I’m planning to learn how to read a compass this weekend. It is something I have always wanted to do, so I have booked a session with my local ramblers group.
It’s being held on the grounds of the very gracious Wimpole Hall tomorrow. Doe this this mean I will no longer need to use my sat nav in the car?
Update: Sunday, 11 May:
The walk was stunningly beautiful, and yes, I also learnt how to navigate with a compass. I felt such a terrific sense of achievement, I really enjoyed it. Like everything else in life, it’s only easy if you know it, and I had never been shown before. The guy on the left in the red shirt was our leader, and he was very patient. Thank you George.
I also heard a funny compass tale, the brother of one of the guys on our walk was night walking using his compass and walked straight into a lake! And one of our other walkers fell 300ft off a mountain, but I’m not sure if his compass reading was to blame for that!
You always pick up a good tale or two on a ramble…
A compass isn’t hard to read. Do you mean it’s more like a GPS system? I’d love to learn how to read one of those so I could do more geo-caching. Let me know how the session turns out.
Oh, I meant to ask you - Who is the fellow at the top of your site?
You can be my navigator, Ellee - always was one to take chances.
II don’t think Drake, Raleigh etc had a sat-nav.
I’m sure you must mean compass.
Difficulty all depends on visibility, how well an area is mapped (abroad is not always good) and the availability of landmarks.
The greatest trap is to see what you WANT to see rather than what is actually there. Repeatedly taking bearings and checking natural formations etc is essential for awareness.
My friend and I like foul weather navigation for the challenge. Once we came down the wrong side of Sca Fell in fog and reached a 200ft cliff edge (unexpected.) We sat with our legs dangling over it and made a brew. That respite made us realise that we had been reading our map to entirely the wrong scale and had taken the wrong valley in our descent because we failed to question things enough.
We managed to get back home without the need for helicopter rescue but that’s another story. It’s experiences such as these that make it all worthwile. Survival kit is essential - even in the British Isles.
I am sure you will have great fun with that
It’s wonderful knowing how to use a compass, enjoy!
Learn morse next
PS: I bet loads of people at HMS Drake and Raleigh have sat-nav.
It sounds challenging. Good luck. No of course you still need that thing in the car. Lucky you to have one.
Leslie, the guy at the top of my site is Boris Johnson. I wrote about him several times last week following his astounding success in the London Mayoral election.
I shall be leaving shortly folks, and I’m looking forward to my compass challenge.
Yes, reading a map and compass is a very useful skill to acquire.
Maybe someone should invent a compass to navigate the murky field of politics…
Hitch your compass to your moral compass and all will be well.
Enjoy your day in the sun Ellee.
I am full of admiration, Ellee. I never could read a compass!
Welshcakes, I could teach you now!!
Ellee: I revel in your spirit of fun and the enthusiasm of having learned to read a compass. Many of the “stick on the car windshield models via a suction cup” dry up here in the Arizona heat. Keep learning and having fun!!!!:)
A torch may also be useful for expeditions at night
Maybe you could give Gordon Brown a few tips about how to use his compass?
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Will you be joining your local orienteering cub Ellee?