Oxford Triangulation
by the Night Patrol
An interesting Triangulation was acheived by two members of the party who
had brought a motor car with them. This device, little more than a box with
wheels and an internal combustion engine, enabled them to roam around at
high speed, often leaving the town itself for more rural areas. A chief
factor in these nocturnal derives by the Night Patrol was to find a suitable
place to sleep undisturbed by the police or other undesirable elements.
The first night a field was found in the vicinity of Shepherd's Pit, a hamlet
half a mile north of Bayswater Mill, close to Stanton St, John. The second
night was spent in a gateway leading to the Templar's Court Country Club,
premises owned by Magdalen College.
Imagine our suprise when it turned out that these two points were very close
to forming an equilateral triangle with St. Margaret's Well! The error was
between 30 and 80 metres in a total distance of 8 Kilometres. This is a
level of accuracy that even Sony are hard put to match with their latest
satellite technology.
"Now geographers and urban planners, as well as traffic engineers and
developers, are enthralled by the imminent prospect of basing the management
of complex urban systems -traffic flows, zoning, and so on-on LANDSAT satellites
linked to GIS [Geographical Information Systems] software. Since the image
resolution capabilities of commercial satellite systems are now approaching
the threshold of distinguishing individual automobiles, and perhaps even
people and their pets, it will be possible to monitor the movement of entire
populations."
Mike Davis interviewed by Covert Action in Clash #7 (available from Stichting
Marinus vd Lubbe, Postbus 11149, 1001 GL Amsterdam, Netherlands for £1.50)
We felt much relief when careful map work revealed that the centre of the
equilateral triangulation we had carried out was located at Zippo's circus
in the park by Headington Hill. Although one of the sides of this triangle
went through the centre of Temple Cowley (which got its name from the land
donated by Queen Matilda to the Knights Templar in 1135), we could find
no link with outbreak of joy-riding and ensuing confrontation with the police
which took place at Rose Hill on the Friday night.
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