15 November 2004

Give Santa a grid reference

Children encouraged to give Father Christmas extra mapping help to reach his destinations

Children across Britain are being encouraged to help Father Christmas locate their house on Christmas Eve by including a map grid reference as well as the postcode in their letter to Santa. Ordnance Survey, Britain’s national mapping agency, is sure this extra help will speed up his journey this Christmas Eve.

Ordnance Survey’s Elaine Owen says, "Postcodes are great for getting the mail to the right address, but on Christmas Eve, in the dead of the night, Father Christmas will find it easier to rely on a map and to have an accurate grid reference to help find that all important chimney."

Although it can be easy to find out your grid reference using a paper map, Ordnance Survey has a free Get-a-map service on its website, www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap, where you can type in your postcode or village or town place name and a map appears showing your home area with a grid reference given at the bottom of the screen. If your house isn’t exactly in the centre of the map, then just one click on the actual house will give you the exact grid reference! Mums and Dads or older friends are being asked to help if children can’t obtain the grid reference themselves.

"Putting grid references on a letter to Santa isn’t as silly as you may think, as many helicopter pilots rely on an accurate grid reference in order to land at a precise location, and the emergency services often find rural locations much faster if they are given a similarly accurate reference," says Elaine Owen.

Children and parents can find further details on grid references and other pages on a Christmas theme at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/christmas. The web site includes sections on Christmas place names, walking off your Christmas dinner and gift ideas.

 

What is a grid reference?

All Ordnance Survey maps are covered in a series of blue grid lines. These grid lines help you pinpoint an exact location anywhere on the map by giving a unique number known as a grid reference. The vertical lines are called eastings, as they go up in value as you travel east on the map. The horizontal lines are called northings, since they go up in value as you travel north on the map. If you want to pinpoint an exact place on a map, such as your own house, you will need to use a six-figure grid reference, which you get by putting together the numbers of the easting and northing that cross in its bottom left-hand corner. Grid references are easy if you can remember that you always have to go along the corridor before you go up the stairs.

 

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