23rd September 2001 - Roy Underdown Pavilion

It seems strange, sometimes, that at meetings we are being told about 'history' and the talk is illustrated using ultra 'modern' equipment. At our September meeting, Fred Brazier spoke about the history of Ordnance Survey, and used a Computer Data Projector to show us pictures. He had worked in OS for 27 years, and had seen many changes due to technology, but in 1746 when George II commissioned maps of Scotland, the equipment must have been fairly basic. So too in 1791, when they began mapping the British Isles for military purposes, and by 1824 they had completed a third of the UK without the help of satellites and rangefinders. Fred gave many dates of events, such as 1841 when they had an office in the Tower of London, which was destroyed by the fire in October of that year. So they moved to Southampton, and by the mid 1970's, began producing 'digital' maps - technology rising! We asked about old maps of Hamble, and Fred said that OS do have a catalogue of 'historical' maps. Now that might be worth consulting!

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