03-06-2021, 10:57 AM
11
Re: Roberts Rambles 10
Originally Posted by Baz46
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All very interesting OGF, who would have thought anyone could make a 'hobby' out of something so obscure? In addition to that you may have found a way of indulging more in your new-found interest by using that metal detector you made recently! 
I'm not sure about the metal detecting Baz...
For two reasons....Firstly, I've decided to only visit the triangulation pillars, and the ones using the metal detector are buried blocks.
And secondly, my electronics hobby makes it exciting to build stuff, but not necessarily to use it once it's completed. I know that might sound strange, but electronics has always been my hobby and not metal detecting...Who knows, I might give it a go sometime in the future...
03-06-2021, 04:21 PM
13
Re: Roberts Rambles 10
Originally Posted by spitfire
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Know what you mean Foxy, its great fun being a Projecteer.
05-06-2021, 09:09 AM
14
Re: Roberts Rambles 10
I think you have hit on a really good idea. Using orienting skills to find the Trig points will help to keep you mind active, the exercise is good for you, and you get to see interesting scenery you wouldn't otherwise know about.The bonus for us is we get to see some of the sights as well.
I was vaguely aware that the OS topographers used all sorts of landmarks. I remember being taught how to read a map when I was at junior school in Lincs.
Things like, windmill with sails, windmill without, church with spire, church without, bridge over, bridge under etcetera.
Whilst in America I became interested in the marking out of the Mason-Dixon line to resolve a boundary dispute between four States. The two chaps would lie on their backs at night to shoot the stars that would determine their location, and then use the topography of the land by day to set out the direction of the line and lay stone markers.
When checked by GPS in modern times, the most they were out was 200 metres, and several were accurate to within two metres. Not bad for the technology available in the 1760s.
Mapping of India using stone sighting towers and temperature compensating chains resulted in the incidental discovery that Everest was the highest mountain in the world, and I find the sighting/marking technology used by the Victorians for tunnel building such as Bazalgette's London sewer system and the Severn Railway tunnel quite fascinating.
Are you relying on modern maps or do you have access to old(er) maps that might show details of things long gone, or perhaps showing a building that only now appears on the ground as a weed-covered hump?
Anyway, I am living the tour of the Big County through your endeavours. Keep at it lad.
05-06-2021, 10:58 AM
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Re: Roberts Rambles 10
What a brilliant post Fruitcake thanks muchly, it's really appreciated and makes it all worthwhile...
Yes, the Mason Dixon line.....and they were Geordies that done it! Fascinating stuff....
I've had a healthy interest in maps even before I could walk, and after reading 'Treasure Island' I was drawing my own treasure maps, and maps have fascinated me ever since. I have spent the greater part of my life reading them while out in the wild places, and again as a courier. No GPS in those days....
I don't necessarily use historical maps now, although I have a bookcase full to bursting with Ordnance Survey maps dating back to the early 1970's so yes, I suppose they are historical now..
Nothing much changes out in the wild places, and my recent finds have been done using old maps. I will never resort to satellite navigation while out exploring, it's the old fashioned way for me using map and compass, but I use a GPS for distancing on long walks or runs, and I have been known to navigate big towns and cities using the car sat nav. Thanks again for your post Fruitcake....
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