What is TrailWise2?

The original TrailWise project (formerly Wayfinder) brought together people who were interested in Public Rights of Way within the UK, to share their knowledge and experience. TrailWise2 (or TW2) is a new national record of Public Rights of Way within England and Wales which builds on the knowledge gained through Trailwise over many years. It is run by the Green Lane Association for its members but strives to be nationally recognised by all official bodies charged with administering and governing Rights of Way.

The system records on a base map the location and route of Rights of Way along with a collection of information about each route. In TW2 registered users can add information about those ways in the form of comments, e.g. their physical nature, changes of legal status, or historical and other evidence of their status.

TrailWise was built on two fundamental principles - firstly that a large number of users have contributed small amounts of information to the system therefore providing a complete picture for the benefit of everyone. Additionally that the information is available in a single, central location and it is therefore guaranteed that everyone is referring to the latest, most up-to date information available.

Contributions to TrailWise and TW2 were/are made on the understanding that they are for the overall benefit of the project and its members.

To get visibility of the detailed routes in TW2 you need to be a member of the Green Lane Association, then register in TW2.

The principle is that potential TW2 users are encouraged to join the Green Lane Association, to foster community strength and encourage responsible highway use. The cost of running TW2 is paid by the Green Lane Association and your subscription will help to pay for keeping it live and up to date.

Who runs TW2?

TW2 is operated for the benefit of all its members. TW2 is operated by a Project Team and a commercial software company on behalf of the Green Lane Association Ltd. All project team members are members or officers of the Green Lane Association.

Contact details for the Green Lane Association, the legal entity behind TW2, are provided at www.glass-uk.org

There you will find full details of company registration and Information Commissioner registration.

How do I make suggestions for new features or improvements to TW2?

The team always welcomes ideas for new features or improvements to existing features that make TW2 more useful as a tool for identifying vehicular Rights of Way. Before submitting a new idea please consider what advantages it will bring to TW2 users and any disadvantages that may be caused by the feature. Include a full description of the idea including advantages and disadvantages and email it to Admin using the Contact Us button. Please remember that TW2 is a professionally developed software application and all changes have to be paid for by the Green Lane Association – the Project Team will consider the cost of implementing any changes along with the benefits.

Alternatively, why not discuss your idea with other TW2 users on the Trailwise2 Facebook group. Sometimes, "bouncing an idea around" can make it even better.

All new ideas and suggestions are considered although there is no guarantee that they will be taken up. Development of the system is continual but much of this happens behind the scenes and doesn't appear in an obvious way to users.

Who contributes to TW2?

Every user is able to contribute to the TW2 project via the Disqus comments on each Detail page.

The system allows several people each to add some information about a route in order to build up a fuller, up-to-date picture of its usage, useability and its condition over time.

Any piece of information that you have about a route is important and you should add it to the system for the benefit of every user. Whenever you have used a route or series of routes, you can feed that information into TrailWise as usage evidence.

You will need to register (once) with Disqus the first time you make a comment – after that, you may need to log in periodically using your Disqus password.

Comments will be subject to moderation by the Green Lane Association, who reserve the right to refuse or remove comments which are considered inappropriate. Photographs may be added to users’ comments and uploaded via Disqus. Note that comments and photos will be visible to all users and may be divulged to official bodies for legal purposes or as user evidence in support of Definitive Map Modification Orders.

Is TW2 always available?

Because TW2 is a web-based service, it is available to any registered member with internet access all the time - well, almost!

Because the system requires occasional maintenance or addition of new features, the Team sometimes take all or part of TW2 off-line. Where possible, information about the next scheduled downtime will be published on the Trailwise Facebook group.

It could occasionally be necessary to take the service off-line without warning, such occasions will be kept to an absolute minimum.

How is TW2 funded?

TW2 is a 'member benefit' service operated by the Green Lane Association TW2 Project Team.

Trailwise has in the past been written and administered largely by volunteers, whilst hosting and platform costs were funded by the Green Lane Association.

TW2 has been fully funded by the Green Lane Association from inception, using a commercial software house as well as in-house expertise. Details of this use of funds will be visible in association audited accounts.

Language used within TW2

There are many languages in use in the UK today, but for simplicity and ease of access by all members, only English should normally be used within TW2.

Place names are an obvious exception! The study of how place names can be derived from old languages is a discipline in itself.

There are no current plans to make TW2 multilingual.

Track exporter

Unlike previous versions of Trailwise, there is no method for exporting tracks from TW2. This is to prevent copying of the data by third parties. The TW2 team are investigating options for route exporting by users, but currently your TW2 route planning must be done on-line. This has the benefit of ensuring you are using the latest available TW2 information.

Note

TW2 is not an app, and requires a web connection to work (fixed or mobile). TW2 is a primarily a planning tool and is not a green lane 'Sat Nav'