OVER 2 YOU 223 (22/03/05)

GOING POTTY

My wife and I collect Victorian pottery much of it from obscure British manufacturers, most of whom have long since gone out of business. Some of it can be difficult to identify, we’ve got a few books but they tend to fairly specialist in nature and only cover the well-known companies. Does anyone know of a comprehensive online database of maker’s marks and impressions?

Reginald Hampton, via email

Go to www.thepotteries.org for some great information on 1500+ potters in Stoke on Trent. Including trade names shows companies, their factory names, dates, initials used for identification and details of marks for British porcelain, pottery & ceramics, many long gone.The website takes you through to the A-Z of Stoke on Trent Potters. Fascinating!

Also, www.2002.stoke.gov.uk/council/libraries/

pottery/pachives is very interesting too. 

Jackie Powell, Reading, Berks

Your enquirer might try: www.replacements.com. Which has a huge online database of patterns, marks and impressions.

Mike Williams.

May I suggest ‘Heather’s Nostalgic Antiques and Collectables’ web site, which you will find at: www.heanosantiq.com/pottery%20marks.htm. This features a large collection of pottery and ceramic marks from the 18th century to the present day. It is very easy to use with examples of many marks and short histories of the manufacturers plus links to other useful sites.

Christine Medford, via email

There’s a tremendous collection of makers marks on, of all places, the Welcome to California web site (www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=22319). In addition to many American potters there’s a large number of British companies listed, with examples of their marks.

John Bailey, Edinburgh

There used to be a large database of makers marks at www.potterymarks.co.uk/, though the site appears to be undergoing a revamp but it should be back online soon so it is worth book marking. This site also has a mark ‘finder’ service and if you send them a picture of a mark you can’t identify they will publish the image in the hope that one of the many experts who use the site will recognise it.

Julia Cunningham, via email  

CROCHET CHART

I find it almost impossible to follow a crochet chart. Is there any software, which could convert the chart and symbols into words more like a knitting pattern?

Christine Knight, via email

I doubt very much there is any specialised software for this sort of thing but it may be possible to convert the chart into a text document by scanning it into Word using optical scanning software. Once in text form it can then be manipulated using Word’s Find and Replace feature, to change specified words, numbers or symbols into other characters. 

Peter Charles, via email

Your correspondent might like to have a look at the selection of knitwear and crochet software listed at: www.bellaonline.com/articles/art14412.asp and www.crochetdesigns.com/. I am not sure if there is one that will specifically meet her needs but there are certainly programs that can help with design and layout on a PC.

Pauline Clearly, via email

I do not know of any software that would help convert crochet charts into text but I can read such charts and may be able to convert them for her if she would care to get in touch with me.

Fiona Ellis, via email

AERIAL VIEWS

Can anyone suggest a way of taking an aerial photograph of my property, preferably using my own digital camera? Would such a thing be possible, using a tethered balloon or perhaps some sort of radio-controlled aircraft?

Peter Mitchell, via email

If your reader goes to www.gentles.info/KAP he should find solutions. He will certainly see some superb aerial photographs taken by Edinburgh based James Gentles using a radio controlled digital camera hung from a kite in apparatus of his own design and construction.

Alan Lovegreen, via email

KEEPING WATCH

I am a member of Coastwatch which is a voluntary charitable organisation manning ex Coastguard lookout stations keeping a watch, around the clock, on our coastline for the safety of people using the sea, foreshore and cliffs. We produce a monthly manning roster in Excel but this is assembled manually. The length of duty watches can vary between weekdays and weekends and two people are generally required per watch. Some watch keepers are trainees and can only do watch keeping when accompanied by a qualified watch keeper. Each watch keeper is expected to do 4 watches per month. Can anyone recommend software, preferably free, which will assist us in producing our duty rosters?

Neil P Tourle, Newhaven

If you don't find something suitable for scheduling your duty roster, I can probably modify your existing spreadsheet using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) so that it does what you want. It's time I did something for charity and this sounds a suitable task.

Colin Kerr, via email

N.B. Offers of help from readers have been forwarded to the senders of the original questions

CAN YOU HELP?

Does anyone know of a website where you can enter, for example, a place name or grid reference (in the UK) in order to get an aerial view of that region? The facility must be free to use and preferably have a zoom capability.

Stuart Francis, via email

I am in the process of compiling a set of walks and would like to include a profile of the rise and fall of the terrain covered, to give an indication of the severity of the climbs and descents from start to finish: the final product to look like a single line graph with miles for the ‘X’ axis and height for the ‘Y’ axis.  I have looked, thus far without success, through many internet sites for software that will allow me to click on the points where the route crosses the contour lines on the map to produce the chart I require. Can anyone help?

Jim Cumberbatch.