Brambles 1 - Ruth 0 (but still got my trig!)

Sometimes when I'm feeling low I need to get out and find a trig. OK, perhaps not normal but works for me usually.

So today tracked down Rockbeare Hill New trig. A pig of a find as it's on the edge of a quarry and there are a horde of brambles to wade through to get to.

And if I'd planned ahead and wore appropriate clothing I wouldn't have, once again, drawn blood through the cause of duty. But there's something quite heroic about trig pillar hunt injuries don't you think?

My Mate Dave

Well, to be honest, I haven't seen David Powell (of Anstey's Boundary Disputes fame) for a few years but we used to work closely together when he was Chair of the Geomatics Professional Group of the RICS. Just read this article by him, which reminds me of a debate I listened to perhaps 5+ years ago between David P and a.n.other (it was really that memorable) when David was anti precise cadastre. Pleased to read he's still on his straight and narrow!

So what rocks your boat - general boundaries or precise cadastre?

Holyhead Find

Not found by me but my uncle and aunt on a recent holiday. And they know I like a good trig.

Always handy to have something to lean against when consulting the map.

Royal Institute of Navigation

Attended the RIN AGM yesterday in London on behalf of my business. An interesting event - mix of old school and cutting edge technology. The Duke of Edinburgh was there to present the prizes (poor photo but you'd never believe me otherwise).

I enjoyed the talk on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by the CE of Northrup Grunman - lots of whizzy applications continue to be developed. I didn't, however, enjoy the school boy humour at times directed against women. The RIN claims to be a professional institution, so I don't expect to see sexist derogatory pictures of women at this event. I mentioned it a chap over drinks later "ah, well we're all the same aren't we?" he chuckled. Well, it's put me off even considering joining.

Apart from that met up with some old faces and had a good chinwag with a guy from Collingwood and someone from Abbeywood (is there a wood theme?).

And also bagged a lovely BM.

I Succumb...

We are having an extension built at the moment and the builders are using our garage to store their tools over night. Imagine my glee when I found one of these

tucked in a corner. It's been there a couple of weeks and last night I could resist no longer and set it up in the garden. My 15 year old was pretty unimpressed when I showed her how to level the bubble and my 13 year old didn't even budge off the sofa she was that underwhelmed.

Well, I think it's cool!

RICS - Technical Routes to Membership and Chinese Delegations

The RICS has recently launched two new routes to membership for technical surveyors, Assoc RICS (formerly known as TechRICS) with a Land/Engineering route and a Hydrographic Surveying one. It has taken us far too many months of thought, review, re-review, and a good deal of prodding of RICS Education, to get to this stage. But, at last, droggies with a Cat B qualification - spot the typo if you can - can easily join the RICS at a technical level. [Actually, other hydro surveyors can too - but read on]. It has taken many years to get to this stage. When I first took over as Chair of Geomatics I asked what the routes to membership were for Cat A and B surveyors. "You what?" they responded? So there started the education of RICS staff to ensure they understood the relevance of the internationally recognised IHO qualification. We are getting there I'm happy to say.

And, more good news. The RICS is gradually easing its focus off the UK (or, even, London). With over 70% of its membership in the UK, and its HQ in Westminster, it is easy to fall into a London-centric viewpoint. And it suited the RICS for many years. Perhaps it didn't notice its land surveyors scaling mountains in Africa with tellurometers, or its hydrographic surveyors bobbing around in the Gulf of Guinea. Anyway, China visited us last week and, as you can read in the blog, we are certainly outnumbered. In a good way.