The Survey Association (TSA), originally set up in 1979, is the trade association for the geospatial profession. It has over 220 full, associate, affiliate, academic and supplier members, with a combined turnover of full members alone in excess of £300 million. Spearheaded by CEO Rachel Tyrrell, who in 2023 was included in the ‘Women in Trade Associations Top 100 Powerlist’, and with its whole-hearted commitment to its members, TSA is so much more than just another trade association.

More than a trade association

Rachel Tyrrell, CEO at TSA explains: “Community is at the very heart of TSA. Over the years we have come to realise that the professional community really comes into its own when people are provided with an environment that encourages them to support, challenge and learn from each other.

“We have established a precedent of high-quality, interesting and exciting events, held in incredible venues, and our members get an inordinate amount from these sessions. Some business leaders struggle to justify the taking the time out of what can be extremely busy diaries, but every one of them who has managed to attend either one of our annual conferences, AGMs or workshops has benefited so much from it.

Celebrating the next generation of surveyors

“As regular diary dates, we hold our AGM in April and our annual conference and awards in November. The awards are for students of The Survey School, and having the next generation of surveyors in the room with some of the most established surveyors in the profession adds a real energy to the day and provides an exciting insight for the surveyors coming through.

“More recently we have introduced a new style of event, Geo:Influence, an SLG (Survey Liaison Group) initiative, which we are running in conjunction with CICES and RICS. Collaborating with other leaders in our profession is essential to ensure that we continue to develop the surveying profession, maintain and improve our standards and ensure that its value as part of the construction lifecycle is understood and it is recognised and considered as a viable and valuable career choice for the future.”

In addition to the events, TSA membership also provides benefits such as access to TSA’s job board, business support helpline, free seminars and much more.

To find out more about joining TSA, visit https://www.tsa-uk.org.uk/membership/

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Setting standards for the land survey profession

Setting standards for the profession has always been one of the guiding principles of our organisation. We take our commitment to helping maintain the quality of work carried out by our members very seriously, as evidenced in recent years with the work around PAS128, culminating with the launch of PUMA.

Collaboration is key

Our collaboration with other organisations, such as our work with the Survey Liaison Group (SLG) on addressing the skills gap at our inaugural Geo:influence event last month, really demonstrates the strength and ability we have to address and take action to overcome common challenges faced by our profession.

Exclusive member events

Year on year we have seen member events we run becoming increasingly popular and of direct benefit to everyone who attends. Members from companies of all sizes enjoy these opportunities to get up to date, as well as network with each other and it is exciting to see regional relationships growing in strength too. These live events, such as our annual conference and our AGM, are an important part of what’s on offer for our members. You can keep up to date with what exclusive member events are coming up here https://www.tsa-uk.org.uk/events/.

Members also appreciate the opportunity to take part in regular workshops and seminars, covering topics from sustainability to wellbeing. This helps members stay up to date with latest best practice, ultimately helping us fulfil one of our key mission statements, to help our members build a better business.

Advocating for surveyors

Acting as spokesperson for the profession means we can advocate for members when it comes to regulation and legislation. Having worked so closely with Detertech for many years, we have been pleased that, as a direct result of our efforts, information on equipment theft is being shared with police, who are now following up on every incident of reported equipment theft. Within the last few weeks, it has been really gratifying to see that the impact of these thefts is now being discussed in the House of Commons, influencing recommendations on much tougher consequences for the criminals involved.

To find out more about becoming a member of The Survey Association, please go to https://www.tsa-uk.org.uk/membership/.

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As we celebrate our sapphire anniversary, we’re taking a look back down the years to discover how our trade association came by its name.

In 1973, Bill Johnston, who was then the Managing Director of Engineering Surveys in Surrey, contacted a number of leading members of the surveying profession in the United Kingdom to determine if there was sufficient interest and support for the formation of an ‘Association of Land Surveyors.’

The leading lights at that time were Bill himself, Stan Longdin, Ron Craven, Derek Simmons, John Webb and Martyn Iffland.

15 months of meetings later….

Conversations continued, with the more enthusiastic continuing to meet and plan ahead throughout the 1970s. There were some more meetings in 1977, with various committees chewing over all the variables and, most contentiously, what the new association should be called. It is on record that it took fifteen months of meetings and correspondence before the current name of the UK Land & Hydrographic Survey Association was accepted.

Records show that the first set of articles was drawn up using the name of the United Kingdom Survey Association. However, the Registrar of Companies did not accept the name, requiring the inclusion of a word within the title explaining what type of surveyor would be involved. The Registrar was however happy to accept either the ‘United Kingdom Field Survey Association’ or ‘The United Kingdom Geometric Survey Association Limited.’

One, thankfully unsuccessful, pitch was for ‘The UK Topographical Survey Association of Land, Engineering, Photogrammetric, Hydrographic and Cartographic Survey Companies’!

A name was finally agreed and TSA, the abbreviation was adopted from the beginning, was incorporated on 3^rd October 1979.

In the 45 years since that day, the association has grown from the original 33 companies to 215 – spanning a variety of disciplines and Full members having a combined turnover of over £280m.

There is no doubt that TSA would not exist without the tenacity and vision of those few founding members, who made their dream a reality. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

Find out more about TSA here.

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Rachel says,

“I can’t quite believe it’s been 25 years, although sometimes it seems to have gone in a flash! TSA has evolved enormously since I started working here, although our ethos of championing the surveying profession remains unchanged. Today we have over 200 members, and I feel so proud to have been part of that expansion.

“Earlier this year, I was absolutely thrilled to be included in the inaugural Women in Trade Associations Powerlist and I continue to be very proud of the work we do here to promote the geospatial community and improve professional standards. My role has developed over the years of course, but I honestly love what I do, particularly maintaining good relationships with TSA members and listening to their concerns. Even after 25 years, I look forward to starting work every day, which I think says a lot about my fantastic and supportive team, a dedicated and skilled Council as well as the entire TSA membership.”

Our President Nick Hampson, says,

“Rachel has committed 25 years to the TSA cause and her dedication and hard work was rewarded in 2019 with appointment as Secretary General. Rachel leads from the front and has worked diligently to reorganise the TSA Secretariat into its current format, ensure the maintenance of the solid foundation of TSA finances, and has worked with Council to inspire and create the three Vision Statements that now provide a clear direction for TSA in the coming years.”

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GPR survey at Lincoln Cathedral reveals hidden history

A Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey, carried out at Lincoln Cathedral, revealed a series of ancient structures and a World War II water tank beneath an area of the site designated for development.

The detailed subsurface survey data provided by Technics in August 2016 was used to support plans for a new shop, museum and restaurant on the historic site.

Planners commissioned the survey to minimise the risk of damage to any buried archaeological evidence, and to plot the position of the existing utilities.

Surveyors employed a suite of sophisticated GPR systems to capture multiple 3D data sets in high resolution for post-processing the detectable utilities and archaeological features.

Constructed in 1072, the Cathedral is steeped in history, with records of late Saxon and two 12th – 17th century courtyard houses sitting within the survey area. It was therefore paramount that the surveys were undertaken to allow development at the site to begin.

GPR identified a water storage tank installed during the Second World War as a contingency measure, in the event the Cathedral was set alight during a bombing raid and its water supply disrupted.

The black rectangle marks the location of the WWII water tank found during the GPR survey of Lincoln Cathedral

Further analysis of the GPR data revealed a mass of previously unknown, deeply buried structures, thought to be Roman walls, as well as parts of post-Roman and Medieval buildings. Existing evidence from boreholes included traces of Roman tiles, ceramics, plaster and tesserae.

The GPR survey confirmed the position of Medieval traces to experts at Lincoln Cathedral but the Roman structures beneath them was new and vital information, and prior knowledge of them allowed the Cathedral to successfully modify the designs for this area.

Damage was minimised, and projects costs controlled, as appropriate recording programmes for archaeological features affected by development could be put in place before work began.

Technics is a geospatial consultancy, providing land, building, utility surveying and Vacuum Excavation across the UK and internationally.  They have been TSA Members since 2003 – if any other TSA Members have great case studies to share, then please contact us: pr@tsa-uk.org.uk

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You don’t have to be in the company of Rachel Tyrrell very long before she feels bound to tell you that she loves what she does.

A forward thinker, committed to instigating and embracing change, Rachel has been at the centre of TSA’s evolution from a small, professional group, comprising 60 members, to a strategic organisation, with a membership of 181, comprising full, associate, affiliate, academic and supplier members.

Managing the UK Land & Hydrographic Survey Association Ltd in 2018 is a multi-faceted operation, run by Harmony Business Support Services, which Rachel co-founded with Rory Stanbridge in 2006. A year later, in the wake of cuts to the Environment Agency’s budget, TSA hosted a planned event at the House of Commons to explain to MPs the importance of accurate survey data to mitigate against flood risk.

As Rachel puts it, ‘’TSA had come a long way.’’

Prior to 2006 the Shipbuilders & Shiprepairers Association (SSA) were contracted to provide Secretariat services for TSA, first from their office in London, and then briefly in Basingstoke and then in Egham.

SSA Director and TSA Secretary General, Nick Granger was delighted to find that the energetic ‘self-starter’ he’d hired to oversee the office move to Egham was not only spotting where improvements in systems and processes could be made but was willing and able to tackle the changes herself.

Rachel explains, ‘’We spent a huge amount of time and money compiling, printing and distributing a directory of TSA members with their profiles and as soon as it was printed, it was out of date. TSA had no email facility and it used to take a whole afternoon to send a circular by post.’’

‘’We also shared a website with SSA and I felt TSA ought to have a separate domain and email addresses. I didn’t know quite how to do it, but I found out and then set it up from scratch myself. It’s the only way to learn.’’

‘’Nick was very supportive of my willingness to change things. It made sense to him because I could explain the benefits. I’d learned a lot about IT in previous jobs and it allowed me to start building a track record. When I interview staff now, I place a much greater value on experience, attitude and what people can do, as opposed to paper qualifications.  Having the ability to adapt, because you don’t know what the next challenge will be is what I’m all about.’’

Attending her first TSA council meeting opened a window into the geospatial profession. Low fees and skills shortages were as high on the list of members’ concerns then, just as they are today. The former would lead to the launch of the TSA Surveying Course in 2001, a landmark in survey training, run at The Survey School in Worcester.

‘’I just listened and absorbed everything. When I started to understand the surveyor’s role, what really spoke to me was the pin- point accuracy of the work and the fundamental principles of surveying that underpin it.  All the advanced technology doesn’t change the fact that you still need a surveyor to correctly interpret the data.  Being spot on really appeals to my values and I don’t think surveyors blow their own trumpets nearly enough!

‘‘I wasn’t in the least put off by being the only woman round the council table – I’ve got four brothers. I was fascinated by the cutting edge nature of the technology, the characters, personalities and dynamics of the discussion and how they made decisions. The council are elected members and all volunteers. The secretariat is paid to listen to what council want, advise and then make it happen.’’

In 1999, Rachel succeeded in convincing council members that TSA’s 21st anniversary should be celebrated with a big event. Nothing like it had happened before and just a year after joining the organisation it was a considerable responsibility to take on.

‘’We invited all the past presidents to a dinner and leisure activities were organised for the next day. It was a huge success and there was a sense of pride in what TSA had become that evening. A memorable moment for me was sitting next to the great Alan Wright. The comedian we’d laid on looked at his white hair and beard and immediately christened him Moses. Alan roared with laughter like the rest of us and the name stuck.’’

Harmony employ six staff, spread between TSA offices in Newark and at The Survey School in Worcester. Being her own boss means that in any given week, Rachel could be visiting applicants seeking membership, representing TSA at industry events and meetings, designing promotional flyers and brochures, training staff or gathering feedback from the membership on key industry issues.

‘’TSA wrote the Level 3 Diploma in Engineering Surveying to enable experienced surveyors to gain a qualification which is accepted by CSCS. This was in direct response to members’ concerns. I’m always looking at different and better ways of communicating with members and welcome their feedback.’’

Occasionally there’s even a chance to educate members on the dangers of stereotyping and to share   her thoughts, in person and via social media, on the other passions in her life – Formula 1, football, cricket, photography, music and not least, her family and her Christian faith. She was elected Churchwarden this year, having served on St Swithin’s Parochial Church Council for two years.

‘’People jump to conclusions that because I’m a working woman with a family, I must be part time. No. Full time. We relocated to Lincolnshire in 2002 and my husband, John became a house husband   when our children were born. We converted our garage into a proper office for me and just cracked on. We certainly broke the mould there.’’

Equipping other people with new IT skills, she says is also satisfying.

‘’Seeing people fly. That’s fun. I enjoy getting the best out of people and motivating them to do well.’’

To apply for full and associate membership of TSA, surveying or measurement services must constitute at least 50 per cent of the company’s turnover. Samples of work, references and accounts are submitted. Comment and feedback from other members is sought on each application and fed back to the applicant. The next step is an assessment visit.

‘’The visit is an opportunity to have a conversation and establish a relationship. I like to ask where the business owner could do with some help because I can guarantee a TSA membership benefit will address it. When you are focussed on running your own business you can lose sight of the temperature in the wider industry. Attending TSA conference events and networking with others across the survey community can be very beneficial and supportive.’’

‘’If recruiting staff is an ongoing issue we offer members a place to post free job ads on the TSA website. The page gets upwards of 3,000 hits a month.’’

‘’The survey industry has been hit very hard by the impact of theft. TSA is the only organisation that could bring survey companies, manufacturers, insurers and the police together to tackle this and establishing a partnership with SmartWater has very swiftly brought the issue to the attention of the Home Office.’’

Free business support services, supplied by Croner and MD Safety gives TSA members access to experts in employment law, PAYE and the health and safety legislation affecting surveyors – a boon for small companies.

Ensuring a TSA member is the first choice for clients remains a key challenge. The annual GEOBusiness exhibition, Rachel says, is a huge leap forward for the profession and conversations are ongoing with the organisers to make it more client-focussed. As one of the supportive organisations, TSA is at the heart of those conversations.

‘’TSA was founded by Bill Johnston in 1979 to give a voice to private land and hydrographic surveying companies. The idea was that collectively they would have the clout to raise standards and educate clients. In 2018 our core values remain the same and I would like to think Bill would approve of that and be pleased with how TSA has developed from his vision.’’

‘’How we operate TSA has changed drastically and will continually improve. It is never about the status quo for me. In the next twenty years I would like to see every eligible survey company join TSA and then clients would only use TSA members! My wish is for a diverse and energetic council and more survey companies growing, developing and evolving as businesses.’’

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When TSA’s Secretariat moved to Newark in 2006, a file opened up by Bill Johnston in 1979 came to light. This charted the formation of TSA and it was felt that a brief story about this would be interesting for all members. What follows has been compiled from the TSA records and the personal diaries of Martyn Iffland to whom a big thank you is extended.

In 1973, Bill Johnston who was then the Managing Director of Engineering Surveys in Surrey contacted a number of leading members of the surveying profession in the United Kingdom to determine if there was sufficient interest and support for the formation of an “Association of Land Surveyors.” It was felt at that time that the industry lacked direction and purpose, whilst also being relatively unknown outside its own corridors. The Government was blissfully unaware, perhaps as now, of the role of the surveyor and it was agreed that this could best be changed by the formation of a body to represent all facets of the industry.

Numerous phone calls took place over the next few months and the first recorded meeting of the embryonic organisation took place at St. Stephen’s Club in Westminster London on the 3^rd January 1974. The leading lights at that time were Bill himself, Stan Longdin, Ron Craven, Derek Simmons, John Webb and Martyn Iffland. I apologise now if I have left anyone off this list. The aim of this meeting was to discuss the principles of the ASL, a name not yet agreed upon, and to discuss the way forward. Over the next sixteen months a number of smaller meetings took place between interested parties to gauge interest from the industry in general. The next meeting of the ALS took place again at St Stephen’s Club on the 5^th June 1975. It is not clear at this point if the club was a particularly suitable venue, but Stan Longdin was a member so it made sense to take advantage of this.

St Stephens took its name from St. Stephen’s Chapel, the original meeting place of the Commons. The Club was originally connected with Conservative Members of Parliament and civil engineers. Counting Benjamin Disraeli amongst the founding fathers, the Club was reopened at 34 Queen Anne’s Gate by Harold Macmillan in 1960. Historically the Chairman of the Conservative Party was the Club President.

There are no recorded minutes remaining of the June meeting although Martyn recalls that everybody present had a different view of the direction the ALS should take, and many hours were wasted discussing the future name of the association. Perhaps in anticipation of a very tortuous day, one of the delegates who will remain anonymous came armed with a carrier bag containing a bottle of something from which he commenced to drink. The meeting in 1975 apparently ended with no resolutions having been passed and resulted in a rather dispirited Bill Johnston. He did however indicate that he would try to get the idea going again sometime in the future.

Although some of the keener members continued to talk and plan ahead, there is little evidence of anything else happening until July 1977, due to a combination of interested parties being too busy or just general apathy. Nothing changes really!

Two meetings were held in 1977 once again at St Stephens Club. By now it might seem that Stan Longdin was on commission from the venue, but according to the reports, it did seem to be the most suitable venue. In January 1978 an open meeting of prospective members was held at which the decision to go ahead with the association was made and the processes to be adopted were agreed upon. Over the next few months, a plethora of steering committee, sub committee and general committee meetings were held to establish the general rules of the association, which still did not have an agreed name. A firm of solicitors known to Bill Johnston was engaged to draw up the Articles of Association and other legal papers. It is interesting to note at this point, that of the thirty three companies that initially expressed an interest in joining the fledgling association, just five members remain in business today under the same banner.

In March 1978, the steering committee met and the minutes recorded the following main points: the association should be run by a staff of three; a Secretary General who would ideally have a surveying qualification and have held a responsible position within the industry, a full time administrator and a part time assistant. A President would be elected for a maximum of three years by the council of twelve members, elected from the membership. The budget was set at £45000 per annum. Two important benefits of membership were identified by the steering committee as being necessary to attract members. These were to improve the status of the surveyor by barring less reputable operations from membership, and to increase turnover by being able to charge economic rates. I assume that they meant increase profitability as one without the other is pointless!

It would appear that agreement over the scale of membership fees was a difficult hurdle to overcome. A flat fee of £500 was suggested which in terms of 1978 finances seems an inordinately high sum. This was driven by the proposed budget of £45000 and the anticipated membership of one hundred companies. Suffice to say that this was rejected as was the idea of running the association’s own secretariat when financial reality was brought home.

The major hurdle to overcome in the formation of the ALS would appear to have been the acceptance and agreement of a name by the many parties by now involved. It is on record that it took fifteen months of meetings and correspondence before the current name of the UK Land & Hydrographic Survey Association was accepted. Records show that the first set of articles was drawn up using the name of the United Kingdom Survey Association. However the Registrar of Companies did not accept the name, requiring the inclusion of a word within the title explaining what type of surveyor would be involved. The Registrar was however happy to accept either the “United Kingdom Field Survey Association” or “The United Kingdom Geometric Survey Association Limited.” The committees and individuals involved thankfully did not like either of these suggestions so happily spent the next year and a bit in a deluge of correspondence suggesting many different names. Some of the suggestions in today’s world would quite beggar belief. The UK Association of Surveyors and Map Makers, shortened (?) to UKASAMM was one, another was the UK Association Of Survey Data Collectors. One committee member came up with the snappy title of “The UK Topographical Survey Association of Land, Engineering, Photogrammetric, Hydrographic and Cartographic Survey Companies.” That one really trips off the tongue. The letterheads would also be a joy to behold. The one that I am most grateful for not having been adopted was the Federation of British Geometers or FBG for short. Perhaps Roald Dahl got his idea for the Big Friendly Giant from this suggestion? A logo was even designed for this name with the explanation that “the image to be used was derived from the peppered moth caterpillar of the Family Geometridae. This family of caterpillars were so named because of their behaviour – they appear to be measuring whilst in motion.” Perhaps the proposer had something after all?

Whilst this major debate of the choice of names was going on, the logistics of the association seemed to take a bit of a back seat. However, when the current name was agreed upon in 1979, it was full speed ahead with the final rules, aims, finances, newsletters and general requirements of establishment. The first Council was elected and Bill Johnston was duly elected as TSA’s (the abbreviation having already been adopted) first President. The first Secretary General was Mr G Stebbing who duly recorded the minutes of the first official Council meeting on the 8^th January 1980. The other Council members on that auspicious day were. J Cooper, M Iffland, P Davies, M Jensen, M Oliver, R Pearce and T Paton. Apologies had been received from T Bancroft, T Bourne, L Scott and T Fenton. The original committees were to govern Legal, Finance and membership/Rules.

So there it was. TSA was up and running, with over thirty members, just six years after the initial informal meetings were held. It had already been agreed that TSA could not function without a professionally run Secretariat and could not afford one of its own. The SSAI, later changed to the SSA, was contacted and agreed to provide this service for an initial fee of almost £10000. Alan Littlejohn became the Secretary General followed by Jim Winstanley, Nick Granger and Tom Dougherty.

In July 2006 TSA took the plunge and fulfilled the dreams of those pioneers back in 1975 and established its own Secretariat with Rachel Tyrrell and myself at the helm. It is also nice to record that the target number of member companies set in 1975 has now been achieved. TSA may at times move like the aforementioned caterpillar, but we do get there eventually.

Here we are now thirty five years on with a vibrant association with in excess of one hundred and fifty members, its own fully manned (well part womanned) and financed Secretariat, industry suppliers as members, a PI scheme, an excellent interactive website, H&S support, regular meetings and widespread regular publicity. One of the original aims of the association, that of political lobbying, has now been addressed and intercourse with ICES, RICS and other bodies continues unabated. I am sure the founders would approve of this transformation.

Sincere thanks should go to all the people that pushed so hard for the formation of TSA in the 70’s. Their efforts and foresight will not be forgotten. Sorry if I sounded a bit like Winston Churchill there; the emotions have got the better of me.

Rory M Stanbridge

TSA Secretary General

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The lecture was given by Edwin Danson, a name familiar to many members of TSA and Chartered ICES. Ed’s lecture was based on his book, “Drawing the line” although never at one point did he try to push or sell the book. An opportunity missed there by Ed. The lecture was part of a programme of events at the Bowes Museum celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the start of the survey of the line in 1763. Much laughter was heard when one of the slides had a typo showing 1963 instead of the actual year. Ed covered that up like a true pro. The Bowes Museum has also been holding an exhibition dedicated to the life of Jeremiah Dixon who was born just a few miles away.

The exhibition closes in early October so if you want to see it you had better get a move on. It really is worth the visit and thanks go to the irrepressible pair of Jonathan and Caroline Peacock for making all of this possible.

I do not intend to write much about the lecture preferring to direct you towards the book or the Wikipedia link below. However a few facts are worth recording on this monumental task. The line was commissioned as a result of an 82 year long boundary dispute. Now that would be music to surveyor’s ears in modern times. The MD Line measured some 233 miles in length (some articles refer to it as being in excess of 300 miles long) and took just over five years to measure with a crew at one stage of about 120 including porters, cooks, security guards, etc. No one man operation total stations here then! They did encounter problems when they travelled through Indian country, a bit like London in modern times, and so had to employ a number of Indian guides and translators. Ed was told by his publishers that he could not use the term Indians and would have to use “native Americans” instead. He ignored this and used the term that all Roy Rogers’ fans will understand. Charles Mason was an astronomer from Gloucester and Jeremiah was a surveyor, cartographer from County Durham, an ideal combination according to Ed. In fact Mason liked America so much that he returned some 13 years after the completion of the Line to live in Philadelphia but only survived one month before his death. The two intrepid “surveyors” were also famous for being the first Englishmen to accurately measure the circumference of the World. An amazing achievement in those early days of survey measurement!  Jeremiah died in 1779 at the young age of 45 but what a life he had led and what memories he has left us with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason%E2%80%93Dixon_line

Jeremiah Dixon, a Quaker, never married but in attendance at the lecture were a number of his direct descendants. I did feel at one time that I had gate-crashed a private party although some of the descendants had never met each other either. It is rumoured that Jeremiah did produce a number of offspring with a local lady but this is not official although she is mentioned in his will as are two of her daughters. A bit of Northern scandal here!  I spent most of the afternoon with one of Jeremiah’s direct descendants, 80 year old George Dixon a retired headmaster who still lectures on Jeremiah’s life and times. George is an amazing man and in addition to his in depth knowledge of Jeremiah, we also spoke about football. No surprise there! I mentioned that I remember Bob Hardisty from Bishop Auckland. In the 1950’s Bob was the top amateur player in England and captained his country at two Olympic Games. In amateur circles he was as famous as Wayne Rooney is now. Imagine my surprise when George told me that he had played with him.

So a fantastic day all round, listening to two passionate men talking about a subject dear to their hearts. I feel quite honoured to have been there.

The post Dixon’s Line appeared first on The Survey Association.

The lecture was given by Edwin Danson, a name familiar to many members of TSA and Chartered ICES. Ed’s lecture was based on his book, “Drawing the line” although never at one point did he try to push or sell the book. An opportunity missed there by Ed. The lecture was part of a programme of events at the Bowes Museum celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the start of the survey of the line in 1763. Much laughter was heard when one of the slides had a typo showing 1963 instead of the actual year. Ed covered that up like a true pro. The Bowes Museum has also been holding an exhibition dedicated to the life of Jeremiah Dixon who was born just a few miles away.

The exhibition closes in early October so if you want to see it you had better get a move on. It really is worth the visit and thanks go to the irrepressible pair of Jonathan and Caroline Peacock for making all of this possible.

I do not intend to write much about the lecture preferring to direct you towards the book or the Wikipedia link below. However a few facts are worth recording on this monumental task. The line was commissioned as a result of an 82 year long boundary dispute. Now that would be music to surveyor’s ears in modern times. The MD Line measured some 233 miles in length (some articles refer to it as being in excess of 300 miles long) and took just over five years to measure with a crew at one stage of about 120 including porters, cooks, security guards, etc. No one man operation total stations here then! They did encounter problems when they travelled through Indian country, a bit like London in modern times, and so had to employ a number of Indian guides and translators. Ed was told by his publishers that he could not use the term Indians and would have to use “native Americans” instead. He ignored this and used the term that all Roy Rogers’ fans will understand. Charles Mason was an astronomer from Gloucester and Jeremiah was a surveyor, cartographer from County Durham, an ideal combination according to Ed. In fact Mason liked America so much that he returned some 13 years after the completion of the Line to live in Philadelphia but only survived one month before his death. The two intrepid “surveyors” were also famous for being the first Englishmen to accurately measure the circumference of the World. An amazing achievement in those early days of survey measurement!  Jeremiah died in 1779 at the young age of 45 but what a life he had led and what memories he has left us with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason%E2%80%93Dixon_line

Jeremiah Dixon, a Quaker, never married but in attendance at the lecture were a number of his direct descendants. I did feel at one time that I had gate-crashed a private party although some of the descendants had never met each other either. It is rumoured that Jeremiah did produce a number of offspring with a local lady but this is not official although she is mentioned in his will as are two of her daughters. A bit of Northern scandal here!  I spent most of the afternoon with one of Jeremiah’s direct descendants, 80 year old George Dixon a retired headmaster who still lectures on Jeremiah’s life and times. George is an amazing man and in addition to his in depth knowledge of Jeremiah, we also spoke about football. No surprise there! I mentioned that I remember Bob Hardisty from Bishop Auckland. In the 1950’s Bob was the top amateur player in England and captained his country at two Olympic Games. In amateur circles he was as famous as Wayne Rooney is now. Imagine my surprise when George told me that he had played with him.

So a fantastic day all round, listening to two passionate men talking about a subject dear to their hearts. I feel quite honoured to have been there.

The post Dixon’s Line appeared first on The Survey Association.

The Bowes Museum

The exhibition has been brought together over the last two years by Jonathan Peacock who is remarkably passionate and knowledgeable about Jeremiah. If you visit make sure to try to meet up with Jonathan for a full account of Jeremiah’s adventures. He has also written a book which is available at the cost of £7 from the bookshop at the museum. Not online though I am afraid. The exhibition includes some of the equipment used by Jeremiah and Charles Mason in surveying The Line which took just about five years.

Double telescope

Gunter’s chain

The exhibition is timed to commemorate the 250^th anniversary of the start of the survey of the line. Jeremiah was not only a surveyor but a wonderful cartographer and an astronomer too.

Some of his maps on display are truly beautiful and show amazing calligraphic talent. Oh for the days gone by of fair drawings! If you want to know a bit more about the exhibition and what is on show, please take a look HERE.

The Bowes Museum is a stunning building and art gallery and worth a visit alone even if you have no interest in surveying. My wife came with me and she absolutely loved it. Despite being married to me for over forty years she still has no interest in surveying so I view this as a good benchmark of general appeal.

There are a number of illustrated talks being given at the Museum over the next five months about Jeremiah including one from Edwin Danson who many members will know through his work with ICES.

This exhibition is a must for all surveyors especially those that moan about modern equipment and the pressures of work today.  Just read about the MD line and you will know what I mean.

Finally, if you have not already heard it, listen to mark Knopfler’s tribute to Jeremiah Dixon “Sailing to Philadelphia.” Still the only song that I know of that mentions surveying!  You can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTvc-bEP35I

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