About
A Partial Guide is a text adventure of the real world, built from open data, and nothing in it is made up. It starts with Addiscombe, in Croydon, told by Guide, who says only what the sources say, as they say it: where the data is broken, Guide is too.
The map Guide carries is dated 25 October 2026. If you agree, this page counts your visit with Google Analytics: which page you opened and, on the walk, the kind of each command (a step, a look, a route), never what you type. Without your yes nothing is sent. You can change your answer in Settings. Guide never asks where you are.
Where Guide’s words come from
- OpenStreetMap: the map Guide carries: streets, buildings, shops, names and addresses, as one dated copy taken by hand. © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
- Open-Meteo: today’s weather, asked for the map’s own place, never yours. Asked from your browser as you read; you can turn it off in Settings. CC BY 4.0.
- Transport for London: what is due next at the bus and tram stops on the map. Asked from your browser as you read; you can turn it off in Settings. Powered by TfL Open Data. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2016.
- OpenFreeMap: the map shown with gps on a wide screen, drawn with MapLibre GL JS, around where the map puts the stop, never where you are. Asked from your browser as you read; you can turn it off in Settings. © OpenMapTiles, © OpenStreetMap contributors. MapLibre GL JS, BSD-3-Clause.
- TfL JamCams: what the traffic camera nearest the map’s place last saw. Asked from your browser as you read; you can turn it off in Settings. Powered by TfL Open Data.
- CelesTrak: the orbits of the bright satellites, from which those overhead are worked out. Asked from your browser as you read; you can turn it off in Settings. Orbital elements from CelesTrak, by Dr T.S. Kelso.
- adsb.lol: the aircraft overhead, as they broadcast themselves. Asked from your browser as you read; you can turn it off in Settings. Open Database License (ODbL).
- Astronomy Engine: where the planets stand, worked out in your browser. MIT License, by Don Cross.
- satellite.js: the working out of where each satellite is. MIT License.
- Open-Meteo Air Quality: the air today, modelled for the map’s own place, never yours. Asked from your browser as you read; you can turn it off in Settings. CC BY 4.0; data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
- SunCalc: where the sun and moon stand, worked out in your browser; nothing is asked of anyone. BSD-2-Clause, Vladimir Agafonkin.
- Wikidata: another account of what the map links to, and who streets are named for. CC0.
- Food Standards Agency: food hygiene ratings. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- planning.data.gov.uk: listed buildings. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- London Planning Datahub: planning applications. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- HM Land Registry Price Paid: what houses last sold for. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- police.uk: street-level crime, by month. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Open Plaques: plaques and what they say. Open Plaques contributors.
- Office for National Statistics: ward boundaries, and postcodes that have ended. Source: Office for National Statistics. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- OpenBenches: benches and what is written on them. OpenBenches contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- NBN Atlas: what has been seen living here, and when. NBN Atlas and its data partners; only records under CC0, CC BY or the OGL.
- Companies House: the companies registered at addresses. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Energy Performance of Buildings Register: when houses were built, and how they are rated for energy. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; Royal Mail and Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right.
- Geograph: the titles of photographs taken here, and when. Photograph titles © their photographers, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Environment Agency: flood zones, and the floods it has recorded. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- London Datastore: the trees listed along streets. Greater London Authority. Open Government Licence v3.0.
Who made it
Made by Benedict. The code is on GitHub.
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