Chain (unit) in the context of Odometer

The acre (/ˈeɪkər/ AY-kər) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1⁄640 of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m, or about 40% of a hectare. The acre is sometimes abbreviated ac, but is usually spelled out as the word "acre".

Traditionally, in the Middle Ages, an acre was conceived of as the area of land that could be ploughed by one man using a team of eight oxen in one day. The acre is still a statutory measure in the United States, where both the international acre and the US survey acre are in use, but they differ by only four parts per million. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land. The acre is used in many existing and former Commonwealth of Nations countries by custom. In a few, it continues as a statute measure, although not since 2010 in the UK, and not for decades in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In many places where the acre is no longer a statute measure, it is still lawful to use as supplementary information next to the statutory hectare measurement.

A cricket pitch is the rectangular central strip of a cricket field between the two wickets, where most of the action takes place. It is 22 yd (20.12 m) long (1 chain) and 10 ft (3.05 m) wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely short grass, but can be completely dry or dusty soil with barely any grass or, in some circumstances (that are rarely seen in high level cricket), made from an artificial material. Over the course of a cricket match, the pitch is not repaired or altered other than in special circumstances - meaning that it will change condition. Any grass on the pitch at the start of the game, for example, may disappear due to wear.

As almost all deliveries bowled will bounce off the pitch towards the batter, the state and type of a cricket pitch can significantly affect the outcome of a match. For example, a dusty and very dry pitch often favours spin bowling because the ball grips more on such surfaces, giving the team with stronger spin bowlers a potential advantage. The state of the pitch is so important that home teams can be fined or docked points if it is deemed unfit for normal play or dangerous for batters, with balls behaving unpredictably. Players may also face disciplinary action if found deliberately damaging or altering the pitch in violation of the Laws of Cricket. Because of these factors, coaches, players, and commentators often discuss how the pitch is "behaving" during a match—especially in first-class cricket or Test cricket, where conditions can change over several days. These changes also influence the coin toss decision, as captains weigh whether batting first or bowling first is more advantageous. For example, a captain might choose to bat first on a flat pitch but opt to bowl on a greener, more moist surface that offers early movement.

Clapham Junction (/ˈklæpəm ˈdʒʌŋkʃən/) is a major railway station near St John's Hill in south-west Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It lies 2 miles 57 chains (2.71 mi; 4.37 km) from London Victoria and 3 miles 74 chains (3.93 mi; 6.32 km) from London Waterloo. Despite its name, Clapham Junction is not in Clapham, a district 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south-east.

A major transport hub, Clapham Junction station is on both the South West Main Line and Brighton Main Line, as well as numerous other routes and branch lines which pass through or diverge from the main lines at this station. It serves as a southern terminus of both the Mildmay and Windrush lines of the London Overground.

The Cambridge line is a railway line in the East of England; it connects the East Coast Main Line at Hitchin to the West Anglia Main Line at Cambridge. The line is owned by Network Rail and is 23 miles 15 chains (23.19 miles, 37.32 km) in length, serving nine stations. Train services are operated by Thameslink and Great Northern.

Originally opened in 1851, the Royston and Hitchin Railway built a route between Hitchin and Shepreth. There, it met the Shepreth Branch Railway, and the two were joined in 1862 to form the modern route. A station at Letchworth was added in 1905 in conjunction with its opening as the world's first garden city. However, the line fell into decline throughout the mid 1900s, and Harston station was closed as part of the Beeching Axe in 1963.

Inverness railway station serves the Scottish city of Inverness. It is the terminus of the Highland Main Line, the Aberdeen–Inverness line (of which the Inverness and Nairn Railway is now a part), the Kyle of Lochalsh line and the Far North Line.

The Aberdeen and Perth lines diverge at Millburn Junction a short distance beyond Welsh's Bridge. Platforms 1–4 are 118 miles 3 chains (190 km) from Perth (measured via Carrbridge); Millburn Junction, 117 miles 37 chains (189.0 km) from Perth (or 143 miles 39 chains (230.9 km) via Dava). The station is the zero point for the Far North Line and platforms 5–7 are 2 chains (40 m) along this line; Rose Street Junction, 18 chains (360 m) along the line, is 118 miles 1 chain (189.9 km) from Perth.

Aberdeen railway station is the main railway station in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is the busiest railway station in Scotland north of the major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. It is located on Guild Street in the city centre, next to Union Square.

The station is managed by ScotRail. Inter-city, regional, local and sleeper train services are provided to all parts of Great Britain by ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper, CrossCountry and London North Eastern Railway. The station is the northern terminus of the Dundee–Aberdeen line and the southern terminus of the Aberdeen–Inverness line, and is measured 241 miles 6 chains (388.0 km) from Carlisle via Perth.

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods or perches, 10 chains, or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in horse racing, where in many countries it is the standard measurement of race lengths, and agriculture, where it is used to measure rural field lengths and distances.

In the United States, some states use older definitions for surveying purposes, leading to variations in the length of the furlong of two parts per million, or about 0.4 millimetres (1⁄64 inch). This variation is small enough to not have practical consequences in most applications.

Halifax Street is a street in the south-eastern sector of the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It runs east–west between East Terrace and King William Street, crossing Hutt Street and Pulteney Street and passing through Hurtle Square. It was named after Sir Charles Wood (later Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax), British Member of Parliament for Halifax.

Halifax Street is one of the intermediate-width streets of the Adelaide grid, at 1+1⁄2 chains (99 ft; 30 m) wide.

Pacing is a reasonably easy and quick method of measuring distance in the field. It is used to measure a distance and is often used with a sighting or a hand compass. Most commonly, pacing is split up into segments, such as chains, which are set measures of distance. By determining one's own pace, distance can easily be estimated.

The rod, perch, or pole (sometimes also lug) is a surveyor's tool and unit of length of various historical definitions. In British imperial and US customary units, it is defined as 16+1⁄2 feet, equal to exactly 1⁄320 of a mile, or 5+1⁄2 yards (a quarter of a surveyor's chain), and is exactly 5.0292 meters. The rod is useful as a unit of length because integer multiples of it can form one acre of square measure (area). The 'perfect acre' is a rectangular area of 43,560 square feet, bounded by sides 660 feet (a furlong) long and 66 feet (a chain) wide (220 yards by 22 yards) or, equivalently, 40 rods by 4 rods. An acre is therefore 160 square rods or 10 square chains.

The name perch derives from the Ancient Roman unit, the pertica.The measure also has a relationship with the military pike of about the same size. Both measures date from the sixteenth century, when the pike was still utilized in national armies. The tool has been supplanted, first by steel tapes and later by electronic tools such as surveyor lasers and optical target devices for surveying lands. In dialectal English, the term lug has also been used, although the Oxford English Dictionary states that this unit, while usually of 16+1⁄2 feet, may also be of 15, 18, 20, or 21 feet.

Hastings railway station is the southern terminus of the Hastings line in the south of England and is one of four stations that serve the town of Hastings, East Sussex. It is also on the East Coastway line to Eastbourne and the Marshlink line to Ashford International. It is 62 miles 33 chains (100.4 km) from London Charing Cross measured via Chelsfield and Battle; and 82 miles 33 chains (132.6 km) from Charing Cross via Chelsfield and Ashford.

The station is managed by Southeastern, which is one of two train operating companies at the station, alongside Southern, who operate the most services.

Blackhorse Road is an interchange station, located at the junction of Blackhorse Road/Blackhorse Lane with Forest Road in Walthamstow, London for London Underground and London Overground services.

It is on the Victoria line of the London Underground and is the penultimate station on the eastern end of that line. Above ground, the station is on the Suffragette line of the London Overground, 7 miles 21 chains (11.7 km) from St Pancras (measured via Kentish Town and Mortimer Street Junction).

Elmers End is a railway station and tram terminus in Elmers End, south London, England. It lies in the London Borough of Bromley and is 11 miles 7 chains (17.8 km) down the line from London Charing Cross.

Abbey Wood is a major National Rail and Elizabeth line interchange station in Abbey Wood, south-east London, England. It lies between Plumstead and Belvedere on the North Kent Line, 11 miles 43 chains (18.6 km) from London Charing Cross. Services run via the Greenwich and Lewisham routes into central London, while Elizabeth line services operate to Paddington, Heathrow Airport and Reading via Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street. It is in London fare zone 4

The station is managed by Transport for London and served by Southeastern, Thameslink and the Elizabeth line. It is the nearest station to Thamesmead, linked by local bus services. The station entrance is located within the London Borough of Bexley, while the platforms are in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Shenfield railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the suburb of Shenfield, Essex. As well as being a key interchange for medium- and long-distance services on the main line, it is also the western terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line branch line and one of two eastern termini of the Elizabeth line. The station is 20 miles 16 chains (32.51 km) down the line from Liverpool Street; it is situated between Brentwood and either Ingatestone on the main line or Billericay on the branch line.

The station sees trains operated by Greater Anglia to main line destinations including London Liverpool Street, Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich; as well as branch line stations such as Southend Victoria, Southminster, Braintree, Harwich Town, Colchester Town and Clacton-on-Sea. Elizabeth line services stop at all stations westbound towards Liverpool Street, London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5.

Harrow-on-the-Hill is an interchange railway station in Harrow, served by suburban London Underground services on the Metropolitan line and commuter National Rail services on the London–Aylesbury line. It is 9 miles 18 chains (9.23 mi; 14.85 km) down the line from London Marylebone. Harrow-on-the-Hill is the final Metropolitan line station from Central London before the line splits with the main branch towards Watford, Chesham or Amersham and the diverged Uxbridge branch towards Uxbridge. It is located in London fare zone 5.

A knotted cord was a primitive surveyor's tool for measuring distances. It is a length of cord with knots at regular intervals. They were eventually replaced by surveyor's chains, which being made of metal were less prone to stretching and thus were more accurate and consistent.

Knotted cords were used by many ancient cultures. The Greek schoenus is referred to as a rope used to measure land. Ropes generally became cables and chains with Pythagoras making the Greek agros a chain of 10 stadia equal to a nautical mile c 540 BC. The Romans used a waxed cord for measuring distances.