Metric Britain

“It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s... more confusion”  The aviation industry is one which holds a special place in my heart, but I won’t bore you with this soppy nonsense. The measurement muddle is truly alive in this industry, so much so, that it makes measurements in Britain seem coherent. Yet still, one of the few global industries manages to work in the midst of a monstrous measurement muddle. Whilst the language of aviation is standardised to English, there is no such standardisation for units of measurement. Metres, geographical miles, nautical miles, inches of mercury, millibars, knots, metres per second are some of the measurements you are likely to come across if you’re ever in the cockpit.  Let’s start with distances. In the UK, as in much of the world, most distances on the ground e.g. runway lengths, are given in metres. Once you airborne, despite flying being a fairly modern feat of engineering, you go back to the dark ages of measurement. Distances now become nauti...

When I first read Animal Farm, I was too young to understand what it was about. I was completely oblivious to the fact that the book (novella, if you must) was an anti-Stalinist satire. I took it at face value, and thought very little about the actual message — though it did leave me with a permanent craving for bacon. The only thing that really landed for me while still in primary school, was the single law which the seven commandments eventually became. "All Animals Are Equal / But Some Are More Equal Than Others." In addition to being totally unaware of the political context of one of Orwell's finest works, I was also completely unmindful of the units of measurement used. In fact, when I re-read it much later on, it was no surprise to me that all units of measurements were imperial. After all, it was published in 1945. Although metric units were first permitted for use in the UK in 1897, they didn't come into common use until around 70 years later. Four years after...

The press shapes the way we think. This is an indisputable fact. It is also very well established that the press is a contributor to the metric muddle through its generally inconsistent use of measurements. There is a tendency for the right-wing press to favour imperial units, whilst the left wing press favours metric units, but this is not exclusively the case and there are exceptions on both sides. The one thing that is true across the political spectrum of the press is that there is a considerable inconsistency in which measurements are used. The press is not to blame for the metric muddle, to blame the press would be unfair. Indecision by successive governments has been the problem for the past half century. This inaction has led us to live in what can only be described as a 'fudge'. A nation whose official system of measurements is metric, but with so many exceptions, that it's simply a mess. This mishmash of measurements has not just affected if and when metric units...

This year, Sri Lanka marks 50 years of using the metric system. There are still a few areas where imperial units are still common, such as acres for land registry, and there are some errors of signage (like those I spoke about when I visited Sri Lanka a few years ago. However Sri Lanka has converted to the metric system successfully.  Asela Atukorala, a Sri Lankan blogger, and lover of the metric system has written a very informative and interesting post about Sri Lanka's metrication story. It discusses the use of metric measurements prior to the changeover (and whilst Sri Lanka was a British colony), the decisions which led to adoption of the metric system, and the actual adoption of the system, including changes to legislation and the conversion process. There are some very interesting insights into how the conversion was managed across all thee languages (English, Tamil and Sinhala), as well as how guidance was issued to the general public, including Sri Lanka's famous tea i...

Anyone who has driven around any city or town in the UK over the past few months would have noticed huge changes on the roads. Some bus lanes are now operating at all times, cycle lanes have popped up, roads have been closed off, and speed limits have been reduced to 20 miles per hour in many areas. If you live in London, you wouldn't be able to miss extended operating hours of the congestion charging zone. As a driver, these things all irk me, and have been met by considerable objection from a significant proportion of people. The results are not that great either.  Additional traffic jams as a result of either side roads being closed off or lane closures to accommodate poorly thought though cycle lanes on major arterial and/or orbital roads; Drivers getting distracted because they're crawling along a long, non-residential road with few pedestrians or obstacles at 20 miles per hour (32 km/h); Having to suffer the indignity of shelling out £15 in 'congestion charge' for...

 Anno Domini MMXX The year 2020 has been a year like no other. Thanks to the novel coronavirus and the associated illness Covid-19, the world has been turned upside down. Actions which, only a matter of months ago, would have been seen as ludicrous are now routine. The use of masks, the frequent and almost obsessive application of hand sanitiser, and the treatment of other people like disease-carrying rats would have been unthinkable in 2019.  A tool that governments have employed in response to the spread of the virus is social distancing. Simply put, it is the act of maintaining a safe distance between people to reduce the spread of the virus through aerosols and droplets.   The government's public health campaign of hands, face, space notes (as below), that you should stay 2 metres from people or 1 metre with extra precautions. I appreciate that there's no conversion to feet and inches, creating a simple, clear message.  The NHS website   also do...

In many facets of life, clarity is key. Relationships, situationships, or anything in-between usually work better when there is clarity. Everyone knows where they stand. What makes these things work better is when the rules only go as far as they need to and no further.  It's much the same with signage. Nobody wants a sign with too much detail. A fundamental rule of clarity is to say what you want to say in as few words as possible. Imagine going to a bar or restaurant and having these two options for signs: Toilets ➝ Toilets straight ahead. Men's toilets at the first door, women's toilets at the second door.  While the second one gives more detail, the first one tells you enough and can be processed more quickly. The first one is all you need and therefore more efficient. The same goes for road signs. Particularly the example below:  First and foremost, I'm glad it's a sign that shows the height restriction in metres, and gives metres priority over feet and inches,...

I've been out of the blogging game for a while and I do apologise for that. Quite frankly, there's been little to write about that our friends at the UK Metric Association haven't already covered in their blog. In the world of metres and kilograms, there have really only been two things on my mind. None of them has any immediate impact on getting the UK to be rid of miles and yards on road signs. In fact, neither of them is even getting a mention in this post - you'll have to come back for those. In recent times, my views on the imperial system have softened ever so slightly. For one, I've grown fond of the pint as a unit of measurement for beer. I'm sure this comes as no surprise. In my visits to the US, I often find myself explaining the difference between an imperial pint  and a US customary pint. My fondness however, has not extended to other archaic liquid measurements, and I explain both pints in terms of millilitres and not fluid ounces (568 ml in the UK ...