Definitions   Page Last Updated: 22 Jan 2008

Grid Reference Systems
Regions
W.A.B. Areas
Islands

Grid Reference Systems:

The systems used are, for Great Britain the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain “National Grid Reference” (NGR), for Northern Ireland the Ordnance Survey of Ireland “Irish Grid” and for the Channel Islands the “Universal Transverse Mercator Grid” (UTM). These form the basis of the main W.A.B. Awards.

The NGR, Irish and UTM grids divide the country with a grid of 100Km x 100Km, which W.A.B. call “Large Squares”. The NGR and UTM give these a 2 letter reference i.e. HP, SP, TQ, WV etc. whilst the Irish Grid uses a single letter C, D, G, H & J. This is shown on the map above. The Large Squares are then broken down with a 10Km x 10Km grid; these are given a 2-digit reference. The first digit is called the “Easting” and is read from the top or bottom of the map. The second digit is called the “Northing” and is read from the side of the map.

The 10Km x 10Km “Small Square” is then made up with the Large Square letters and the grid numbers, e.g. C32, HY61, SP87, WV47 etc.

Although the NGR, Irish and UTM grids are derived in the same way, they do not exactly coincide. Therefore, it is not possible to change Irish or UTM grids into NGR’s. The three systems are used.

Regions:

Great Britain and Northern Ireland are divided into administrative regions. Some of these are called “Counties” which are sub-divided into “Districts”. Others which are not sub divided are called “Unitary Authorities” (UA). Three letter abbreviations are given to Counties and UA’s. These are used along with the full name in each of the claim files.

W.A.B. Areas:

The 10Km x 10Km “Small Square” alone does not constitute the W.A.B. Area. The W.A.B. Area is the 10Km small square and the County or UA. e.g. “SP87 Northamptonshire” which can be abbreviated to (SP87 NHM), “TQ28 Haringey UA” (TQ28 HGY), “ST28 Cardiff UA” (ST28 CDF), “H05 Fermanagh UA” (H05 FER), “WV37 Guernsey” (WV37 GUR) etc. The Area must contain land, and the Area is only that land or an inland waterway in the area.

Each claim book lists W.A.B. areas in alpha-numeric order. The English Award Claim Book shows Counties and Islands that are divided into administrative regions printed in capital letters. Other information may be given to help identify the area, this is shown in brackets.

Care must be taken in the interpretation of areas from small-scale maps. The addresses of British Stations given in RSGB and International Call Books can be misleading. The postal address system tends to use Old County names that no longer exist, and old boundaries of existing Counties from before all, or some, of the reorganisations of the administrative systems.

For example - “Long Eaton” is in Derbyshire but the postal address is Nottingham. If the station does not know their W.A.B. Area, it is advisable to ask for their exact location and the name of the authority to which they pay their “Council Tax”. This authority will be the Unitary Authority (UA) or a regional authority (District) within their County.

Care should be taken when using Computer Databases - some have tried to use postcodes to convert to W.A.B. Areas, and IT DOES NOT WORK.

Islands:

An Island is defined as a naturally formed piece of land lying off shore from the main land and at some time is surrounded by tidal water. The Island must be named or be part of a named group on a 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey map or an official map of the Channel Islands. The construction of a man made bridge or causeway does not take away the status of an island.

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