Forgotten GB road numbering system - Essential Traffic Routes

[AndyB]

Never heard of PROTECT, the rule of thumb I told was any classification can be prefixed with a project or area designation (NATO, Tornado, Personal...). I assume suffixed as well given your example. Unless the individual is explicitly cleared for that designation then their clearance would have to be a level higher to see that document.

So a document marked TORNADO SECRET, then someone working on the Tornado Project either for BAe, Panavia or RAF and cleared to see SECRET documents can access it. However, someone not on the project would need TOP SECRET clearance to access it.

Also my sister as a NHS nurse was covered by the Official Secrets Act: medical records etc were CONFIDENTIAL, budgets etc were RESTRICTED

PROTECT was not a classification we used, RESTRICTED was the minimum but it was still in the security briefing we got on joining.

PROTECT replaced both Restricted and Confidential, and both have been superseded by OFFICIAL. SECRET and TOP SECRET still exist.

[Chris5156]

So who's in for a whip-around to get the BL to scan it so we can use show it on SABRE Maps??

I’m in! Would we be free to publish a scan from BL that we’d paid for? And do we know the rough cost?

[roadtester]

I'm trying to work out what the white sign below says - W. D. Circular Route? Presumably, given it has the same stencilling it's also for a military purpose.

I read it either as W.D. or W.O. - War Department or War Office. Same difference as far as the purpose is concerned. For some reason I associate "WD" with the First rather than the Second World War, but I may be wrong on that.

WD = almost certainly War Department. Lots of military stuff - e.g. plates had WD markings well into the seventies. Often abbreviated in conversation to ‘dub-dee’ as in ‘dub-dee bus’, a soft skinned civilian bus operated for/by the Army with a civilian driver but painted in Army style olive green.

Fantastic thread by the way, especially Steven’s original post and all the new information it contains.

[Steven]

So who's in for a whip-around to get the BL to scan it so we can use show it on SABRE Maps??

I’m in! Would we be free to publish a scan from BL that we’d paid for? And do we know the rough cost?

In all seriousness, the BL's imaging services is... outsourced and complex. I asked about it when I was there and got met with that I had to do it online and the onsite staff couldn't help beyond pointing me at the links.

From what I can see, we can get a scanned image for £13.85; and a photographed image for £24.80 (as per this page). But then there's also this page which talks about permission requests, and adds a whole bunch of various admin fees for doing so. It's clearly aimed at commercial users expecting to make money from it rather than the likes of us.

In short, if there's general support for potentially throwing a couple of quid in the pot from people I'm happy to try to find out how many of those "admin fees" we'd end up having to pay.

[KeithW]

I am in.

[Ruperts Trooper]

I'll chip in too

[FosseWay]

Likewise.

[Bryn666]

So who's in for a whip-around to get the BL to scan it so we can use show it on SABRE Maps??

I’m in! Would we be free to publish a scan from BL that we’d paid for? And do we know the rough cost?

In all seriousness, the BL's imaging services is... outsourced and complex. I asked about it when I was there and got met with that I had to do it online and the onsite staff couldn't help beyond pointing me at the links.

From what I can see, we can get a scanned image for £13.85; and a photographed image for £24.80 (as per this page). But then there's also this page which talks about permission requests, and adds a whole bunch of various admin fees for doing so. It's clearly aimed at commercial users expecting to make money from it rather than the likes of us.

In short, if there's general support for potentially throwing a couple of quid in the pot from people I'm happy to try to find out how many of those "admin fees" we'd end up having to pay.

If you know what the price will be I'll throw towards it as well.

[Chris5156]

I’m also in. There’s a lot of mapping held in libraries that is on our scanning wish list, but I’d say the novelty and uniqueness of this one makes it a special case.

I’m also happy to discuss with Nowster the potential for SABRE to make some sort of contribution out of society funds, depending on what’s needed and what we can make available.

[roadtester]

More than happy to contribute to this excellent cause as well.

[FosseWay]

Sorry to hijack this thread with other mapping that could be scanned, but I am reminded by Chris's post above that I have almost the whole of Scotland in War Edition 1" in an A1 paper box underneath my bed. Aeons ago ravenbluemoon and I tried to find a way of photographing them but we didn't get satisfactory results. Scanning on an A4 scanner is difficult, especially since the maps don't lie especially flat, even now 15-odd years after I bought them rolled up. On the other hand, technology has moved on since our attempt, so any suggestions of practical ways of digitising these are welcome