We know how long a mile is but are not good at judging Kms.
An acre is easy for us to gauge but not a hectare.
So while taking a lengthy stroll around the town in Sunday afternoon's sunshine, we pleasantly surprised to see the above sign on Atherton Way, setting out the distance to Brigg Primary School in YARDS for the benefit of approaching motorists. No mention of metric metres.
But how many approaching drivers heading towards the school - especially parents with young children - still think in yards?
North Lincolnshire Council is the highway authority for our area.
13 comments:
Despite the introduction of metrication distances/speeds in UK are calculated/displayed in imperial units....hence 30MPH, Nige.
Some time ago..about 10 years..finger posts were erected on a public footpath near the leisure centre...Distances were shown in km...but someone challenged metric distances and they had to be shown in miles and yards.
When metrication was first introduced in the 1970's....there was some confusion....timber width and depth had to be sold in metric while length was still shown in feet....
The metric system is not really new...it was devised in the late C18th.
It was/is based on logical math thinking and did not use measurements, such as those in the imperial system, based on some rationalisation of historical measurements, which employed an assortment of bases.....For example, in old money £sd..12 pennies made a shilling and 20 shillings made a £...and 240 pennies made a £, while 4 farthing equalled 1 penny.
The Metric system is based on base 10 throughout...which was a lot easier to calculate than hundredweights: 16 ounces = 1lb and 1760 yards = 1 mile.
An acre was based historical on how much land a horse/oxen could plough in one day, while a hectare = 100x100m; 1 tonne equals the weigh of a cubic metre 1mx1mx1m of water....so if you know the specific gravity of a substance, from iron, lead, corn, soil, concrete etc, it is quite easy to calculate the volume/weight.....dead simps...Try doing that in imperial!!
Take the capacity measurement of a pint....pint was used throughout Europe and the Americas, but the actual capacity varied from country to country. America used the British pint, but while Europe introduced the metric system in the C19th, Britain re-standardised the pint measure: while America retained the old British pint (Now called the American pint), which is about 20 percent less than the British unit. In parts of Canada, a pint measures about British pints...Confusing!
When the metric system was introduced in the UK, milk and draught beer were still allowed to be sold in pints...even more confusing....and was compounded by fuel being sold in gallons (8x UK pints)for decades after metrication....
Personally, I don't know why some
folks wanted to retain the imperial system. The imperial measurements just didn't make much sense....people argued that it was custom, as it the measurement system had been written in stone - but historically, units had been re-standardised on a regular basis...
Anyway, which weighs the heavier...a tonne of iron, or a tonne of feathers?
......and how about British shoe sizes...based on barleycorns...one-third of a inch....!!!???
......and how about British shoe sizes...based on barleycorns...one-third of a inch....!!!???
Take the capacity measurement of a pint....pint was used throughout Europe and the Americas, but the actual capacity varied from country to country. America used the British pint, but while Europe introduced the metric system in the C19th, Britain re-standardised the pint measure: while America retained the old British pint (Now called the American pint), which is about 20 percent less than the British unit. In parts of Canada, a pint measures about British pints...Confusing!
When the metric system was introduced in the UK, milk and draught beer were still allowed to be sold in pints...even more confusing....and was compounded by fuel being sold in gallons (8x UK pints)for decades after metrication....
Personally, I don't know why some
folks wanted to retain the imperial system. The imperial measurements just didn't make much sense....people argued that it was custom, as it the measurement system had been written in stone - but historically, units had been re-standardised on a regular basis...
Anyway, which weighs the heavier...a tonne of iron, or a tonne of feathers?
Talking about America....Americans have a number of different words to describe British items/situations.
For example, they will use the term, water-closet (wc) for a toilet.
But often they are using Mediaeval English that were used in England during Elizabethian times....a wc was a basic toilet in those days.
While both English and American English evolved after English settlers populated the American continent, but not all individual words changed and words and meanings may have changed according to usage.
Another example is fall.
Indeed, American English may give us a clue to the English spoken in England circa C16th....
Talking about America....Americans have a number of different words to describe British items/situations.
For example, they will use the term, water-closet (wc) for a toilet.
But often they are using Mediaeval English that were used in England during Elizabethian times....a wc was a basic toilet in those days.
While both English and American English evolved after English settlers populated the American continent, but not all individual words changed and words and meanings may have changed according to usage.
Another example is fall.
Indeed, American English may give us a clue to the English spoken in England circa C16th....
Not all measurements have been pressurised to go metric...
Take degrees in a circle....360 degrees.
Devised by the Babylonians who mistakenly thought there were 360 days in a year..they later realised their mistake, but 360 is easily divisible by a whole range of numbers and has become standard.
However, during European wars, the French thought dividing a circle in 400 degree would allow their artillery to become more accurate...contrary to the notion, 400 is a difficult number to divide and the French guns became less efficient......
Not all measurements have been pressurised to go metric...
Take degrees in a circle....360 degrees.
Devised by the Babylonians who mistakenly thought there were 360 days in a year..they later realised their mistake, but 360 is easily divisible by a whole range of numbers and has become standard.
However, during European wars, the French thought dividing a circle in 400 degree would allow their artillery to become more accurate...contrary to the notion, 400 is a difficult number to divide and the French guns became less efficient......
Yard....depends to which yard one is referring.
The Roman yard was about 2 and a half feet..(hence Roman miles are shorter).the Welsh yard was related to a walking step and the Germanic yard was the length of an outstreched arm to nose.
Eventually, the length of the yard was standard and is displayed on the outside of the Greenwich Observatory....then in the late 50's..the Scientic Age.. it was found that the yard minutely varied in western countries...so it was again readjusted microscopically...
So I assume the the 150 yards refer to a British Statute Yard, as readjusted in the late 50's!!!....
Anyway...did you hear about the time when USA and USSR cooperated in building a space craft...the Americans built their bits using Imperial measurements, while the Ruskies used metric....!!
Yard....depends to which yard one is referring.
The Roman yard was about 2 and a half feet..(hence Roman miles are shorter).the Welsh yard was related to a walking step and the Germanic yard was the length of an outstreched arm to nose.
Eventually, the length of the yard was standard and is displayed on the outside of the Greenwich Observatory....then in the late 50's..the Scientic Age.. it was found that the yard minutely varied in western countries...so it was again readjusted microscopically...
So I assume the the 150 yards refer to a British Statute Yard, as readjusted in the late 50's!!!....
Anyway...did you hear about the time when USA and USSR cooperated in building a space craft...the Americans built their bits using Imperial measurements, while the Ruskies used metric....!!
Looks like I've gone binary!
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