Ordnance Survey HQ

There are 204 OS Landranger 1:50,000 maps. I had now reached number 196 and that is where the Ordnance Survey itself is based, just on the northern edge of Southampton. I had hoped from the start of my adventure that it might be possible to pay them a visit. Today, that came true. The OS have been following my progress since quite early on when I was in the low map numbers in northern Scotland, and I have twice done a ”takeover” of their social media. But today, we got to meet each other in the flesh.

In these post Covid days, their very impressive office building, spiritual home to a thousand or more employees, is rarely very busy. But today was 11th November, Remembrance Day, and there was to be a special ceremony on site. The OS saw active service in the wars. Mapping the positions on a battlefield is an important job. So there was a good turnout today, which coincidentally meant that I got the chance to meet all my key OS contacts, and quite a few others, face to face. Also by coincidence, it being a Friday, I was also able to cycle with the OS cycling club for the afternoon. One of their members, Jon, very kindly hosted me at his home for a couple of nights and organised a full programme of events for Friday morning, which began with an early morning hour’s commute to the office through the middle of Southampton, by bicycle, followed by a shower and a change of clothes.

The OS HQ building is about 12 years old and it is about as good as an office building gets. It looks the part, too. I was treated to a tour of the cartography department, and saw the first ever OS map, which took 10 years to produce during Napoleonic times, finally being published in 1801. It is a very large and detailed map of Kent, commissioned in response to the threat of a French invasion that never came. Things have obviously moved on since then, and now all of the 1:50,000 series is stored and updated digitally. I watched as part of a map of Wiltshire was updated live in front of my eyes. Very exciting.

All morning I was treated as something of a celebrity. They had created a display of all 204 maps, backed with some enormous poster sized plots of my entire journey, captured from my Strava feed. It looked amazing. Time flew and there was barely time to grab a bite to eat before the remembrance service, and then I was being interviewed on camera outside and photographed from all angles. They even filmed me close up, putting on my cycling shoes! That was followed with me and the cycling club riders riding in pairs towards the camera and parting at the very last moment before we ran over the camera man! And then it was time for our ride.

We headed out of the city and within minutes were riding through the New Forest National Park. By now, the sun was out and it was warm. The autumn colours were very pretty and there were big open green areas of bracken fringed common land being grazed by many ponies, donkeys, cows and even pigs! It was quite an unusual and distinctive rural landscape through which we did a lovely loop ride along a network of very quiet roads. Half way round we stopped at a cafe – thank goodness – and we all sat outside in the warm November sun. It felt like May.

We got back to the office as the light was starting to fade and found it largely empty. There was no more cycling; Jon had his car waiting to take us and our bikes home, and then out for an enjoyable pub meal and a night time wander along the beach. All in all it was a memorable day unlike any other I can remember.