Fugro-BKS signs up to Bluesky’s website

21 July 2010, 3:09pm

Fugro-BKS (formerly BKS Surveys) has signed up as a content provider to Bluesky’s online collection of historically important aerial photographs. Visitors to www.oldaerialphotos.com will now be able to search through thousands of additional unique aerial images from the 1950’s onwards including many complete UK county surveys. The Fugro-BKS images available from OldAerialPhotos also include a significant amount of project specific photographs covering sites in Cornwall, Hampshire, Norfolk, Grampian, Tyne and Wear and Merseyside.

“BKS is a well known and highly respected name in the aerial survey sector and we are therefore delighted that they have come on board as content providers for the OldAerialPhotos website,” commented James Eddy, Technical Director of Bluesky. “This agreement with Fugro-BKS will further enhance the visitors’ experience providing access to an unprecedented million plus historically important images.”

“OldAerialPhotos provides a window on the past revealing towns and cities as they have developed over the past fifty plus years,” commented Mervyn Adams, Production Manager of Fugro-BKS. “The addition of our back collection of imagery to the archive will further enhance the potential for historic research and local area studies.”

Fugro-BKS (formerly BKS Surveys) was established in 1956 in Leatherhead, Surrey. The founding shareholders, J.W.Barnby, M.Keegan and R.W. Stevens, gave the company its initials B.K.S. and the company’s main businesses were aerial photography and topographical surveys. In 1965, Fugro-BKS expanded its operation through new offices in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, and in 1967, the Leatherhead production facility was transferred to an enlarged Coleraine unit. In April 2008 BKS joined the Fugro group; based in Holland Fugro has more than 300 operating companies worldwide, providing a range of geotechnical survey and geoscience services.

Visitors to www.oldaerialphotos.com can search through more than a million aerial photos dating back as far as 1917 by simply entering a postcode, address or grid reference. Detailed search results, including the age and ground coverage, of every image that matches the search criteria are displayed and the visitor can choose to purchase either a hard copy print or digital image file.

Photos that are available to purchase from www.oldaerialphotos.com include some of the earliest commercial aerial survey images, military photography from World War II and many national archives. Offering a record of most major UK cities and towns, transport and utility infrastructure and commercial property developments, the images are an invaluable resource for anyone with a personal or professional interest in local studies, genealogy, boundary disputes, environmental land use research or town planning.

PHOTOGRAPH shows the Eden Project site in Cornwall before development - then a China Clay mine - in 1995 (Furgo-BKS image) and as the site looks today (GeoPerspectives image)

Website:
www.oldaerialphotos.com
www.bluesky-world.com
Enquiries to Bluesky sales on +44 (0)1530 518 518

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