Who is "Metric Britain"?

"Metric Britain" is part of a personal web site and was intended to add to the voices campaigning tirelessly for a single, simple and rational system of measurement

But why?

Quite simple really. I was born in 1967 in Northampton and came through British schooling having been taught to speak English and measure Metric. Even as far back as the 1970's I can recall looking at road signs and questioning my parents as to why signs were in miles and not kilometres and being told that "by the time you're driving they will have changed".

Fast forward to the 21st century and I live in a Britain which is legally metric. I have not been formally taught nor have I made any personal effort to understand imperial measurements and yet I live in a country where I'm legally prohibited from having litres of milk delivered to my door or buying 50cl of lager at the local pub.

I have no concept of pounds and ounces and so am excluded from using many market stalls and small shops (such as butchers and green-grocers) because asking for prices in kg is at the best causes ridicule and at the worst abuse. If I discuss my height and weight with friends and family they claim to not understand when I use metres and kilogrammes and when I have to fill in the information on forms they regularly ask for feet, inches, stones and pounds.

I am regularly stumped by road signs warning me that my car needs to be narrower or lower than so many feet and inches when the owners manual only has dimensions in mm. I can buy my petrol or diesel in litres but have to drive in miles so have to mess about to work out fuel consumption.

When doing DIY or buying/selling houses half those involved will work in feet and inches when others will work in metres and milimetres. Floor space will be in square feet and then carpet will be in square metres AND square yards.

When I take my car abroad I can't get the odometer to work in km and can barely read the km/h markings on the speedometer.

40 years into the process of metrication, this should not be the case!