set of maps originally published in 1975 would be at the Half Inch scale?
We have three sheets available dotted across Ireland at a fascinating time when the old T and L roads system was being replaced by the modern N and R roads. What will you find?
buff.ly/HKHyQq5
We have three sheets available dotted across Ireland at a fascinating time when the old T and L roads system was being replaced by the modern N and R roads. What will you find?
buff.ly/HKHyQq5
Want to learn more about SABRE Maps? Not sure which #maps we have available or how to find them? Or what other mapping functions we have? Perhaps you just like maps, history or the railways? Join us for our first-ever Zoom session, Wed 14 Jan 2026 - free at 1930 UK/Ireland time. buff.ly/JxwTeg1
January 8, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Want to learn more about SABRE Maps? Not sure which #maps we have available or how to find them? Or what other mapping functions we have? Perhaps you just like maps, history or the railways? Join us for our first-ever Zoom session, Wed 14 Jan 2026 - free at 1930 UK/Ireland time. buff.ly/JxwTeg1
For this #MapMonday, we'll be making sure that all of the Ordnance Survey Quarter Inch #Maps that were published in 1975 are available on SABRE Maps, with the addition of Sheet 6 to add to all the others already available. Any ideas as to which 1975 maps we'll add next? buff.ly/AWqLo5c
January 5, 2026 at 6:01 PM
For this #MapMonday, we'll be making sure that all of the Ordnance Survey Quarter Inch #Maps that were published in 1975 are available on SABRE Maps, with the addition of Sheet 6 to add to all the others already available. Any ideas as to which 1975 maps we'll add next? buff.ly/AWqLo5c
Don't forget that we've also got every single Ordnance Survey Landranger #map from 1975 already online for your delectation and delight. And remember that you can compare them to the 1974 editions (and the previous One Inch maps) using our Map Fader.
buff.ly/6ToTdlJ
buff.ly/6ToTdlJ
January 2, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Don't forget that we've also got every single Ordnance Survey Landranger #map from 1975 already online for your delectation and delight. And remember that you can compare them to the 1974 editions (and the previous One Inch maps) using our Map Fader.
buff.ly/6ToTdlJ
buff.ly/6ToTdlJ
"Limited interchange" - fed by people flapping that they might not be able to escape a motorway where they wanted to. The sheet comes with a whole set of small junction maps too.
January 1, 2026 at 10:24 AM
"Limited interchange" - fed by people flapping that they might not be able to escape a motorway where they wanted to. The sheet comes with a whole set of small junction maps too.
Happy New Year! And a new year means that another year's mapping drops out of copyright, with OS, OSI and OSNI maps with a copyright date of 1975 now being available to us. As usual, the first is a new OS Route Planning Map for you all to enjoy. buff.ly/SeTLZJl
January 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Happy New Year! And a new year means that another year's mapping drops out of copyright, with OS, OSI and OSNI maps with a copyright date of 1975 now being available to us. As usual, the first is a new OS Route Planning Map for you all to enjoy. buff.ly/SeTLZJl
For this week's #MapMonday, you can discover the OS London Two Inch Ministry of Transport maps from 1922, and see just where the A1, A2, A3 etc all meet at "point zero" in London. Or not...
buff.ly/BAr8iFr
buff.ly/BAr8iFr
December 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
For this week's #MapMonday, you can discover the OS London Two Inch Ministry of Transport maps from 1922, and see just where the A1, A2, A3 etc all meet at "point zero" in London. Or not...
buff.ly/BAr8iFr
buff.ly/BAr8iFr
And you can see the route of what we lovingly call the PNLR right here on SABRE Maps:
www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/index.p...
www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/index.p...
December 5, 2025 at 5:56 PM
And you can see the route of what we lovingly call the PNLR right here on SABRE Maps:
www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/index.p...
www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/index.p...
We like to mention sometimes that we have the world's largest freely available repository of relevant Ordnance Survey OpenData #maps - and there's still future plans to bring more. However, as we also periodically ask, we are missing some mapping from our archive.
December 3, 2025 at 6:02 PM
We like to mention sometimes that we have the world's largest freely available repository of relevant Ordnance Survey OpenData #maps - and there's still future plans to bring more. However, as we also periodically ask, we are missing some mapping from our archive.
And of course if you want to see James Drake's vision of how Lancashire would have looked, you can look at his masterpiece, the Road Plan for Lancashire, released yesterday on SABRE Maps, with companion pieces on the SABRE Wiki.
buff.ly/a0ruuuS
buff.ly/a0ruuuS
November 25, 2025 at 10:00 PM
And of course if you want to see James Drake's vision of how Lancashire would have looked, you can look at his masterpiece, the Road Plan for Lancashire, released yesterday on SABRE Maps, with companion pieces on the SABRE Wiki.
buff.ly/a0ruuuS
buff.ly/a0ruuuS
Liverpool would have got an entirely new outer ring, plus upgraded radials, a new Widnes–Runcorn high-level crossing, and major upgrades to the A580. The Plan anticipated Liverpool’s post-war expansion with surprising accuracy.
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Liverpool would have got an entirely new outer ring, plus upgraded radials, a new Widnes–Runcorn high-level crossing, and major upgrades to the A580. The Plan anticipated Liverpool’s post-war expansion with surprising accuracy.
The proposed network fixed the big bottlenecks: Preston, Lancaster, Warrington, Wigan, St Helens, Blackburn and the Fylde access routes — all identified as critical congestion points even in the 1930s.
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
The proposed network fixed the big bottlenecks: Preston, Lancaster, Warrington, Wigan, St Helens, Blackburn and the Fylde access routes — all identified as critical congestion points even in the 1930s.
The Plan grouped roads into 1st, 2nd and 3rd Group Routes — express motorways, major inter-urban links, and supporting connectors. In all:
• 217 miles of 1st Group routes
• 408 miles of 2nd Group
• 282 miles of 3rd Group
A completely rebuilt hierarchy.
• 217 miles of 1st Group routes
• 408 miles of 2nd Group
• 282 miles of 3rd Group
A completely rebuilt hierarchy.
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
The Plan grouped roads into 1st, 2nd and 3rd Group Routes — express motorways, major inter-urban links, and supporting connectors. In all:
• 217 miles of 1st Group routes
• 408 miles of 2nd Group
• 282 miles of 3rd Group
A completely rebuilt hierarchy.
• 217 miles of 1st Group routes
• 408 miles of 2nd Group
• 282 miles of 3rd Group
A completely rebuilt hierarchy.
Its centrepiece? Route 1 — the North–South Motorway, the first full motorway proposal by any local authority in Britain. This is the ancestor of today’s M6 through the region, and shows lots of similarities - and some surprising differences to what's there today.
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Its centrepiece? Route 1 — the North–South Motorway, the first full motorway proposal by any local authority in Britain. This is the ancestor of today’s M6 through the region, and shows lots of similarities - and some surprising differences to what's there today.
OK, so how many people guessed that 1949's Road Plan for Lancashire would be the plan we referred to yesterday? The LRP was an ambitious post-war highway blueprint now available on SABRE Maps Alongside it, the SABRE Wiki now carries detailed chapter summaries and commentary.
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
OK, so how many people guessed that 1949's Road Plan for Lancashire would be the plan we referred to yesterday? The LRP was an ambitious post-war highway blueprint now available on SABRE Maps Alongside it, the SABRE Wiki now carries detailed chapter summaries and commentary.
Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the last three weeks when we've brought you roads plans from London, Glasgow and Manchester. So, tomorrow, we'll bring a fourth major roads plan to life - but this time instead of being a conurbation plan, it's that for a county. But which one?
November 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the last three weeks when we've brought you roads plans from London, Glasgow and Manchester. So, tomorrow, we'll bring a fourth major roads plan to life - but this time instead of being a conurbation plan, it's that for a county. But which one?
Ah, it works if you don't put spaces in the OSGB NG reference. It also works if you put Irish Grid references in. WGS84 Lat/Lon are done via the URL.
You'll get "undefined" under the hamburger when trying a Grid Ref as the hamburger links to the SABRE Wiki. Try a large place or a junction name.
You'll get "undefined" under the hamburger when trying a Grid Ref as the hamburger links to the SABRE Wiki. Try a large place or a junction name.
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Ah, it works if you don't put spaces in the OSGB NG reference. It also works if you put Irish Grid references in. WGS84 Lat/Lon are done via the URL.
You'll get "undefined" under the hamburger when trying a Grid Ref as the hamburger links to the SABRE Wiki. Try a large place or a junction name.
You'll get "undefined" under the hamburger when trying a Grid Ref as the hamburger links to the SABRE Wiki. Try a large place or a junction name.
Glad you like it, and feedback is always welcome - things can always be improved!
However, you *can* easily both copy easily and start with a coord (though granted only WGS84 Lat/Lon) by going to the Co-ordinate Finder and clicking the "Convert co-ordinate" button. Need to make that more obvious!
However, you *can* easily both copy easily and start with a coord (though granted only WGS84 Lat/Lon) by going to the Co-ordinate Finder and clicking the "Convert co-ordinate" button. Need to make that more obvious!
November 23, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Glad you like it, and feedback is always welcome - things can always be improved!
However, you *can* easily both copy easily and start with a coord (though granted only WGS84 Lat/Lon) by going to the Co-ordinate Finder and clicking the "Convert co-ordinate" button. Need to make that more obvious!
However, you *can* easily both copy easily and start with a coord (though granted only WGS84 Lat/Lon) by going to the Co-ordinate Finder and clicking the "Convert co-ordinate" button. Need to make that more obvious!