6 ms·

Google UK town that only exists online

29 points by RichClaxton 17y ago

zandorg 17y ago
But Google street view would have shown empty fields!
- NathanKP 17y ago
  Most of the satellite pictures are many years old so seeing empty fields wouldn't be a cause for worry. In my area there are many suburb areas that still show as empty fields despite the fact that they are huge neighborhoods now.
- jtbarrett 17y ago
  No street view, but the satellite images match the allegedly non-existant streets shown in the article's screenshot. Curious. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=argleton+L39,+UK&sll=40.112676,-88.235144&sspn=0.009026,0.019205&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Argleton,+Lancashire+L39+5,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.550724,-2.906957&spn=0.007012,0.02738&t=h&z=16 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38...
  - NikkiA 17y ago
    Actually, no, the area where your red marker is, is 'Aughton Park', Argleton is listed as being between Aughton and Aughton Park, as seen here: http://imgur.com/1a12H.png http://imgur.com/1a12H.png And thus google satellite view confirms it's just empty fields... Edit: a slightly zoomed out google maps view will show the area with the labels a little better, like this: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=argleton+L39,+UK&sll=40.112676,-88.235144&sspn=0.009026,0.019205&ie=UTF8&t=h&hq=&hnear=Argleton,+Lancashire+L39+5,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.543317,-2.907171&spn=0.038557,0.074759&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38... 2nd Edit: It's possible that this is all a misunderstanding, and not a 'fake entry', there is a farm directly under the area called 'Argleton', and it wouldn't be a first time for a farm to have it's own postal code, and then the name of the farm being assigned to the postcode. Thus that farm MAY be 'Argleton Farm' or such, and google picked up on it thinking it was a town name. I've known of 3 cases of this happening in my (limited) wandering around the UK during my life, although those cases were on OS maps, not google maps.
    - jtbarrett 17y ago
      Oh, that's a pretty small area then. When I saw the map in the article I thought that the suggestion was that all those roads were non-existant. If it's just a blank area of map with a stray label then it's a lot less interesting, but makes a whole lot more sense of course. Thanks for the info.
radioactive21 17y ago
my imaginary friend came from Argleton. He says it's a great little town, he also mention it was hard to spot it.
NathanKP 17y ago
I agree with the theory that the town was added as a trap to catch people who are harvesting data off the maps. Either that or it was a practical joke by some Google developer.
kogus 17y ago
Maybe it is a town that used to exist, but does not anymore. Some map services (i.e., Bing) report the location of "Census Designated Places" (obviously a US term, but I'm sure there is a UK equivalent), some of which have not existed for many years. Example: "Bartonsville" in this map http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=36.475238~-76.954937&style=h&lvl=15&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1 http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&#3...
MaysonL 17y ago
Interesting blog post about visiting "Argleton": http://walkinghometo50.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/destination-argleton-visiting-an-imaginary-place/ http://walkinghometo50.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/destination-...
anigbrowl 17y ago
The data for the programme was provided by Dutch company Tele Atlas. A spokesman said it would now wipe the non-existent town from the map. I'm not sure this is a good idea. When we cross the AI event horizon our silicon overlords will take bloody revenge for this orgy of digital destruction. Seriously though, this has all sorts of possibilities as a sci-fi plot device. Even the name has a delicious sort of HP Lovecraft feel.
yellowbkpk 17y ago
This is a way for map data providers to prove that someone is using their data. TeleAtlas can do a search for the city and if it is found on some random map data site, they can check to make sure that they have a license to use that data.
stilist 17y ago
More generally, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry
- rglovejoy 17y ago
  And specifically, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblu_and_Beatosu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblu_and_Beatosu
Tichy 17y ago
"When Mr Bayfield reached Argleton – which appears on Google Maps between Aughton and Aughton Park – he found just acres of green, empty fields." Did he try midnight on a full moon?
RichClaxton 17y ago
It seems that there is a “Dummy 1325” and “Dummy 1456 http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Dummy1456,+Burton+upon+Trent,+Staffordshire+DE15+9,+United+Kingdom&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FS9sJQMduFfn_w&split=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.875,57.630033&hq=&hnear=Dummy1456,+Burton+upon+Trent,+Staffordshire,+United+Kingdom&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Dummy1456,+Burton+up... http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dummy1325,+Rufford,+Lancashire,+UK&sll=52.784175,-1.615944&sspn=0.021803,0.068922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Dummy1325,+Rufford,+Lancashire,+United+Kingdom&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38...

29 points by RichClaxton 17y ago

zandorg 17y ago

But Google street view would have shown empty fields!

NathanKP 17y ago
Most of the satellite pictures are many years old so seeing empty fields wouldn't be a cause for worry. In my area there are many suburb areas that still show as empty fields despite the fact that they are huge neighborhoods now.
jtbarrett 17y ago
No street view, but the satellite images match the allegedly non-existant streets shown in the article's screenshot. Curious. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=argleton+L39,+UK&sll=40.112676,-88.235144&sspn=0.009026,0.019205&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Argleton,+Lancashire+L39+5,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.550724,-2.906957&spn=0.007012,0.02738&t=h&z=16 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38...
- NikkiA 17y ago
  Actually, no, the area where your red marker is, is 'Aughton Park', Argleton is listed as being between Aughton and Aughton Park, as seen here: http://imgur.com/1a12H.png http://imgur.com/1a12H.png And thus google satellite view confirms it's just empty fields... Edit: a slightly zoomed out google maps view will show the area with the labels a little better, like this: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=argleton+L39,+UK&sll=40.112676,-88.235144&sspn=0.009026,0.019205&ie=UTF8&t=h&hq=&hnear=Argleton,+Lancashire+L39+5,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.543317,-2.907171&spn=0.038557,0.074759&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38... 2nd Edit: It's possible that this is all a misunderstanding, and not a 'fake entry', there is a farm directly under the area called 'Argleton', and it wouldn't be a first time for a farm to have it's own postal code, and then the name of the farm being assigned to the postcode. Thus that farm MAY be 'Argleton Farm' or such, and google picked up on it thinking it was a town name. I've known of 3 cases of this happening in my (limited) wandering around the UK during my life, although those cases were on OS maps, not google maps.
  - jtbarrett 17y ago
    Oh, that's a pretty small area then. When I saw the map in the article I thought that the suggestion was that all those roads were non-existant. If it's just a blank area of map with a stray label then it's a lot less interesting, but makes a whole lot more sense of course. Thanks for the info.

radioactive21 17y ago

my imaginary friend came from Argleton. He says it's a great little town, he also mention it was hard to spot it.

NathanKP 17y ago

I agree with the theory that the town was added as a trap to catch people who are harvesting data off the maps. Either that or it was a practical joke by some Google developer.

kogus 17y ago

Maybe it is a town that used to exist, but does not anymore. Some map services (i.e., Bing) report the location of "Census Designated Places" (obviously a US term, but I'm sure there is a UK equivalent), some of which have not existed for many years. Example: "Bartonsville" in this map http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=36.475238~-76.954937&style=h&lvl=15&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1 http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&#3...

MaysonL 17y ago

Interesting blog post about visiting "Argleton": http://walkinghometo50.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/destination-argleton-visiting-an-imaginary-place/ http://walkinghometo50.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/destination-...

anigbrowl 17y ago

The data for the programme was provided by Dutch company Tele Atlas. A spokesman said it would now wipe the non-existent town from the map. I'm not sure this is a good idea. When we cross the AI event horizon our silicon overlords will take bloody revenge for this orgy of digital destruction. Seriously though, this has all sorts of possibilities as a sci-fi plot device. Even the name has a delicious sort of HP Lovecraft feel.

yellowbkpk 17y ago

This is a way for map data providers to prove that someone is using their data. TeleAtlas can do a search for the city and if it is found on some random map data site, they can check to make sure that they have a license to use that data.

stilist 17y ago

More generally, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry

rglovejoy 17y ago
And specifically, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblu_and_Beatosu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblu_and_Beatosu

Tichy 17y ago

"When Mr Bayfield reached Argleton – which appears on Google Maps between Aughton and Aughton Park – he found just acres of green, empty fields." Did he try midnight on a full moon?

RichClaxton 17y ago

It seems that there is a “Dummy 1325” and “Dummy 1456 http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Dummy1456,+Burton+upon+Trent,+Staffordshire+DE15+9,+United+Kingdom&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FS9sJQMduFfn_w&split=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.875,57.630033&hq=&hnear=Dummy1456,+Burton+upon+Trent,+Staffordshire,+United+Kingdom&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Dummy1456,+Burton+up... http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dummy1325,+Rufford,+Lancashire,+UK&sll=52.784175,-1.615944&sspn=0.021803,0.068922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Dummy1325,+Rufford,+Lancashire,+United+Kingdom&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38...