How are speedometers designed to accommodate the change from mph to km/h? In this article I will examine a variety of techniques and at the end of the article I will propose a 21st Century solution.
Continue reading “Speedometers and Metrication”Category: History
Official thinking on dual unit road signs in the 1960’s
HM Government looked at the case for and against the use of dual unit road signs as an intermediate step in the metrication of road signs in the second half of the 1960’s. Three different methods for dual unit sign conversion were evaluated and some technical issues related to dual unit signs were discussed. The findings and illustrations from the National Archive papers are presented here.
Continue reading “Official thinking on dual unit road signs in the 1960’s”Was the 1824 Weights and Measures Act a help or a hindrance for metrication?
The 1824 Weights and Measures Act introduced imperial standards based on physical objects with certain characteristics, such as the Imperial Standard Yard, and a single set of volume measures based on the new Imperial Gallon for dry and liquid measures to replace several that were in existence. To mark 200 years since the passing of the 1824 Weights and Measures Act, I look at the main features of the Act and ask whether it was a help or a hindrance on the path to metrication in the UK.
Continue reading “Was the 1824 Weights and Measures Act a help or a hindrance for metrication?”Early Metrication on Southern African Railways
During the last decade of the nineteenth century, events in Southern Africa were dominated by the gold rush as adventurers scrambled to exploit the newly discovered in the Johannesburg area. This and the egos of and animosity between the financier and Cape Colony prime minister Cecil John Rhodes and the aging and dour president of the Transvaal Republic Paul Kruger resulted in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.
Continue reading “Early Metrication on Southern African Railways”How did campaigners for the metric system get their message across 120 years ago?
120 years ago, in addition to the activities of their members, the Decimal Association made use of pamphlets to make their case for the adoption of the metric system in place of the bewildering array of imperial weights and measures that were in use at the time.
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House of Lords votes in favour of full adoption of the metric system
With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee still fresh in people’s memories, and with a new King on the throne, it is a momentous time in our country’s history as the House of Lords votes unanimously to switch to the sole use of the metric system for all official purposes within a 2-year period.
The vote was undoubtedly influenced by the massive public support recently expressed in favour of the metric system.
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DfT refuses to explain why they changed their views on the metrication of road signs
I recently asked the Department for Transport (DfT) when they changed their view about the metrication of road signs. In July 1970, the Ministry of Transport (forerunner of the DfT) wrote in a letter that “imperial speed limits could not be retained within a general metric system”. Since then, almost everything has officially gone metric, but road signs remain one of the few official uses of imperial units. The other official uses of imperial units are pints for draught beer and cider and doorstep milk and troy ounces for precious metals. The DfT now argues that road signs should remain exempt from metrication, contrary to what they said in the letter. I asked the DfT about this inconsistency. They refused to comment on it.
Continue reading “DfT refuses to explain why they changed their views on the metrication of road signs”Government avoids awkward questions on imperial road signs
I tried to get answers from the Secretary of State for Transport via my MP about the issues I raised in two of my recent Metric Views articles. My MP told me that he is not going to put my question to the Secretary of State as there are no plans to replace the units on British road signs. Is this a convenient way to shield his ministerial colleagues from awkward questions about imperial road signs?
Continue reading “Government avoids awkward questions on imperial road signs”Government once admitted that road signs cannot remain imperial in a metric world
Official government documents from the early 1970’s stated that road signs cannot remain imperial while the rest of the UK goes metric. One of these documents is an official letter from the Ministry of Transport (MOT), as the Department for Transport (DfT) was then called. Would you believe it? Compare that with the current attitude of the DfT today, which directly contradicts the admission in the MOT letter.
Continue reading “Government once admitted that road signs cannot remain imperial in a metric world”Why the Government scrapped plans to convert UK speed limit signs to km/h in 1970
On 9 December 1970, the Minister for Transport Industries John Peyton announced that the Government have decided that speed limits will not be made metric in 1973 and have no alternative date in mind. Why did the Government scrap the metrication of speed limits? Historical government documents give various reasons for scrapping the planned conversion. This article will show some of these documents, which reveal the reasons the Government gave for its decision.
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Metric Views 