In Boy Scouts we teach how to measure height and distance through observations. That's part of surveying.In my living history job, we used to teach high school kids how to measure an acre with a six foot wide a-frame device. More surveying.
But the cool thing is the way we used to lay out the lot every day on the circus. This was a job I had the honor to perform for several seasons, and one I really enjoyed. I would first look over the grounds. I would try to ascertain the most likely direction for the public to be coming from. I would then decide where to put the midway, the big top, the back yard, etc. to best fit the situation.Then I would pace off the midway, placing layout pins at important points. Our layout pins were made from spring steel rods that were formerly car trunk torsion springs.
We would cut a point on one end, and bend the other end into a loop handle with the help of a welding torch or an old hand cranked forge. We would also tie a bit of colorful cloth to the loop handle for increased visibility.After pacing off the midway, I would lay out the big top. This involved stretching out a piece of brass safety chain as long as the tent along the planned center line of the tent location. The chain had bits of colored wire tied through the links that marked the locations of the center poles.
More layout pins on the center pole marks, pick up the chain, and start guiding the trucks on to the lot.Well, it turns out that all that pacing off, sticking pins in the ground, and stretching out chain was surveying. Surveyors historically used a special 66 foot long chain called a Gunter's chain and chaining pins for measuring land. Nowadays they mostly use electronics.
So anyway, that's what I've been busy with lately. I now have room on my work bench and I have started cleaning trucks. I promise to post some progress shots soon.
