Bushy Park Track

Teddington

Bushy Park Track

off Chestnut Avenue
Bushy Road
TEDDINGTON

Telephone: N/A
Fax: N/A

Email:
Website:

Type: Cinder (no longer exists - grassed over), 440y, lanes, lane straight

Authority:
Ceremonial County: Greater London

NUTS Name: Teddington

Electronic Map Links:
Multimap 1:10,000 (Street Level)
Multimap 1:25,000 (Area Level)
Multimap 1:50,000 (Area Level)
Multimap 1:100,000 (Road Level)
Multimap 1:200,000 (Road Level)
Streetmap (Street Level)
Streetmap (Area Level)
Streetmap (Road Map)

OS National Grid Reference: TQ 165701
National Grid Reference: 516500, 170100

Paper Maps:
A-Z London Master # 122 (SW)
A-Z London Atlas/DeLuxe # 102
A-Z London # 103
A-Z Surrey # 24
Collins London Comprehensive 177 #
Collins London 82 #
OS Explorer Map: 161
OS Pathfinder Map: 1174
OS/Philip's Surrey 16 #

Train: Teddington

The display of inline maps of track locations is no longer
a free service and so has had to be withdrawn

Please use the Electronic Map links

Sponsorship for www.runtrackdir.com is being sought
Please contact Tim Grose

Other Info:
The track was built in 1959 and was part of the Central High School whose pupils were the children of US service personnel. The track is mentioned in the 1962 AW list of cinder tracks as belonging to the US Army Air Force who were stationed in the park from 1942 in what was known as Camp Griffiss. From 1943-5, it was also the HQ of SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) under the command of General Eisenhower. After the war, many of the buildings in the camp were repurposed as the Central High School which existed from 1952 from 1962 when the US military fully left the camp. The camp buildings were all demolished in 1964 but it is believed the track existed for a few more years and saw some community use. The track is part visible on the OS 1:1250 B ed 1948-1973 map (actually published in 1965) on the NLS website maps.nls.uk although none of the camp buildings are shown which does add weight to the track lasting a few more years than the camp. A picture of the track in the 1960 Central High School yearbook (which also was the source for the 1959 date for the track) suggests it had a low perimeter fence, a building next to what appears to be the start of the back straight (also shown on the OS map), a LJ runway next to a big tree both inside the track on the back straight and a small basketball court on the fan on the top end. The OS map also shows a building next to what was probably the start/finish line on the straight nearer to the SHAEF gate and Sandy Lane and the aptly named Shaef Way beyond it. In modern recent aerial photos, the outline of the track is clearly visible especially in very dry conditions. On the ground now it is a flat, save for some molehills, grass area, largely occupied the many deer in the park but it is possible to imagine the rough course of the track and none of the trees there have fully encroached onto the track oval area and the tree shown in the 1960 track photo is still there. According to an aerial photo based on photography up to 1948 (but also sometimes depicted as a 1945 photo), the track location was then a number of small buildings within Camp Griffiss which gives more support to the track not being in existence until 1959. What hoewver appears to have been a track is visible in that 1948 aerial photo a little to the west (TQ 157703) within what is now referred to as the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Sports Ground and opposite Bushy House within the NPL complex but maybe this was really just a grass track and is now either a grass football pitch in winter or part of a grass cricket pitch in summer. Apparently some overseas competitors in the 1948 Olympics were billeted in Bushy Park and trained on a track here but this has not been confirmed and suggests the location was really the NPL ground or maybe the track at what is now St Mary's University which is also shown in the 1948 photo so clearly existed then. Nothing remains of the camp buildings except for the USAAF and SHAEF Memorials and the SHAEF Gate and some plates in the ground to depict corners of the main buildings. The YouTube video Operation Bushy Park | The Camp Griffiss site - past, present and future mentions a "Sports Track" as part of the facilities and implied the lost of the camp was regretted as the camp was also used as temporary housing for members of the public after the end of the war. Bushy Park is the correct name now but historically Bushey was the original one and references to the track at the time may appear as Bushey not Bushy. Ironically Central HS moved from Bushy Park to Bushey Hall in Watford in Hertfordshire from 1962 for the 1962-3 school year.

Last update: 27/11/2025

Please send any amendments to Tim Grose