0:00:24 > 0:00:29The Ordnance Survey has steadfastly mapped our lives for over 200 years.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38During its long history, the OS has produced billions of maps...
0:00:40 > 0:00:44..meticulously recording every square mile of our nation.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51All 94,525 of them.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57For me the Ordnance Survey embodies everything
0:00:57 > 0:00:59that is best about being British -
0:00:59 > 0:01:02the attention to detail,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05the pioneering expeditionary fervour
0:01:05 > 0:01:07that went into the initial surveying...
0:01:10 > 0:01:13..and the continuing expertise that makes these maps
0:01:13 > 0:01:15the best in the world.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Every city, village and town,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24every street and every house has been mapped
0:01:24 > 0:01:29by an army of boffins and intrepid adventurers.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Whatever it took.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36We had no health and safety, no helmets.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40We used to wear wellingtons so that you could put your spanners in.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44It was like the Wild West, you know what I mean?
0:01:47 > 0:01:49It's a triumph of great British design
0:01:49 > 0:01:52and no-nonsense practicality...
0:01:52 > 0:01:54OS 12 to OS 13,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57will you move to the corner of the barn, please.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59'I think you'll have to shoo the cattle out of the way, over.'
0:01:59 > 0:02:02..and tireless dedication.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08One side of an outdoor leisure map took two years.
0:02:11 > 0:02:17Produced with such loving craft, the OS map has become our trusted guide,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21ever ready to show the way to generations of holiday-makers,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23weekend adventurers and ramblers.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28VOICEOVER: As for maps, you can't beat the Ordnance Survey.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32They're absolutely reliable and show all those off-the-highway haunts
0:02:32 > 0:02:34the true rambler loves to explore.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42After mapping the changing contours of the nation's life
0:02:42 > 0:02:45through the decades,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48now in the digital age of Sat Nav,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51interactive and 3-D maps,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55the OS is having to change itself.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01But the Great British public's enduring love affair
0:03:01 > 0:03:06with the humble foldout OS map is still alive and well.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11If you go three steps outside your front door, that will be on a map.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15You know, what other country can do that?
0:03:32 > 0:03:35If you've ever ventured into the great outdoors,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38chances are there's been an OS map stuffed in the rucksack.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47We used to go on family holidays to a beautiful
0:03:47 > 0:03:49part of the Yorkshire Dales
0:03:49 > 0:03:51from about the age of six months upwards
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and I remember very clearly when I was about eight,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56my stepfather spreading an ordnance survey map
0:03:56 > 0:04:00out over the dining room table in the cottage that we were staying in
0:04:00 > 0:04:03and explaining to me the walk that we were going to do later that day.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07To me, it was like being taught how to crack a code,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11suddenly learning how to decipher all of these symbols,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13these contour lines
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and how to translate them into an image of the landscape itself.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22My earliest memory is being shown how to use this
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Ordnance Survey map, Sheet 126, by my parents,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29who kept it among many other OS maps
0:04:29 > 0:04:31on their bookshelves at home.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35With this sheet here, I was able to go out into the countryside
0:04:35 > 0:04:38of Norfolk on my bicycle, or on foot,
0:04:38 > 0:04:39exploring public rights of way.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43The public footpaths, the public bridleways, all those routes that
0:04:43 > 0:04:46are not Tarmac and are therefore THE most exciting ones to explore.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Do you need a map? OK, Beth, there's your map.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59There are two series of Ordnance Survey maps used by walkers.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Still out and about at the age of 83, Hugh Westacott is
0:05:03 > 0:05:07a poster boy for the benefits of a lifetime's rambling.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09And we are in lowland countryside...
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Today he's guiding a group of walkers to Coombe Hill
0:05:13 > 0:05:16on the edge of the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23There are 140,000 miles
0:05:23 > 0:05:25of public paths in England and Wales.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30There are more miles of footpath
0:05:30 > 0:05:33than there are roads
0:05:33 > 0:05:36but we are actually going to walk
0:05:36 > 0:05:39along the top of a very steep escarpment.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43If you look at those contour lines, it's very, very steep.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Is everybody ready to move off now?
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And you know what we're looking for?
0:05:48 > 0:05:50A steep hill down.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52OK.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57For over 70 years, the Ordnance Survey has taken Hugh the length
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and breadth of Britain and it's never failed him.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07I've walked from Land's End to Fort William relying
0:06:07 > 0:06:10entirely on Ordnance Survey maps.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13They're so remarkably accurate.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Because they're so accurate, it makes it easy to follow.
0:06:19 > 0:06:25We're standing now at the viewpoint on the top of Coombe Hill,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30which is probably one of the most striking views in the Chilterns.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33You can see for hundreds of square miles.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46I couldn't imagine England without Ordnance Survey.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48It's one of our great treasures.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52They're very handsome, they really are.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54They're works of art.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58I'm a dinosaur.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03I much prefer paper maps to using GPS receivers
0:07:03 > 0:07:09because the difficulty with the GPS is the screen that you look at is
0:07:09 > 0:07:13so limited, you can't see the bigger picture.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Over more than 200 years of development...
0:07:22 > 0:07:26..the maps have become a masterpiece of clarity and precision.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Ordnance Survey maps are probably the easiest
0:07:32 > 0:07:34maps in the world to read.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36They're very simple.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41They have a very harmonious set of colours on them
0:07:41 > 0:07:45that accord with psychologically the way
0:07:45 > 0:07:48we need to absorb information.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50For example, the big roads,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53the dangerous bits are bright red.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55The rivers are blue.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57The woods are green.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00There's a logic to the colour system,
0:08:00 > 0:08:05so you're given a lot of help when you're using an Ordnance Survey map.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Among true devotees of the OS map, most agree that the
0:08:12 > 0:08:15absolute pinnacle of the cartographer's art
0:08:15 > 0:08:19is the 1 to 50,000 scale Landranger map.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24In this series, the whole country is divided
0:08:24 > 0:08:27up into 204 different sheets.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29One kilometre of Britain
0:08:29 > 0:08:32is represented by 2cm on the map.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39For most of the history of the OS,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42nearly everything on the map was drawn by hand.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45A cartographer's training could take up to a year.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55I started in the drawing school and I did practising drawing
0:08:55 > 0:08:57and putting names onto maps.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Then after one year
0:09:00 > 0:09:04I did a final drawing test, completed that
0:09:04 > 0:09:09and then I was transferred to a large-scale drawing section.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14I worked on very large-scale maps.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18You drew the detail, you drew the rivers, you drew the cliffs
0:09:18 > 0:09:20and the gravel pits and the railways
0:09:20 > 0:09:22and the shores and the bogs.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28All this detail came from years of the laborious legwork and
0:09:28 > 0:09:33meticulous measuring done by the Ordnance Survey's men in the field.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37VOICEOVER: Now to fill in the details.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Mark the starting points for the survey of side roads,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44check the positions of fences and the fronts of houses.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49One of the things that any surveyor out in the field had to find out
0:09:49 > 0:09:52to put on the map was the names of places
0:09:52 > 0:09:54and this caused all kinds of kerfuffle.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57There is a wonderful field guide for surveyors
0:09:57 > 0:10:00that they issue and they tell them in strict order
0:10:00 > 0:10:02who they should believe for names.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It starts with clergyman and schoolmasters and doctors
0:10:05 > 0:10:07and goes down, down, down the list
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and then it says uncategorically don't believe the people who
0:10:10 > 0:10:13live in the houses themselves, especially if they are labourers
0:10:13 > 0:10:16or kind of common, basically, because they won't have a clue,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19especially they won't have a clue how to spell it.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Once all the names had been spelt correctly, the surveyor's map
0:10:27 > 0:10:30was then turned into the final work by the cartographer
0:10:30 > 0:10:33on zinc plates.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37The plates were then photographed and maps printed from the negative.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47In the '50s and '60s, the men in the field were just that - men.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52In the drawing sections, it was an admirably modern-looking workplace.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57And almost alone among British institutions at the time,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01the OS recognised this in the employees' salaries.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06One of the big bonuses was that we were actually on equal pay
0:11:06 > 0:11:08with the men.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10We were treated equally.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14There was a small problem in that not many girls were very good
0:11:14 > 0:11:17at sharpening their drawing pens and
0:11:17 > 0:11:21so you had to talk nicely to one of the men
0:11:21 > 0:11:23to sharpen your drawing pen.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26I could never do mine, I always had to rely on somebody else
0:11:26 > 0:11:31because it was, at that time, it was more of a man's technical thing.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Once Marilyn's pen was properly sharpened,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39she loved some of the symbols she had to draw.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42They included bus stations,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44churches, wind pumps
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and Marilyn's favourite - rubbish dumps.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52You would start with little tiny boulders
0:11:52 > 0:11:54and you would draw the bigger boulders at the top
0:11:54 > 0:11:57and then it would go down to give the impression
0:11:57 > 0:12:02of a heap of rubbish, or refuse.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04Did I get it right?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Was it the little ones at the top, or the big ones?
0:12:07 > 0:12:09- No, the big ones at the top...- Yeah.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12- ..becoming little dots towards the bottom.- Yeah.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19The draughtsmen and women who sweated over every last rock
0:12:19 > 0:12:22of the rubbish dump were the unsung heroes of the OS map.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Their handiwork went uncredited,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33so they found ways of leaving their mark.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37The draughtsman, for all the work he's done,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40never got his name on his pieces of work. We all did, of course.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44We were quite ingenious at finding ways of signing the thing
0:12:44 > 0:12:48and concealing it in the detail
0:12:48 > 0:12:51but anybody who knows where to look
0:12:51 > 0:12:54will find a lot of the draughtsmen's names in there.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57On a cliff face was a great camouflage.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Such mischief on the map was normally spotted.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06The survey's military attention to detail meant that there
0:13:06 > 0:13:10was absolutely no room for error for the backroom men and women.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14First of all, it was examined by your immediate supervisor.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16It was then examined by his senior
0:13:16 > 0:13:19and then it left and went to a section
0:13:19 > 0:13:22which was devoted entirely to examining things.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25That's what these guys did and they were all military people.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27They examined everybody's maps and tore them to shreds
0:13:27 > 0:13:30and then you were called over to put everything right.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33It was very strict in those days, you were called by your surname
0:13:33 > 0:13:36and there was no walking around in shirt sleeves.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39It was that sort of environment.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43You had old, um, almost Edwardian type
0:13:43 > 0:13:45schoolmaster figures who ran the sections
0:13:45 > 0:13:48and it just felt like being at school again sometimes.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52This highly-disciplined working environment is
0:13:52 > 0:13:56entirely in keeping with the origins of the Ordnance Survey,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00which date back to the 1790s and the threat of Napoleonic invasion.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08The Board of Ordnance was tasked with drawing up accurate maps
0:14:08 > 0:14:12of the south coast of England to defend the nation.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Based in the Tower of London,
0:14:17 > 0:14:22the Board of Ordnance looked after artillery, transport and supplies.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26To complete the mapping,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29the Board turned to cutting-edge technology
0:14:29 > 0:14:33and the most precise piece of measuring equipment the world
0:14:33 > 0:14:34had ever known -
0:14:34 > 0:14:36the theodolite.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41This is a five-inch theodolite
0:14:41 > 0:14:43and the five-inch
0:14:43 > 0:14:45refers to the size of these scales.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48This is the vertical scale,
0:14:48 > 0:14:49runs around here
0:14:49 > 0:14:52and inside the base is the horizontal scale.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Both scales are calibrated in degrees, minutes and seconds
0:14:55 > 0:14:59and can be read through these very fine microscopes here.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05It has levelling bubbles to get the instrument precisely level,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08to ensure accuracy when reading the angles again and again.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13After the surveyors had measured the distance between
0:15:13 > 0:15:15two points on the ground,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18a theodolite was used to calculate
0:15:18 > 0:15:19the angles to a third point.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Using the laws of geometry,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24the distances to each point
0:15:24 > 0:15:26were then calculated.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30These are really skilled operators.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Even the booking of the readings you're given
0:15:32 > 0:15:34has to all be done by hand
0:15:34 > 0:15:36and all the calculations afterwards done by hand
0:15:36 > 0:15:38using log tables and the like.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Yes, a lot of skill required.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47In charge of the mapping of Kent was William Mudge.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Between 1798 and 1820,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53he was the Ordnance Survey's first superintendent.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57He's a brilliant figure
0:15:57 > 0:15:59because he's both an administrator,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01a kind of good politician,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03but he's also a practical surveyor.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06He's a real sort of child of the Enlightenment -
0:16:06 > 0:16:09he gets the idea that you need to believe
0:16:09 > 0:16:13in the idea of rational, mathematical thinking
0:16:13 > 0:16:15to create objective maps.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Mudge's ground-breaking map of Kent,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23on a scale of one inch to the mile,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25was published in January 1801.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31He's the figure who sort of really establishes the Ordnance Survey
0:16:31 > 0:16:34as a long-term rolling project
0:16:34 > 0:16:37which is given validation by the state
0:16:37 > 0:16:41and also begins to have a wider popular, public impact.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46So Mudge, I think, is the great hero, really, of the early days of the Ordnance Survey.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51From this southern starting point,
0:16:51 > 0:16:56Mudge's successor Major General Thomas Colby mapped his way
0:16:56 > 0:17:00further up England and Wales between 1820 and 1847.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Colby was extremely eccentric, very, very energetic.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08A complete workaholic, really.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13He only had one hand, which was a huge hindrance for a surveyor,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16and that had happened on an earlier training exercise where
0:17:16 > 0:17:19he had been shown a pair of pistols which had then gone off in his hand.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22He had to manage this incredibly delicate surveying equipment
0:17:22 > 0:17:24with only one hand to do so.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Under his guardianship,
0:17:27 > 0:17:32the Ordnance Survey finished publishing the first series of maps.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35That series was officially finished in 1873
0:17:35 > 0:17:38with the last map published of the Isle of Man.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45The mapping of Britain, inch by painstaking inch,
0:17:45 > 0:17:46took over 70 years.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Given the technology of the time, this was a colossal achievement.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57Each map was the equivalent of two days' average wages,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00putting them out of reach for most citizens.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06But in time, the OS did come to realise the possibilities
0:18:06 > 0:18:10for a more widespread usage of its maps among civilians.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21By the turn of the 20th century,
0:18:21 > 0:18:25the Ordnance Survey had mapped the whole of the British Isles
0:18:25 > 0:18:28but with its hefty price tag, the print run of each map
0:18:28 > 0:18:32remained very limited, with never more than 1,000 prints.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39They weren't straightforward to get hold of around 1900.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41You could get them through booksellers
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and the booksellers then had to get them through
0:18:44 > 0:18:46a central agent in London
0:18:46 > 0:18:48who got them from Ordnance Survey themselves.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56The British landscape had changed by the early 1900s.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02The age of the motor car had opened up the country like never before.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09Commercial map-makers spotted a gap in the market for the new traveller.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14None more so than the Edinburgh company Bartholomew.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24This canny Scottish firm started issuing half-inch maps entirely
0:19:24 > 0:19:30based on OS one-inch maps entitled simply Reduced Ordnance Survey Map.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37Bartholomew's took the OS map, added more attractive colours,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40and they were soon flying off the shelves.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43This shameless plagiarism didn't go down well with
0:19:43 > 0:19:45the gentlemen of the Ordnance Survey.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51It was suddenly realised that there was quite a bit of money
0:19:51 > 0:19:54to be made out of copyright
0:19:54 > 0:19:58and that is when rumblings began
0:19:58 > 0:20:01from the Ordnance Survey in Bartholomew's direction.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05John Bartholomew complained mightily,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08called the whole thing ungentlemanly,
0:20:08 > 0:20:13and had to change the title of his half-inch series
0:20:13 > 0:20:16from Reduced Ordnance Map to just Reduced Map,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19and you can see the change on this in the covers.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28The 1911 Copyright Act enabled the Ordnance Survey to control
0:20:28 > 0:20:31the reproduction of its maps by others much more effectively.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34From this time on,
0:20:34 > 0:20:39the words Crown Copyright Reserved were included on all its maps.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51With this new commercial confidence came a new director-general.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Charles Close was determined to transform the Ordnance Survey
0:20:57 > 0:21:01into a modern, popular mapping company.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07He thought that Ordnance Survey mapping could be rationalised,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09more particularly the small-scale mapping -
0:21:09 > 0:21:13they could be greatly improved in appearance.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Close, like all heads of the Ordnance Survey up to 1977,
0:21:17 > 0:21:23was a soldier, a Royal Engineer, and he wanted to improve the mapping
0:21:23 > 0:21:26also from the point of view of military functionality.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35The outbreak of World War I
0:21:35 > 0:21:38disrupted Close's big plans for updating the covers.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45But it allowed him to put the maps to vital military use.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51The significance of the Ordnance Survey
0:21:51 > 0:21:55was that it provided a nucleus of trained military
0:21:55 > 0:21:57and civil manpower
0:21:57 > 0:22:02who could be used both for surveys and for drawing and printing maps.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07The OS planned to produce the maps at Southampton
0:22:07 > 0:22:10and then ship them to France.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22It becomes apparent that more sophisticated warfare
0:22:22 > 0:22:25which has developed elsewhere is going to happen here,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30with invisible firing, not from guns, of a dug-in enemy,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33and therefore you need to survey in where they are.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41The OS experts devised ingenious methods of surveying enemy lines...
0:22:44 > 0:22:45..one of which was from the air.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Captain Harold Winterbottom was put in charge of the aerial division.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56He was tasked with spotting
0:22:56 > 0:22:59and photographing German artillery positions.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06On the ground, observers had his plane firmly in sight.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10At the moment when the target's position was received,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14the telescope would be clamped and the bearing read off.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Winterbottom's strike rate was so phenomenally accurate
0:23:20 > 0:23:23that British artillery troops called him The Astrologer.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32When the war finally ended on November 11, 1918,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37the Ordnance Survey had produced an astonishing 33 million maps
0:23:37 > 0:23:39and diagrams for the British Army.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Quite a lot of this would involve getting as close to enemy lines
0:23:44 > 0:23:49as possible, and even though they were wearing tin hats,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52they would still be likely to be shot at.
0:23:55 > 0:23:5867 men and women lost their lives
0:23:58 > 0:24:01serving the Ordnance Survey during the conflict.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15With the end of the war, Charles Close returned
0:24:15 > 0:24:19to his plans for the modernisation of the Ordnance Survey...
0:24:20 > 0:24:24..convinced that to survive it needed to generate
0:24:24 > 0:24:25an income from its sales.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32Prewar, the Survey's rivals made a small fortune with tourist maps,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35cheekily using Ordnance Survey data.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Now, Charles close wanted a piece of this lucrative market.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45In 1919, he launched a new set of one-inch tourist maps
0:24:45 > 0:24:47aimed squarely at the holiday-maker.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52The OS was quite deliberately going down-market.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59The die-hard colonels and brigadier generals must have thought it
0:24:59 > 0:25:02was hideously mimsy and pandering to horrible taste,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05but they had to make some money, and that was a way of doing it.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Before the First World War, OS maps were drab, utilitarian objects.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20So, to make them more appealing, Close decided to employ
0:25:20 > 0:25:24the Survey's first-ever professional artist, Ellis Martin.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Gone were the old buff covers, gone were the old paper covers,
0:25:31 > 0:25:39and in their place were introduced a series of pictorial covers,
0:25:39 > 0:25:45which revolutionised the whole map marketing area for Ordnance Survey.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Ellis Martin's covers were painterly and picturesque.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55They featured people, too,
0:25:55 > 0:26:00the types who might buy the maps - pipe-smoking ramblers, cyclists,
0:26:00 > 0:26:02and motorists.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Within two years of Ellis Martin joining,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12map sales had gone through the roof.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20In 1921, the OS recorded the highest-ever map sales.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28Profits were up by 56% and Charles Close put this down
0:26:28 > 0:26:31to the quality of Martin's cover designs.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36While Ellis Martin worked for the Ordnance Survey between the two
0:26:36 > 0:26:39world wars, he reigned supreme.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Nobody else matched him as a map cover designer.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Martin's artistic rebranding cleverly coincided
0:26:51 > 0:26:54with the zeitgeist of the '20s and '30s.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03This was an era which saw increased leisure time
0:27:03 > 0:27:05for the lower middle classes.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11It turned the stylish OS map into a must-have travel accessory.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14- VOICEOVER:- We are now at the top of Leith Hill,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17one of Surrey's most famous beauty spots.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20As for maps, you can't beat the Ordnance Survey.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Absolutely reliable, they show all those off-the-highway haunts
0:27:24 > 0:27:27the true rambler loves to explore.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32The relationship between the accuracy of the Ordnance Survey maps
0:27:32 > 0:27:36with the possibilities it allows you of exploring the landscape
0:27:36 > 0:27:39plus the heightened nationalism in the interwar period
0:27:39 > 0:27:43has really cemented that idea of the Ordnance Survey maps
0:27:43 > 0:27:46as an icon of patriotic Englishness.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Since feet are very much in evidence,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52footwear is another important consideration,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55so choose your boot to suit your route.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Many people's favourite series of OS maps,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09known as the Popular Edition, is from this era,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12published between 1919 and 1926.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20That era spans a part of history in Britain where the number
0:28:20 > 0:28:25of motor cars on the road went up from 77,000 to around one million.
0:28:26 > 0:28:32And so that map is the last picture we have of Britain
0:28:32 > 0:28:35before it was overrun by motor transport.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42I am looking at a Britain that no longer exists -
0:28:42 > 0:28:43it's a Britain before motorways,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46before airports, or at least before many of them.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48But it's a Britain before traffic jams.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53It's a quiet, a very peaceful Britain.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58The Ordnance Survey's maps are an irreplaceable record
0:28:58 > 0:29:00of historical change.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Because the OS has been mapping Britain for so long,
0:29:05 > 0:29:09you can compare the same place through different ages,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12so you get these spot checks of development
0:29:12 > 0:29:14through many, many different eras.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17In that respect, they are a completely invaluable,
0:29:17 > 0:29:18unique resource.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25As well as charting historical change,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28some OS maps are also highly sought-after.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Certain covers have become very collectable.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38There was one map produced in 1927
0:29:38 > 0:29:39for the eclipse of the sun.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45This map was valid for only one day, but it showed
0:29:45 > 0:29:49the path of the sun's eclipse across the country on that day in 1927.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53That is quite a collectable map.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59There's always been something about Ordnance Survey maps that appeals
0:29:59 > 0:30:04to the Great British compulsive, of the outdoor and armchair variety.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07These are very collectable items,
0:30:07 > 0:30:09something which one can put in a house,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13don't take up too much room, and on the whole are a lot cheaper
0:30:13 > 0:30:17than a very fine piece of antique furniture.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22It is the fellows that generally collect the maps.
0:30:22 > 0:30:23Men are completists.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27We have that bit of our brain that wants the full collection,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31and it doesn't matter whether it's Bob Dylan albums
0:30:31 > 0:30:35or stars' autographs, we have to have the full collection.
0:30:35 > 0:30:36OS maps are just the same.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40Of course, you have a finite number, you have the 204 Landrangers of
0:30:40 > 0:30:44the whole country, and for a fellow, the ambition is to get them all.
0:30:49 > 0:30:5331-year-old Ed Fielden has been collecting OS maps
0:30:53 > 0:30:54for over 12 years now.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00I think I probably am a map addict.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03It's one of those addictions that I don't think anyone can help.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05It's perfectly harmless.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08In fact, it's an enriching addiction.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10So, I've just moved house
0:31:10 > 0:31:13and this is probably the first room I got going properly -
0:31:13 > 0:31:16this is what I'm calling my map room, if you like.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19There's somewhere in the region of 3,000 maps just in this room,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23and a few hundred others in boxes still to be sorted through.
0:31:24 > 0:31:30I would probably say that I have spent over £10,000 so far,
0:31:30 > 0:31:32collecting all these maps.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35But it's money well spent.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39The thing I probably like most about Ordnance Survey maps
0:31:39 > 0:31:45is their clean lines, their... You know, you feel a sense of accuracy
0:31:45 > 0:31:48when you look at a map made by Ordnance Survey.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54There's quite a joy in seeing a paper landscape, if you will,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57and interpreting that into how it would look on the ground,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59and then when you go out with the map,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03you see that landscape come to life, in effect.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07You see all the bumps and the hills and the various roads
0:32:07 > 0:32:10and streams and rivers and all of that, it comes to life.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17Most Ordnance Survey maps include a symbol of a small blue triangle
0:32:17 > 0:32:20with a dot inside.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22This marks a triangulation point.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28For map addicts like Ed, these are places of pilgrimage.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34I've visited somewhere in the region of 300 trig points so far.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40Each time I visit a trig point, I take a little photograph of it,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43and I log my visit and make a note of the date and time,
0:32:43 > 0:32:46and say when I visited.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52I've got about 6,200 pillars to visit yet,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55and I think it's going to take me a few years to do it.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08The thousands of trig points which cover the length
0:33:08 > 0:33:13and breadth of the country were built between 1935 and 1962.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19This was one of the hardest and most important projects
0:33:19 > 0:33:23undertaken by the Ordnance Survey in the whole of the 20th century.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29The original 19th century measurements were out of date
0:33:29 > 0:33:31and needed to be revised.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37To do this, the OS devised a new metric grid system
0:33:37 > 0:33:41which split the country up into squared sections.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47Each grid would receive their own map at a new, more detailed scale
0:33:47 > 0:33:53of 1:25,000, the equivalent of 2.5 inches to the mile.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00In charge of this vast project was Brigadier Martin Hotine.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06A veteran of World War I, he was a stickler for accuracy.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14His simple idea was to build an extensive system of four foot
0:34:14 > 0:34:16concrete observation points across the UK
0:34:16 > 0:34:19from which new measurements could be taken.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27They were built by members of the Ordnance Survey,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30taking sand and cement and plywood formers
0:34:30 > 0:34:33to build these things at all of these high points.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36They had to make this concrete construction
0:34:36 > 0:34:38on top of all of these mountains.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40They had very deep foundations, which is one of the reasons
0:34:40 > 0:34:43they're all still on mountain tops to this day.
0:34:43 > 0:34:44They were built to last.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53The OS employed the same principles it had used for their initial
0:34:53 > 0:34:55mapping of the country in the 1800s.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03- VOICEOVER:- Theodolites are used to line up the tripods which carry
0:35:03 > 0:35:05the measuring tapes.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Microscope readings are taken every 24 metres
0:35:08 > 0:35:10until the whole ten-mile baseline is complete.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17From this baseline, the OS built up a network of points
0:35:17 > 0:35:22which provided a template for the highly precise remapping of Britain.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35The most effective way to make accurate measurements
0:35:35 > 0:35:36from the new system of trig points
0:35:36 > 0:35:40was in the middle of the night, using powerful torch lights.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46The surveyors sometimes had to wait days for a clear night to appear.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55But the project was disrupted by the outbreak of World War II,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59and was not completed until 17 years after the war ended.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Working on its completion was Dave Broadley's first job
0:36:07 > 0:36:10when he joined the Ordnance Survey in 1957.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14They'd progressed through the country,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17and the Outer Hebrides and the north of Scotland
0:36:17 > 0:36:20was the last bit to be done.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23You would have to carry, as well as the theodolite,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26which we called a fiddle because it was fiddly...
0:36:26 > 0:36:29And they were heavy. We also had a lamp,
0:36:29 > 0:36:32which was a miniature searchlight,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35and a six-volt car battery
0:36:35 > 0:36:37up a mountain, right?
0:36:37 > 0:36:38Which was heavy.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43And then you'd have to have maybe a tripod as well to stand it on.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46We had to do the readings many, many times.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Measuring flatter areas of England such as East Anglia
0:36:51 > 0:36:53was not any easier.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57With no convenient hills available,
0:36:57 > 0:37:02the surveyors had to erect enormous and rather flimsy steel structures.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06They were called Bilby Towers.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13On the outside was like a stepladder, and you used to climb up there
0:37:13 > 0:37:15and, if you were on your own,
0:37:15 > 0:37:20you had to climb up with a six-volt battery in one hand, in a carrier,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22and do it like this.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25All the way to the top. 103 foot.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29We had no health and safety, no helmets.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33We used to wear wellingtons so you could put your spanners in.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36It was like the Wild West.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38We felt like pioneers.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40It was an adventure.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44I felt privileged to be doing it.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45Sorry.
0:37:45 > 0:37:46Mmm.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53When the re-triangulation project was finally completed,
0:37:53 > 0:37:57the mass of new geographical information was used
0:37:57 > 0:37:59to make more accurate, up-to-date maps.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02- VOICEOVER:- This printing machine, which was made in Leeds,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05will print 5,000 spot-on Ordnance Survey maps an hour.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09This colourful world in miniature and minute detail.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18By the late 1960s, Britain was being re-forged in the white heat
0:38:18 > 0:38:21of a technological and scientific revolution.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26The Ordnance Survey was not immune
0:38:26 > 0:38:29from big changes to the way it operated.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Machines were beginning to take away many aspects
0:38:33 > 0:38:35of the draughtsman's job.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42As far back as the late 1940s,
0:38:42 > 0:38:45the OS had been using aerial surveys to update its maps.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50But the adoption of the stereo plotting machine
0:38:50 > 0:38:51had made this much easier.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56This machine allowed cartographers to plot the contours
0:38:56 > 0:39:01and elevations of mountainous areas using aerial photos to create maps
0:39:01 > 0:39:05far quicker than even the speediest draughtsman.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Stereo plotting has made mountains into molehills
0:39:10 > 0:39:12as far as the hard grind of map-making is concerned.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Here's how they get those squiggles
0:39:18 > 0:39:20which show you the height of mountains.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Draughtsmen trace the lines the stereo plotter's made
0:39:23 > 0:39:27on wax-coated glass, a process known as "scribing a mould".
0:39:27 > 0:39:29Climbing these hills would be much less work
0:39:29 > 0:39:31than drawing them so accurately.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Although scribing mould was a step forward from hand drawing maps,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38this process still demanded a lot of time
0:39:38 > 0:39:40and effort from the draughtsperson.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45We used basic tools, but they would have different cutters in them
0:39:45 > 0:39:47at different widths.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52Tools that we use, this one for drawing straight lines with.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55It scribes the line on the plastic.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00And there's a tripod for doing curvy lines.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03You move down and scratch the coating off,
0:40:03 > 0:40:05using that to move it round.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Those were the two basic tools.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11And what we call a dot cutter.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13So basically we line it up and we need the dot.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15And just drill a hole.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17Hopefully not right through it.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23To do an Outdoor Leisure map, one side of an Outdoor Leisure map
0:40:23 > 0:40:24took two years.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Despite the incredible attention to detail
0:40:33 > 0:40:36of the Ordnance Survey's cartographers, historically,
0:40:36 > 0:40:40some areas of the country have always been off limits.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Most famously, I guess, with Ordnance Survey, was from the '20s
0:40:45 > 0:40:48right the way through until very recently, they had a policy
0:40:48 > 0:40:50of keeping off the map - this was government policy -
0:40:50 > 0:40:54keeping off the map sites of military sensitivity.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02During the Cold War, Britain's security was thought
0:41:02 > 0:41:04to be under grave threat from the Soviet Union...
0:41:10 > 0:41:14..and nearly 5,000 sensitive areas were excluded from OS maps.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18There were some really crazy ones. When I was a kid in the '70s
0:41:18 > 0:41:21we used to go and stay in Scarborough every year,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24up in North Yorkshire. And a favourite day trip was to go out
0:41:24 > 0:41:27and look at the golf balls on the North Yorkshire Moors
0:41:27 > 0:41:29of the Fylingdales early warning system. You could get
0:41:29 > 0:41:32a coach trip there, you could buy postcards of the place.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36But there was just a blank, nothing on the Ordnance Survey map.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38I mean, who did they think they were kidding?
0:41:40 > 0:41:42Certainly not the Russians, anyway.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51After the fall of the Iron Curtain in the late 1980s,
0:41:51 > 0:41:56some surprisingly detailed Soviet maps of 92 British towns and cities
0:41:56 > 0:41:58came to light.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08Ironically, they featured in glorious detail
0:42:08 > 0:42:11all the military sites which the OS had been forced to omit...
0:42:12 > 0:42:15..and much more on top.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17And it's things that we don't normally see on maps.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20It's things like the speed of flow of rivers
0:42:20 > 0:42:23and whether a river is tidal or not.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25It's things like the width of roads
0:42:25 > 0:42:28and the clearance of the carriageways
0:42:28 > 0:42:32and how many carriageways and what the surface of a road is made of.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37It's things like the depth to which a channel has been
0:42:37 > 0:42:39dredged for clearance.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42They've collected as much information as they could possibly find
0:42:42 > 0:42:44and put it on a map.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50These maps are still top-secret in Russia.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56It is assumed they were completed using a mixture of existing maps
0:42:56 > 0:43:01of the UK, spies on the ground and photography from above.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14If you're going to invade, they are very much useful
0:43:14 > 0:43:16if somehow this is now your territory.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18Then there is what you need
0:43:18 > 0:43:20to rule the place, or to run the place.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Clearly they were most interested in objects of military importance,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28and a particularly good example is the Chatham Dockyard in Kent,
0:43:28 > 0:43:30where British submarines were being built
0:43:30 > 0:43:32throughout the Cold War period.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35And on the Ordnance Survey maps, that whole area is shown as
0:43:35 > 0:43:36an empty blank space.
0:43:38 > 0:43:43Whereas what we have here is the Soviet map from 1985.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48We can see each of the military buildings identified
0:43:48 > 0:43:51and also the individual railway lines,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53the docks and the dry docks.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56And what's interesting, of course, is the contemporary Ordnance map
0:43:56 > 0:43:58has none of that information.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00In fact, attention was drawn to it
0:44:00 > 0:44:01by the fact it was a blank space.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05It was easier to find secret sites by looking for the blank spaces
0:44:05 > 0:44:06on the Ordnance maps!
0:44:12 > 0:44:16The Soviet cartographers who mapped the UK's major cities
0:44:16 > 0:44:19during the '60s and '70s would have been helped greatly
0:44:19 > 0:44:21by the use of satellite imagery.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Technology at this time was developing rapidly
0:44:29 > 0:44:33and the Ordnance Survey were early adopters of the computer.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39I remember the staff being...
0:44:39 > 0:44:41Certain staff members were thought to have an aptitude
0:44:41 > 0:44:44for computer logistics.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46..being tested.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49And there was a very primitive computer brought in,
0:44:49 > 0:44:53and our fastest draughtsman was ranged against
0:44:53 > 0:44:57this computer to see who was going to finish the map first.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00And obviously, not a huge map,
0:45:00 > 0:45:04but a number of key skills and tricks, what have you.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07And I think it more or less came out 50/50, you know.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16But man didn't stay level with machine for very long.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22By the early 1970s, a revolutionary shift towards
0:45:22 > 0:45:24digital map-making was underway.
0:45:26 > 0:45:31The OS's huge archive of topographical data
0:45:31 > 0:45:34was digitised onto spools of magnetic tape.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40These computers were much more efficient than humans.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46This unit is capable of plotting a map at up to 40 inches a second.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51A skilled draughtsman might take days to do a sheet like this.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54This machine will finish it off in minutes.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59The first computer-generated map came just two years before
0:45:59 > 0:46:02another big shift for the Survey -
0:46:02 > 0:46:04moving from the imperial to the metric era.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12The old one-inch map was replaced by the 1:50,000 scale.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16These maps became known as the Landranger series.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24For hardcore OS fans, they quickly gained iconic status.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29The northern part of the country came out in 1976.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32And at nine o'clock in the morning on the day they came out,
0:46:32 > 0:46:35I was through the doors of WH Smith's in Kidderminster,
0:46:35 > 0:46:38and there they were! It was kind of, I guess, the Harry Potter launch
0:46:38 > 0:46:41of its day as far as I was concerned. But I was the only one
0:46:41 > 0:46:44in the queue, as you can probably imagine.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50During the '70s, the Ordnance Survey was encouraged by the government
0:46:50 > 0:46:53to become a little more... Well, relaxed.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59In 1974, it announced that the director-general
0:46:59 > 0:47:02no longer needed to have a military background.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Yet again, the Ordnance Survey was adapting to meet
0:47:10 > 0:47:12the demands of a new Britain.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19Surveying methods had changed beyond all recognition.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25Infrared beams were now used to measure distances.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31But sometimes, nature had other ideas.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35OS 12 to OS 13, will you move to the corner of the barn, please?
0:47:35 > 0:47:38'I think you'll have to shoo the cattle out of the way, over.'
0:47:38 > 0:47:40OK, Rog, wilco.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43CATTLE MOO
0:47:46 > 0:47:51The OS digitised the last of its 230,000 different maps
0:47:51 > 0:47:55in 1995, making Britain the first country in the world
0:47:55 > 0:47:59to complete a programme of large-scale electronic mapping.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04It saw that its future lay squarely in this direction.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13In 2001, a new computer system was introduced -
0:48:13 > 0:48:15the OS MasterMap.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21It's now the biggest geographical database in the entire world,
0:48:21 > 0:48:27containing over 440 million man-made and natural landscape features
0:48:27 > 0:48:29of the British Isles.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34This huge geographical archive is a valuable commodity
0:48:34 > 0:48:39for the OS and it absorbs new data at a phenomenal rate,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42with up to 10,000 changes being made to it in a day.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59One of the ways the MasterMap reacts to the smallest
0:48:59 > 0:49:01change in the physical fabric of the nation
0:49:01 > 0:49:04is through its all-seeing digital eye in the sky.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11My job is, basically, to cover 80,000 kilometres per year
0:49:11 > 0:49:13of Great Britain...
0:49:15 > 0:49:18..and hopefully accumulate 50,000 photos in that time.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS
0:49:29 > 0:49:32This camera here is a 196-megapixel camera,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34so it's a pretty decent resolution there,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38much better than what you've got on your iPhone 5.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40We've got eight lenses underneath this camera here.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42There's four colour.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45Er, three panchromatic, so black and white,
0:49:45 > 0:49:47and one infrared.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49So we're getting a lot of data - they're all taking images
0:49:49 > 0:49:51at the same time.
0:49:53 > 0:49:58Once we go over the specific site, it automatically takes the images.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02And then we can view them on this screen here, which allows us
0:50:02 > 0:50:04to quality control them.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08Being up in the sky for eight hours at a time, you get to see
0:50:08 > 0:50:11a lot of land, you get to see some great features.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14You also get to see some great infrastructure as well.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18The freedom up here, really, it's brilliant.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31These aerial photographs are compared against
0:50:31 > 0:50:32the existing OS map.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38Any changes are updated immediately on the MasterMap.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45Over 90% of the Ordnance Survey's revenue stream
0:50:45 > 0:50:47is now made up from selling its digital data.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54But the OS are not the only people watching
0:50:54 > 0:50:56and profiting from our every move.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03In recent years, Google has been mapping its way around the world,
0:51:03 > 0:51:08creating an instant-access, interactive picture of the planet.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13I think the problems that the Ordnance Survey faces are twofold.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16One is that you are in an age of globalisation,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19so the concept of mapping the nation state is,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22it seems to me, in a long period of decline.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24The other problem, of course, is the decline of
0:51:24 > 0:51:26the paper map.
0:51:26 > 0:51:31Online, digital geospatial applications are now predominating,
0:51:31 > 0:51:34so the OS is in a real problem.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38It's now become absolutely ubiquitous to use online maps.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45Most of us now access maps through sat navs or our phones.
0:51:48 > 0:51:53And sales of those old favourites, the Landranger and Explorer maps,
0:51:53 > 0:51:55have been gradually declining.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00But there are no plans to abandon the traditional paper maps.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09The experience of reading a physical map, making sense of its
0:52:09 > 0:52:13funny-shaped symbols and contours are part of its pleasure,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16and its sheer physical scale is hard to beat.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25Big paper maps give you an idea of where you sit in a bigger landscape.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29If you've got a narrow GPS map on your screen as you're driving,
0:52:29 > 0:52:31all you see is a narrow strip of information.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33If you've got an Ordnance Survey map, you see all of
0:52:33 > 0:52:37the contextual material as well. You see exactly where you are sitting
0:52:37 > 0:52:39in the landscape.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42You can very clearly see, because the symbols differentiate
0:52:42 > 0:52:45between a, you know, a coniferous wood and a deciduous wood.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47And you can tell the difference between a wide river
0:52:47 > 0:52:49and a narrow stream.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57Despite the bigger picture Ordnance Survey offers,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00digital maps have taken over our view of the world.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07So much so, that some have warned we are losing the ancient art
0:53:07 > 0:53:09of reading a map.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22One group who has always placed value in the power
0:53:22 > 0:53:24of map-reading is the Scouts.
0:53:27 > 0:53:32As an organisation, they have always been one of the OS's biggest fans.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36But can today's tech-savvy Scouts be convinced that traditional
0:53:36 > 0:53:40map-reading skills and OS maps are still relevant?
0:53:43 > 0:53:45I remember learning how to use Ordnance Survey maps myself
0:53:45 > 0:53:47when I was in the Scouts,
0:53:47 > 0:53:50and that's not a knowledge that ever goes away.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54You learned because it was a skill you didn't learn anywhere else.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57And, you know, six-figure references, compass work, maps,
0:53:57 > 0:53:59was something new, it was something interesting,
0:53:59 > 0:54:02something exciting. You remembered to know that if you looked
0:54:02 > 0:54:05at an Ordnance Survey map, a red triangle meant you were near
0:54:05 > 0:54:06a Youth Hostel.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15For this group of teenagers, whose first instinct
0:54:15 > 0:54:18to find a youth hostel would be a Google search,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21they're learning traditional navigational skills.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28So, if we are there, I would like you to figure out how long
0:54:28 > 0:54:31it will take us to get to this point here.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35Well, we also to use the compass to measure
0:54:35 > 0:54:38how many contour lines there are, which determines the steepness
0:54:38 > 0:54:41of the hills that we're going up.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44So, there's one, two,
0:54:44 > 0:54:46three, four, five and that determines the...
0:54:46 > 0:54:50It's not quite clear how much the joy of old-school navigation techniques
0:54:50 > 0:54:53beats more modern technology for these boys.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57So, it should take us 20 minutes.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00But one benefit is clear...
0:55:00 > 0:55:03You don't require a signal for a map, whereas you do for a phone.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Plus phones run out of battery, so it doesn't really help if you're
0:55:06 > 0:55:09out in the forest and you're...
0:55:09 > 0:55:11Going to get stuck, aren't you?
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Though, as we all know, the hardest thing about using an OS map
0:55:16 > 0:55:17is folding it up.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23We'll do creases in the middle. This is, like, the main one.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Sort of fold that in half, and then it sort of...
0:55:26 > 0:55:29folds in on itself, doesn't it?
0:55:29 > 0:55:33You have get it precise, get the creases in the right position,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35match them together. It takes a lot.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38Sometimes I've to get one of the leaders to do it!
0:55:40 > 0:55:43- Are you Succeeding?- A little. - Yeah, we're getting there.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46- Fold it back.- Fold it back?
0:55:46 > 0:55:49And then it just folds. I mean, that looks simple, but...
0:55:49 > 0:55:51- It's not that...- ..it's not when you're on your own and...
0:55:51 > 0:55:54It's taken a lot of practice.
0:56:04 > 0:56:09Over the past 226 years, the Ordnance Survey has followed
0:56:09 > 0:56:11every move our nation has made.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18It's mapped the geography of our lives and helped us win wars.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23And it's done so with a world-beating use
0:56:23 > 0:56:24of new technology...
0:56:26 > 0:56:29..and a rather eccentric spirit of adventure.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34The Ordnance Survey is absolutely a Great British success story,
0:56:34 > 0:56:36and it forms a model for many national mapping agencies
0:56:36 > 0:56:38around the world.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43Certainly, the Ordnance Survey makes Britain pretty much
0:56:43 > 0:56:47the leading country in the world in terms of possessing
0:56:47 > 0:56:50accurate geographical information about itself.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55It's the greatest cartographic institution in the world
0:56:55 > 0:56:57and it could not be more British.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02Well, in some ways, the Ordnance Survey is
0:57:02 > 0:57:05a perfect mirror of Britain,
0:57:05 > 0:57:07at its best and at its worst.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11I mean, at its best - you know, entrepreneurial
0:57:11 > 0:57:14and go-getting and quietly ambitious for the country.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17A beautiful fusion of art and science.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21And then, it is as an organisation, and always has been,
0:57:21 > 0:57:25rather stuffy, rather pompous, rather self-important.
0:57:27 > 0:57:28Britain in a nutshell.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34The gridlines and coordinates of the OS map have always been
0:57:34 > 0:57:36a trusty travelling companion.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42I cannot possibly imagine this country functioning without
0:57:42 > 0:57:43Ordnance Survey maps.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48Perhaps the greatest testament to the Ordnance Survey
0:57:48 > 0:57:52is that for many of us, they don't just produce maps,
0:57:52 > 0:57:54the OS ARE maps.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00And the simple charm of their paper map can never be replaced.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Brian gets quite irate when people say,
0:58:03 > 0:58:08"You don't need to tell us where you live, because we've got sat nav."
0:58:09 > 0:58:13So Bryan says, "No, you should be using an Ordnance Survey map."
0:58:13 > 0:58:17You can't beat an OS paper map.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20The OS map will always be the best.