Hounslow: General Roy’s Baseline Ride

Join us on our ride around western parts of Hounslow taking in historical landmarks linked to the accurate mapping of the country and the birth of the Ordnance Survey.

The ride will leave from Heston Park (what3words location: Stays.Minute.Fever) and will take approximately 4 hours, including a stop for refreshments at Bushy Park.

This will be a medium-paced ride on cycle tracks with some sections on road therefore participants should be confident cycling with traffic. Minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times.

Some historical background!

The origins of Ordnance Survey go back to a triangulation survey carried out for King George III and The Royal Society between 1784 and 1790.

The survey was determining the relative positions of the Greenwich Observatory and L’Observatoire de Paris, and measuring the distance between the two observatories.

Major General William Roy FRS RE, carried out the survey under the authority of the Master General of the Board of Ordnance, and Roy’s first action was to measure a survey base-line across Hounslow Heath during the summer of 1784.