Category Archives: History

A statement from UKIP

Posted on 2013-05-06 by ronniec

UKIP’s recent electoral successes have resulted, quite rightly, in increased scrutiny of its policies. Here, we take a look at a recent statement by the Party’s Trade spokesman on the subject of measurement units.

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, History, Myths | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Familiar with imperial? Do you know that…?

Posted on 2013-04-19 by ronniec

Miles, yards, feet and inches, pints, pounds and stones. Yes, fifty years after the UK embarked on the metric transition, we still need to be familiar with some of those old units.  In this article, Ronnie Cohen looks at some … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, History, Law, Science | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The 1895 Select Committee on weights and measures

Posted on 2013-03-29 by tonyw

This article looks back to the findings and recommendations of the 1895 Parliamentary Select Committee on weights and measures.

Posted in Education, General, History, Law, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments

A UK metric time line from 1980

Posted on 2013-02-01 by derekp

In June last year, we published a time line up to 1980 showing progress towards the adoption of a single, simple, logical and coherent measurement system in the British Isles. We now bring this story up to date.

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, Health, History, Law, Road signs, Science, Sport, Technical | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

A trip to the Imperial Scrapyard

Posted on 2013-01-25 by derekp

When consulting a reference book from 1896, we came across an article about imperial measures which provides a timely reminder that, even in its heyday, this ‘system’ was not as straightforward as some would now have us believe.

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, History, Science | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Surprise choice for transport

Posted on 2012-11-30 by derekp

This was the headline in a back number of a trade magazine that recently came to our attention. So who was this choice, why the surprise, and when was he or she chosen for transport?

Posted in History, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

50 years of Celsius weather forecasts – time to kill off Fahrenheit for good?

Posted on 2012-10-15 by Erithacus

Fifty years ago, on 15th October 1962, British weather forecasts switched over from the Fahrenheit scale to Celsius. Fifty years on, some parts of the British media inexplicably cling on to Fahrenheit measures, and the UK Metric Association (UKMA) says … Continue reading →

Posted in General, History, Science | Tagged , , | 92 Comments

A curious situation involving Liberty

Posted on 2012-07-25 by derekp

We mark Mr Wiggins’ success in the Tour de France and Mrs Obama’s visit to London with a story that links our nearest continental neighbour with our former colonies across the pond. Those of our readers who are looking for … Continue reading →

Posted in General, History, Views from abroad | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The report that led the UK from one muddle to another

Posted on 2012-07-12 by ronniec

On 15 July 1862, the Select Committee on Weights and Measures of the UK Parliament published a report recommending the adoption of the metric system in the UK. That was 150 years ago. It was also less than forty years … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, History, Technical | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A metric time line for the UK

Posted on 2012-06-08 by derekp

Metric Views has attempted to produce a timeline showing progress in the British Isles towards the adoption of a single, simple, rational and coherent measurement system. This article takes the story up to 1980 – the events of the past thirty … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, Health, History, Law, Science, Technical | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments