Reggie was good company yesterday morning. We walked from his home in Parsons Green across Putney Bridge and then up the river to Richmond. Except for a short stretch at Barnes he was off the lead until we got to Richmond.
We crossed the meridian line twice because of the curvature of the river. George III built an observatory in the Old Deer Park by Richmond in 1769. He wanted to observe the transit of Venus that year. As part of the project he built three obelisks to mark an imaginary north-south meridian line.
The arrow on the map is the meridian and it illustrates why the Thames towpath crosses it twice.
If you look behind the obelisk the observatory is just about visible.
The line runs through the observatory but a more recent meridian line runs through Syon House, namely the flight path to Heathrow.
I’m looking forward to further excursions with Reggie. We both like to stretch our legs and our inquisitive.
Brilliant Christopher! I have driven over Twickenham Bridge countless times over the past years and always wondered what they were, and of course never had the time to get out and look for myself. Thank you for illuminating me this morning……