6 Figure Grid Reference

You will need to obtain a 1:50,000 series Ordnance Survey Map

Ordnance Survey Maps are numbered depending on the area of Northern Ireland they cover

For the Lough Neagh Wetlands Sheet 14 covers the majority of the area except the southern shores. You will need sheet 19 for the south west and sheet 20 for the south east.

The example here is taken from Sheet 14 on the west shore of Lough Neagh at Ballyronan.

Step 1 – write down the number of the line on the left hand side of the square – 94

Imagine the square is divided in 10 – count across to where you saw the bird. In this case the red spot is at 4. Write that down. You now have 944.

Write down the number of the line running along the bottom of the square – in this case its 84. Count upwards from that line to where the bird was spotted. The red dot here is at 4. Write that number down. You now have 844.

Join these two numbers together and you get 944 844.

Finally – look at the Map to find the Grid Letter. On new maps (those with a blue cover), this is can be found at each corner. For older maps (with red cover) you will find this on the back with the other symbols. In this case its H so that goes in front of the six figure grid reference to give us H 944 844