Despite widespread ridicule, the Government has persisted with the previous Government’s barmy proposal to introduce a 2/3 pint measure for draught beer and cider. Under the pretence of “removing unnecessary red tape”, it has actually resisted calls for genuine deregulation.
Category: General
Does the failure of the English World Cup bid have any lessons for supporters of completing metrication?
What on earth has the football World Cup got to do with metrication? Nothing, you might say…but…on reflection, is there a connection?
Snow calculations made simple, or not
One of our readers, John Frewen-Lord, has been housebound for four days by the recent heavy snow falls – about 60 cm deep in his area. This has prompted him to provide an illustration of the comparative simplicity of calculating snow loads in metric units.
“Half of that mince, please”
Two brief anecdotes illustrate the difficulties still being experienced by customers because neither the Government nor “consumer advocates” will try to help them adapt to metric units in the supermarket.
Parts of the knowledge economy hit the buffers in South America
It has been said that Britain is becoming a knowledge economy, and also that metal bashing can now be safely left to the low-wage economies of the Far East. If only it were that simple. Consider the railway industry …
Continue reading “Parts of the knowledge economy hit the buffers in South America”
An opportunity for savings overlooked in the comprehensive spending review
In the comprehensive spending review (CSR) there was much talk of making changes to underpin a competitive economy, to put public services on a sustainable footing, fit for a modern age, and to prioritise those areas of public spending which are most likely to support economic growth. But there was no mention of eliminating an unnecessary overhead, which the UK’s struggling economy shares with that of the USA, namely the cost of maintaining two measurement systems side by side for the indefinite future. Continue reading “An opportunity for savings overlooked in the comprehensive spending review”
10-10-10. A reason for celebration
For many in Britain, the metric system and decimal measures are the same. Sunday’s once-in-a-century date provides an opportunity to consider the link between the two.
URS buys Scott Wilson. So what?
The UK’s twelfth largest consultancy by turnover, Scott Wilson, has been bought by the US design firm URS for £218 million. URS is second in the ‘Engineering News Record’ list of top 500 design firms. Metric Views speculates that Scott Wilson’s metric know-how is crucial for URS in this acquisition.
UK Prominent Peaks tables and maps updated
A new release of the UK Prominent Peaks tables and maps is now available. This follows the announcement of survey results for Glyder Fawr in Snowdonia which demonstrate that it is more than one thousand metres high. Continue reading “UK Prominent Peaks tables and maps updated”
New metric “Super Mountain” revealed in Wales
A new metric “Super Mountain” was revealed by G & J Surveys at a press conference in Maentwrog, Snowdonia yesterday. The vast majority of the UK’s mountains with summits of over 1 000 metres are in the Scottish highlands with previously only four other summits – all in Snowdonia – confirmed as over this height. Glyder Fawr, previously recorded as 999 metres by Ordnance Survey has been measured as 1000.8 metres in height making it a “Super Mountain”. Continue reading “New metric “Super Mountain” revealed in Wales”
Metric Views 