A significant victory for Imperial measurements has been achieved at Eastbourne, very much due to local anti-metric campaigners Andrew Dakyns and Rev. Norman Greenfield, particularly the latter who kept up the pressure despite receiving obfuscating answers from Eastbourne Borough Council.

The Council put up signs every 500 m_tr_s along the promenade, with the help of funding by an Irish 'healthy heart' charity which in turn got some funding from the European Union. When the good burghers of Eastbourne decided to accept the offer of funding the signs (along with glossy leaflets telling people how any m_tr_s they should run or walk evey day to keep healthy), they told the health charity they were to be in miles. The charity came back swiftly and said: "You only get grant aid from us if the signs are in kilometres".

Like true Brits, they gave way immediately to the demands of the Irish, and up went the signs at 500 m_tr_ intervals along the 5.7 mile promenade.

Several letters, including one from ARM and another from U.K. Independence Party M.E.P. Jeffrey Titford, pointed out the illegality of the signs, but the Council kept on evading the point.

Last week Meridian TV showed a clip of the newly-amended signs, now in Imperial measurements. A spokesperson for Eastbourne Borough Council did not concede that their signs had ever been illegal, but admitted that "the public found the metric signs confusing"


Q.E.D.


[P.S. We think a total of 26 metric distances have now been converted back to Imperial by the Council, which would take the number of demetricated signs in the United Kingdom known to ARM up to 1,975]

"The Council put up signs every 500 m_tr_s along the promenade"

"along with glossy leaflets telling people how any m_tr_s they should run or walk evey day to keep healthy"

"up went the signs at 500 m_tr_ intervals along the 5.7 mile promenade."

And the imperial lobby calls us childish for refusing to use imperial terms!

....successfully wound up!

Re: "and the imperial lobby calls us childish..."

Since when?

Authoritarian, Dictatorial, Dogmatic, Domineering, Heavy-handed, Insistent, Intolerant, Oppressive, Repressive, Totalitarian, Tyrannical, Wrong...yes. But not 'Childish' (*)


* I admit I got the Thesaurus out for that list

If the actual legend on these signs was "m_tr_s" then the confusion is not surprising.

Well said SteveH.

'wind-up' just about sums up the whole ARM campaign.

It's absolutely true that we are 'wind-up' merchants - we 'spring' into action

"pip", "joke" and "backfire" 'springs' to mind!

Steve,

how many times are you planning to use the "XXX springs to mind" response ?

Ralf

"Many" "times" and "more" spring to mind