A FIFTY-YEARS RETROSPECT

Abstract

Early in 1902 I accepted with some misgivings the post of Instructor in Surveying at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham, in succession to Major A. C. MacDonnell. I had hardly joined at Chatham when Sir Thomas Holdich offered me the post of second in command of the Chile-Argentina Boundary Commission. However, my new chief, the Commandant, would not let me go, so I settled down to a few years of very pleasant work at Chatham. The first thing to do was to introduce a correct method of computing the geographical coordinates of the trigonometrical stations of a topographical survey, a matter over which my predecessor had suffered a rebuff. Now, however, the War Office personnel had changed; no opposition arose, and the thing was done.     

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE DETERMINATION OF HEIGHTS ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

Abstract

Preliminary Note.—The substance of this article was written in 1921 at the request of Lieut-Col. Wolff, who was then in charge of the Levelling Division of the Ordnance Survey and with whom the author collaborated in writing “The Second Geodetic Levelling of England and Wales, 1912–21” under the direction of Sir Charles Close. It was not intended for publication and was not again considered until 1928, when a discussion by correspondence was started by the Surveyor-General of Ceylon on the subject of hill circuits in levelling. In this discussion the survey authorities in Great Britain, Canada, India, and South Africa took part, but the main theme was the accumulation of error due to the large number of sightings necessary in hilly country and the question whether a common formula for such country and for flat country was justifiable. In his contribution Dr. van der Sterr made a brief allusion to the subject of the present paper and Dr. de Graaff Hunter went into details. His contribution and the following remarks therefore have some arguments in common.     

THE USE OF AIR PlIOTOGRApHS BY THE ORDNANCE SURVEY

Abstract

During the last year, the Air Survey Section, Field Division, Ordnance Survey, have had many visitors. Most of them have been surprised at what they have seen: some at the fact that we are able to make so much use of air photographs even in the largest scale surveys, and some at the small amount of information we seem able to extract from them. This paper is an attempt to give in some detail the ways in which air photographs are used to solve the problems of the Ordnance Survey, why they are used and their limitations for our purposes.     

THE ORDNANCE SURVEY FOOT/METRE CONVERSION RATIO

Abstract

The Figure of the Earth used by the Ordnance Survey for its work in Great Britain is that given by Sir George Airy in the “Encyclopaedia of Astronomy” in an article on the Figure of the Earth. It is universally known as Airy's Figure.     

A FIFTY-YEARS RETROSPECT

Abstract

The Ordnance Survey and the War.—I shall not inflict upon the readers of this Review any very long account of the work of the Ordnance Survey during the Great War. At that time the work of the Survey suffered from one necessary disadvantage: all the young men on its establishment, whether in the R.E. Companies or on the Civil Staff, left for active service. As a slight compensation for this inevitable dislocation all money difficulties in the preparation of maps for war disappeared.     

THE EUROPEAN ORGANISATION FOR EXPERIMENTAL PHOTOGRAMMETRIC RESEARCH (OEEPE)

Since the occasion of the Thompson Symposium in 1979, two new members have joined OEEPE. These are France and the United Kingdom. The possibility of membership had been considered by the UK over the last decade on more than one occasion but, for one good reason or another, no application had been made. In 1980, however, W. P. Smith (Director General, Ordnance Survey) circulated organisations and individuals who might be interested and received an almost unanimous expression of support for an application for membership. This was also in line with the Ordnance Survey's intent to increase its links with other organisations, both nationally and internationally. The Foreign Office agreed that the UK should apply for membership and this was done. The UK became a full member of OEEPE in time for the Oslo meeting of the Steering Committee in 1981.
There follows a background paper on the work of OEEPE and accounts of current OEEPE Commission activities.     

GEODETIC WORK IN INDIA—WAR AND POST-WAR

Abstract

Although during World War II field work on geodetic subjects other than those directly connected with the war effort remained practically in abeyance, the war provided unique opportunities for the study and execution of several interesting problems such as the linking of Indian triangulation with Iraq and Iran on the one hand and Siam and Malaya on the other. A detailed account of the Geodetic work of the Survey of India during the period 1939-47 is given in the Survey of India “Technical Report 1947—Part III, Geodetic Work”.     

COMPILATION OF THE LAND REGISTER OF ENGLAND AND WALES

Abstract

Skillfully as those charged with the shaping and conduct of the crowded time-table of the Conference of Commonwealth Surveyors in 1947 managed their difficult task, physical inability to squeeze many good gallons’ measure into a pint pot relentlessly closured discussions and allowed no opportunity to collect and appraise the yield in any vat on the spot. We were very sensible of these effects in relation to our own and other papers on Land Registration. Our own paper too—owing to transient circumstances which overlapped the Conference—had to be presented in the stodgy form of a synopsis and—through accidents of travel—only reached some delegates, whose comments were particularly desired, on the eve of its presentation. Nevertheless the generous reception accorded to this and other ‘papers on the subject and the many stimulating points that were raised in their discussion, limited though this was, call’ for further consideration and digestion if the resultant lessons are to be elicited and put to practical use. We have, therefore, sought the approval of the Editor of this Review to pursue this purpose, so far as space permits, in this and later numbers. Our remarks should be read in conjunction with the relevant portions of the Proceedings of the Conference which are in the press but are not expected to be available for some months yet. We have especially in mind the observations of the following speakers: Mr. G. H. Curtis, Chief Land Registrar, H.M. Land Registry, London; Mr. John Dewar, previously Surveyor-General of Malaya; Mr. R. G. Dick, -Surveyor-General of New Zealand; Lt.-Col. Elkington, Divisional Officer, Ordnance Survey Office, London; Mr. F. M. Johnstone, Surveyor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia; Mr. E. A. Malby, Chief Superintendent Mapping Branch, H.～. Land Registry; and Major-General M. N. MacLeod, previously Director- General of the Ordnance Survey.     

THE SCHOOL OF MILITARY SURVEY AND ITS COURSES FOR COMMONWEALTH SURVEYORS

Abstract

On the first of January 1949 the Survey Training Centre of the Royal Engineers became the School of Military Survey. In the previous two years over fifty Colonial Survey Officers or Probationers came to the Training Centre as students on various courses. Many of these have now taken their places in the Colonial Survey Service. More students may come in the future not only from the Colonies but also from the Dominions, for just as the Military Survey courses are open to the military officers of the Dominions so are the Colonial Survey courses open to the survey students from the Dominion Governments. Some information about the School and courses may be of interest to these potential students and to many readers of this Review, and these notes have been written with the intention of providing this information     

TRIALS OF A SURVEYOR-MODERN VERSION

Abstract

Reading the Empire Survey Review of 20 years ago, with the tales of raw jungle and untrodden country, as in Sir Charles Arden-Close's retrospective accounts, I am tempted to give a brief picture of surveying in the Colonies today, away from the beaten track.     

A FIFTY-YEARS RETROSPECT

Abstract

The Ordnance Survey after the War.—I might class the four years after the War, during which I remained at the head of the Ordnance Survey, as interesting but troublesome. As is well known, an entirely unreasonable impression was spread about that, now that the War was over, there would be a period of great prosperity, and that we should all live like fighting cocks. Well, things did not work out like that. There was a Select Committee on National Expenditure (1918), and this Committee recommended a lengthening of the period of revision of the large-scale maps of the United Kingdom and a consequent, ultimate, reduction of establishment by 500 men. The Treasury later on insisted on a reduction by 600, including Ireland.     

Maps for the Reluctant

Abstract

This paper describes the design and development of two trial 1:100 000 scale Ordnance Survey maps targeted specifically at the inexperienced and reluctant map users in the touring and holiday market. These are two maps which depart from the very high map specification designs normally offered by Ordnance Survey. The use of extensive consumer market research and the objective analysis of existing touring type maps on sale have enabled Ordnance Survey to publish two experimental maps, which will succeed or fail by consumer reaction alone.     

THE PLACE OF MOUNT EVEREST IN HISTORY

Abstract

The Himalaya are known as the highest mountains of the earth; but they have another title to fame not generally recognized in that they have been the home of civilized man for a longer period than any other mountain range. When the monoliths of Stonehenge were being raised in England and when the Pyramids were being built in Egypt, the glaciers of the Himalaya were being explored. The geographical names which are entered upon modern maps of the Central Himalaya are very ancient memorials of civilization. The existence of a mountain nomenclature, Aryan in the west and centre, Mongolian in the east, has given rise to linguistic problems not less difficult than the topographical problems of the snows. In 1927 the volumes of the Linguistic Survey of India were published; they had been written by Sir George Grierson, an officer of the Indian Civil Service, and they dealt with 723 different languages and dialects. In the Himalaya there are now in use among the peoples seventy different languages, all of which (with one aboriginal exception) belong either to the Aryan or Mongolian family. Languages are historical monuments, and from them Sir George Grierson has been able to decipher the outlines of history.     

THE CAPE BAR “A” AND THE METRE-FOOT RELATION

Abstract

The Cape Bar A has two sets of end marks. One set is represented by small dots in embedded surfaces of gold, and the other by finely engraved lines near the dots. The distance between the dots was measured in British units by Sir George Airy in 1839, and at the Ordnance Survey in. 1844; and the lines were standardised in international metres by M. Benoit at Paris in 1886. By lueasuring the small distances between the dots and the lines, and using the data of the original standardisations, it has been possible to obtain a value of the metre-foot relation. The ratio thus obtained agrees with the determinations of Benoit (1896) and Sears (1928).     

The Changing Role of Ordnance Survey International With Case Studies in Trinidad, Guyana and Albania

This paper discusses the role of Ordnance Survey International as a division within Ordnance Survey and outlines the work currently being carried out world-wide. It identifies the commercial structure of the business and justifies the reasons for participation in overseas markets. The key business activities of Adviser to the United Kingdom Department for International Development, international relations, library services, training and consultancy are all described. In addition, three case studies are included to support the main text.     

IMPROVEMENTS IN REPRODUCTION METHODS OF THE ORDNANCE SURVEY

Abstract

The following six notes describe some of the ways in which reproduction methods of the Ordnance Survey have recently been improved. They have been written by different officersof the Ordnance Survey and Ministry of Supply whose initials appear at the end of each note.     

The Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 Map

Abstract

The One Inch to One Mile Map, first published by the Ordnance Survey 175 years ago has been superseded by the new metric 1:50 000 series. This account describes the cartographic production stages of the new series and is a sequel to the paper by J. G. Price—Cartographic Journal, June 1975.     

Editorial

Abstract

This paper describes the conservation of the first edition of the six-inches-to-one-mile Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland. It outlines the general problem of the acidity of paper on which nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey maps are printed and the peculiar problems of conserving a hand-coloured presentation set. Each stage in the process is described up to the final encapsulation of the maps in Melinex polyester film.     

The Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland: An Outline of its History and Present Mapping Tasks

Abstract

This explains the formation of the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland as a separate institution in 1921, when it took over the map series which until that time had been part of the Ordnance Survey (U. K.) responsibility. As happened with many mapping organisations, replanning and reorganisation took place after 1945; this included a triangulation for Northern Ireland to provide a basis for a new Irt"sh Grid, and the introduction of the 1:1250 scale for major urban areas.

The technical problems of reproduction and revision are then considered, and details given for each of the main series.     

A knowledge based system for cartographic symbol design

Abstract

The work of the Ordnance Survey in Scotland has been rarely considered at a local level. Several bodies in Glasgow contributed to an extensive correspondence regarding the plan of the city and the appropriate scales of survey. This paper discusses the representation as an insight onto a wider perspective of the development of Ordnance Survey policy in the mid-Victorian era.