Lock GPS Coordinates

[Martin_J]

Hi.. it's late at night but I've just come across this thread...

Everyone seems to wonder why the discrepancy in a few entries, in particular Teddington... i.e.
Molesey Lock 51°24′17″N 0°20′45″W
Teddington Lock 51.4315°N 0.3239°W
Richmond Lock 51°27′44″N 0°19′02″W

They look spot on to me but we need to be careful as to the way they are written....

Teddington appears to have been quoted correctly albeit in degrees rather than degrees, minutes and seconds.

Convert the latitude of Teddington as quoted above..

51 degrees we can leave the same.

.4315 x 60 = 25.89 minutes.. so we now have 51°25.89 minutes North

.89 x 60 = 53 seconds.......... which brings us to 51°25'53" North

Now convert the longitude

0 degrees we can leave the same.

.3239 x 60 = 19.434 minutes.. so we now have 0°19.434 minutes West

.434 x 60 = 26 seconds.......... which brings us to 0°19'26" West

Combining these we get

51°25'53" North 0°19'26" West

Does this look any more realistic... Hopefully it helps.

 

[boatone]

We are waiting

I think THIS may be what Brayman is referring to.

 

[Brayman]

I think THIS may be what Brayman is referring to.

That is indeed it, there you are Emma, it didn't take me long at all!

It is Version 2 and has some errors corrected from Version 1.

You will note, as Howard has mentioned, that OS grid references are used rather than Lat/Long.

 

[byron]

I think THIS may be what Brayman is referring to.

I have seen this before and commented at the time that my local RVP is over at the Beetle & Wedge. The access to this area is now severely restricted. The RVP should now be my side where there is room for police, fire, ambulance, boats and helicopters.
This indicates to me it is a very long time since these RVPs were assigned and if it is so vitally wrong here I can only surmise it may be wrong in other areas too.

 

[boatone]

I have seen this before and commented at the time that my local RVP is over at the Beetle & Wedge. The access to this area is now severely restricted. The RVP should now be my side where there is room for police, fire, ambulance, boats and helicopters.
This indicates to me it is a very long time since these RVPs were assigned and if it is so vitally wrong here I can only surmise it may be wrong in other areas too.

So have you taken note of the mantra in my avatar and let Reading know?

On a serious note, I would be very surprised if the emergency services location equipment aren't already equipped with details of the river, locks etc.
In the event of a satnav position being needed for an ill defined place - such as somewhere on the river bank at an indeterminate position between locks - then a GPS position supplied by an informant actually at the location would, indeed be invaluable. However this was not the point of the original post which was purely to publish lock locations.

Another poster has drawn attention to the fact that those lat/longs were in degrees and decimal degrees rather than degrees, minutes and seconds. However, even taking that into account there appear to be many errors.

It would seem I have ruffled a few feathers by appearing to be pedantic about the usefulness of the exercise. Unless the info is a) accurate and b) is copied by people and kept at hand it is likely to be of little practical value. I would certainly be very wary of giving an inaccurate location in an emergency!

 

[Brayman]

I have seen this before and commented at the time that my local RVP is over at the Beetle & Wedge. The access to this area is now severely restricted. The RVP should now be my side where there is room for police, fire, ambulance, boats and helicopters.
This indicates to me it is a very long time since these RVPs were assigned and if it is so vitally wrong here I can only surmise it may be wrong in other areas too.

This is one of the errors that has been corrected in Version 2.

99
Slipway
South Stoke
Oxfordshire
OS 175 SU 593 837
HGV access and launch site via Ferry Lane, South Stoke
100
Beetle and Wedge PH
Moulsford
Oxfordshire
OS 175 SU 593 836
HGV access and launch site via Ferry Lane, Moulsford

Also the confusion with Ferry Lane Goring I seem to remember.

 

[teddington_lock]

I dare say inland the rescue services use a grid referenced map but bearing in mind the Joe Public doesn't have that map I feel confident that if I gave lat/lon to an Ambulance, Police, or Services helicopter they would find it very useful. Bear in mind a grid reference could be a square mile whereas lat/long is pinpoint.

No , the grid reference we give is exact , it's not a generic one that may be accurate to a mile or so , we have one for the weir and for the lock island itself. The Ambulance , Police and Fire Service operate from the same standardised map , i take your point about a police chopper though , they would probably appreciate the co-ordinates.

Being that we are based on an island in an urban area , i would only ever be dealing with the inland rescue services ....

Also bearing in mind that 99 times out of a 100 , we are the ones calling the emergency services to the lock , we have the appropriate grid references on the wall by the phone.

What is more of a problem at Teddington is that they primarily ask for our postcode , which if they put that into their sat-navs takes them to the wrong side of the river and they have to come by foot over a footbridge. The access to Teddington Lock is actually from Ham , and we are on the other side of the river to Teddington itself. The administitive district is different as well ( Surrey rather than Middx , as the access is from the south bank ) . We are forever having to explain to dispatchers that they must not use the sat nav postcode to get here , but must access via Dukes Ave in Ham.

The fire and ambulance station are maybe 500 yards from the lock on the south side ( Ham ) , but because we are 'Teddington Lock' they dispatch them from Twickenham.

Teddington lock

51° 25' 54"n 0° 19'26" w

I was out by a second , i can live with that .

Hi.. it's late at night but I've just come across this thread...

Everyone seems to wonder why the discrepancy in a few entries, in particular Teddington... i.e.
Molesey Lock 51°24′17″N 0°20′45″W
Teddington Lock 51.4315°N 0.3239°W
Richmond Lock 51°27′44″N 0°19′02″W

They look spot on to me but we need to be careful as to the way they are written....

Teddington appears to have been quoted correctly albeit in degrees rather than degrees, minutes and seconds.

Convert the latitude of Teddington as quoted above..

51 degrees we can leave the same.

.4315 x 60 = 25.89 minutes.. so we now have 51°25.89 minutes North

.89 x 60 = 53 seconds.......... which brings us to 51°25'53" North

Now convert the longitude

0 degrees we can leave the same.

.3239 x 60 = 19.434 minutes.. so we now have 0°19.434 minutes West

.434 x 60 = 26 seconds.......... which brings us to 0°19'26" West

Combining these we get

51°25'53" North 0°19'26" West

Does this look any more realistic... Hopefully it helps.