[Closed] Burnley Council in Brexit sense of humour shocker....

Why on earth have they used KM anyway? Seems a dumb decision.

But a council spokesman dismissed the furore.

He said: “The signs went up recently and were paid for from a Forestry Commission Grant.

“The park is still being developed and the idea was to encourage its leisure use with walkers and cyclists who often work in kilometres.

“How many 5 and 10K run are there across the country and our great Olympic heroes run 400 metres, not yards!”

“This is nothing to do with the Brexit vote.

“Burnley has some beautiful places to visit, however you want to measure them.”

newrobdob - Member
Why on earth have they used KM anyway? Seems a dumb decision.

?? seems like a very smart decision to me 'Global Britain' shouldnt be stuck using anachronistic and random units of measure

we should be embracing the modern world not trying to drag ourselves backward

“We’ve fought and won two world wars and finally won our referendum to come out of the European Union. But now we are producing pathway signs in kilometres.”

🙄

@m49.1, unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who think like that, still.

Could the council not teach the people who are outraged to divide the km by 8 and multiply by 5 for a rough conversion?

I run, walk and cycle in kilometres. I haven't got the attention span for miles.

Wow, not sure I've been to the Express website before. Seems they're a tad less nazi but a bit more bonkers than the Mail - that about right ?

The next thing will be for Council to stop people asking for a pint in a pub in Burnley!

They are going after the great british pint its a fundamental attack on our rights!

They work and are fully paid for by the people

AND we pay their wages

demand these signs are replaced with English ones in miles

I mean Town Centre 1.6km that's clearly written in foreign

😀 😀 😀

I'm guessing the Steven Smith quoted there is the 'BNP isn't racist enough' one from Cliviger.

Never heard of the Express till I got a new phone a few months ago, and their 'articles' came up on my newsfeed. Still don't know if they're meant to be a real newspaper, don't think I've ever seen one in Scotland. Every other day there is headline announcing the imminent start of WW3 with Russia. Can't imagine why anyone would buy their crap.

What's random and outdated about miles? Nothing wrong with it as a unit of measure. It's what most people use.

Ranting on about miles being outdated sounds just as bad as the people complaining about the other way round.

@m49.1, unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who think like that, still.

😆

newrobdob - Member
What's random and outdated about miles? Nothing wrong with it as a unit of measure. It's what most people use

not on my strava feed 😉

kids have been taught in metric for decades, as a scientist imperial measurements really make my OCD flare up, they are just so inefficient

who cares as long as it is not in Feet or Yards

I like this sassy council spokesperson!

Literally no idea why lots of people I know insist on having their Strava set to Km when their cars are in Miles as this is the UK. They have yet to give me a valid explanation for their incorrectness.

[i]not sure I've been to the Express website before. Seems they're a tad less nazi but a bit more bonkers than the Mail - that about right ?[/i]

It really is a great big page of shite isn't it?!

No need to worry, the signs will be gone in a few days and re-purposed to repair somebody's Nissan or shed roof.

Literally no idea why lots of people I know insist on having their Strava set to Km when their cars are in Miles as this is the UK. They have yet to give me a valid explanation for their incorrectness.

Maybe they're not driving while on Strava?

I like the "imperial is logical, you're just not used to it" people.

"Go on then, how many gallons in a cubic yard?"

"Err...."

It really is a great big page of shite isn't it?!

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

dlr - Member
Literally no idea why lots of people I know insist on having their Strava set to Km when their cars are in Miles as this is the UK. They have yet to give me a valid explanation for their incorrectness.

1. You shouldn't be using strava in your car
2. It's in the Rules

Dave - Member
I'm guessing the Steven Smith quoted there is the 'BNP isn't racist enough' one from Cliviger.

Assume so.
😐

I'd set mine to cubits but there's no option for that 😆

Literally no idea why lots of people I know insist on having their Strava set to Km

Because they monitor their ascent in the correct form of metres.

HTH

dlr - Member
Literally no idea why lots of people I know insist on having their Strava set to Km when their cars are in Miles as this is the UK. They have yet to give me a valid explanation for their incorrectness.

You tick off KM's faster than miles, which makes it more betterer.

OS grids are in KM's as well.

Edit: and wot he ^^ said about going up and down.

OS maps use km squares. Using km for walking and cycling becomes easier if you have done any outdoor activities because of this.

I think it's great. If there's a group that the people of Burnley hate more than immigrants it's runners and cyclists.

Pissing off people who think Brexit was a good idea can only be a Good Thing™.

As decimalisation is so bad, will we go back to shillings?

Bring back fathoms and leagues. They sound more epicerer. I cycled seven leagues today and that involved climbing forty fathoms. See, much better ring to it?

I use KM on my Garmin and Strava, no idea why I wouldn't want to really. I follow pro cycling and ride in Europe sometimes which may or may not have influenced me. But yes - ascent in metres means a lot more to me than feet.

Just think where we'd be if we hadn't gone all decimal back in 1971....

bails - Member

I like the "imperial is logical, you're just not used to it" people.

"Go on then, how many gallons in a cubic yard?"

"Err...."

That's not a realistic scenario though is it? What relevance is a cubic yard?

It's more like:

"How many people will be at Dave's wake?"
"60-70"
"Ok, we'll need eight firkins then."

Simple, useable amounts.
Feet and inches, great for talking about height.
Millimetres and microns, great for manufacturing tight tolerance components.

I thought in tabloid-land the only acceptable units of measurements were football pitches and double-decker buses, with a clause for extreme circumstances, allowing the use of how many things have to be laid end-to-end to reach the moon?

I like the idea of KM are less so clock up quicker, I just prefer miles in my car and on my bike. I have no idea what on earth a yard is though which I see on some road signs 😉

Also signs like in the original post should be in metres if short distances or miles if longer 😀 😀

Tabloids use The Register's standards:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/reg-standards-converter.html

Binners, you've forgotten about Wales as a measure of area

They are walking signs no?

So what's the issue? KM makes perfect sense. As others have said the entire [url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnance_Survey_National_Grid ]Ordnance Survey National Grid[/url] is in KM.

Are some weird people walking about with imperial maps or something? 😀

I had no idea a Badger was a recognised unit of weight 😀

OS grids are in KM's as well.

I'm sure that even as we speak Brexiteers are writing to demand that OS revert to the old 1 inch : 1 Mile scale

What's random and outdated about miles? Nothing wrong with it as a unit of measure. It's what most people use.

Define "most people".

I'm sure that even as we speak Brexiteers are writing to demand that OS revert to the old 1 inch : 1 Mile scale

They won't be happy until they can lick an ounce of lead paint off their foot-high golliwog.

[s]It's what most people use.[/s]

It's what most folk are still forced to use - a halfway, half hearted decimalisation.

Schools have not taught inches/feet/miles for years.

I personally would go full decimal for roads, weights and measures, paths etc.

If I leave it long enough the dinosaurs will die off. 😉

I foolishly ventured "below the line" on the Express site, I'm not proud, I was curious, okay?

Anyway not on this, but a comment on a linked article about some old fool touring the country ripping down metric signs made me chuckle

What next, a campaign to bring back diptheria?

Good find. 😆

I prefer the Alpine convention of showing distances in time: "Refuge des Ecrins: 3h40" Much more relevant, especially when almost half your time is spent in ascending or descending.

showing distances in time

Makes sense as that is how most people actually think:
"How far is it to X from here?"
"About 10 minutes walk"

But less useful if you are dealing with multiple different kinds of transport (i.e. foot, bike or horse)

So remind me, how many chains is it to the town centre?

So remind me, how many chains is it to the town centre?

I like the response to the guy who says:

At this rate it won't belong before all our signs EVERYWHERE will be written in Arabic. Then, we'll KNOW we've lost.

Responder points out that the numbers are Arabic already and maybe we should go back to Roman numerals? 😀

Responder points out that the numbers are Arabic already and maybe we should go back to Roman numerals?

😆

Tabloids use The Register's standards:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/reg-standards-converter.html

5 Double-decker buses = 0.3333 Brontosaurus(i?)

😀

Don't joke… people will be demanding we do use Roman Numerals soon…

(bet you a guinea)

I'm amazed there hasn't been a pounds / shillings / pence campaign yet.

showing distances in time

We've got those for cycle routes. I think the times are based on somebody crawling.

So what's the issue? KM makes perfect sense

Oh the irony.

Kelvin Mega?

yep, makes perfect sense.

Certain things sound much better when measured in centimetres rather than a measly few inches - do the Councillors have hidden complexes?!?

I shared that on facebook last week. I think a friend commented that it sounded like a Daily mash article.

Bruce - Member
Could the council not teach the people who are outraged to divide the km by 8 and multiply by 5 for a rough conversion?

Speeds are indicated in mph. Distances in miles. The signage rules are based on consistency. 15 years ago Buckingham had nice new black and gold cast iron signs in the town centre using metres.
They had to be replaced because it was simply wrong.
Change the rules by all means but respect thmm while they are there. I totally agree that metric is the way forward but I still default to imperial for many things - I'll miss miles when they go, but not too much.

Are some weird people walking about with imperial maps or something?

I met a lost American tourist on the edge of Kinder Scout last June (on the 23rd, as it happens, I was hiding from all the bullshit). She was using a 1940s 1"/mile map, bought in some second-hand shop because it was the only map she could find in units she could understand. She was a bit baffled by the map's lack of correspondence with paths on the ground, but I pointed her towards safety and I didn't hear that anyone died in a bog or anything that day so presumably she survived.

Apart from arsehole cyclists, I don't know who measures distance in Kilometers. Top trolling by Burnley council though 😀

I'd have put miles, makes more sense to more people.
Failing that put both units of measurement on, there's enough room on the sign.

I'd have put miles, [b]makes more sense to more people[/b].
[b]Failing that put both units of measurement on[/b], there's enough room on the sign.

We're talking about people from Bonleh here, the above would be too much for their inbred dingle brains to comprehend.

😉

not on my strava feed

Change the rules by all means but respect thmm while they are there. I totally agree that metric is the way forward but I still default to imperial for many things - I'll miss miles when they go, but not too much.

I have a strange love of imperial units and not just at lunch when I discuss things with my German, Dutch and Italian friends and delight in confusing and winding them up a little bit- they are part of the country I grew up in, a little part of all British people.

Metric measurements started to make more sense as soon as the pocket calculator got invented, but I don't want to see them implemented ( and certainly not by the back door as in this case ). I have my satnav set to Kilometres in Europe and Miles in the UK - given the mess that we have regarding official measurements in the UK I don't think that people have too much trouble converting between the 2 systems when they need to.

Even those that voted for Brexit.

😉

Great programme on Sky Arts about the Eighties, all the political upheaval and such.
I just saw the Wall come down all over again.

Speeds are indicated in mph. Distances in miles. The signage rules are based on consistency

Pretty sure those Road Traffic Signage regulations apply to road traffic signs, not signs for pedestrians/cyclists on paths through woods.

I also don't know anybody who uses metric distance measurements

Even when walking/cycling? Anyone who refers to an OS map likely uses at least [i]some[/i] metric measurement. OS Grid Refs are metric!

Refuge des Ecrins: 3h40"

When I started out riding a few years back, I used to record in Km on my phone app.

But now I'm a double hard bastard, I've switched to miles so I can feel more superior. A hundred miles is much more harderer than 100km.

A yard is the area behind my house. It is not a legitimate unit of measurement. Unless you're familiar with the size of my yard.

All this talk of kilometers instead of miles would have meant that great music would never have been made.

😆

I use km off-road and miles for on-road.

I much prefer km - it suits the OS mapping better, but I often can't be arsed doing the mental arithmetic when riding on the roads and using the information on road signs. It's fine when you're wide awake and alert but confusing when you're tired.

Pah, signs can change to km, pints can change to half litres, speeds to km/h. But the real change over will come when penis measurements are in mm.

Surely it's all a sign 😉 of cultural hegemony.What about metric time? That didn't last did it but would be easier if decimalised surely? Lots of cultures have had their own systems of measurement but had to kowtow to the Western or in this case French system(s).

davidtaylforth - Member

Apart from arsehole cyclists, I don't know who measures distance in Kilometers. Top trolling by Burnley council though

Too obvious, but nice try....

Burnley should just do the same as signposting on Forth and Clyde canal and keep you guessing?

[img] [/img]

On looking at that again can you have 6 1/2 Kms?

Just to add to confusion on same canal.

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]