Gary Tompsett gave us another informative and
inspiring navigation session this weekend. This time numbers were
limited to 6 and we had a 'classroom' session to begin with. We were a
group of mixed ability and experience and Gary kept the talk relevant to
everyone and was really helpful in inviting discussion and questions.
Gary explained to us how the OS grid system works and how it relates to longitudinal and latitudinal lines. We learnt how the grid has been adapted to work across the globe despite the world not being a very uniform shape (a geoid if I remember correctly!). This makes sense and helps to clarify a lot of the information around the edge of maps and also to understand the relationship between magnetic north and grid north. I was very pleased to have some information confirmed that my mum has mocked me for years in believing - you DO need a different compass to use in different parts of the world. Take note world adventurers!
We spent a while clarifying how to give and interpret grid references, 4-10 figures. I discovered my watch can tell me my grid reference, although possibly only in terms of latitude and longitude and although I don't quite comprehend this enough to be able to interpret it, I understand the meaning of all those numbers and that a minute is a division of a degree, not just a measure of time! All ground breaking information for me. Just at the point my brain was starting to feel a little overloaded Linda, Stuart's wife, came to the rescue with soup and rolls.
Disappointingly the next exercise proved I'm not that great at doing either! We stopped briefly in a park local to Stuart's house and calculated our pace over 100 metres. I know I've done this before and am annoyed that I can't remember at all how many paces I would take over that distance, even on the flat. I also proved to myself I'm very poor at judging near distances and I had thought I'd improved after the last course. Approximately 130 of my steps are equivalent to 100m, on the flat, on a decent path, without snow. We practised walking on a bearing and each walked 20 steps and then turning 90 degrees again and again until we'd walked a full square. The intention of course was to arrive exactly back at a Cadburys Fudge, strategically placed on the ground at our starting point but a young Jack Russell puppy spoilt that plan.
The biggest challenge of this exercise as it turns out is adding 90 onto 90 again and again. Once we had mastered the mathematics we all arrived back within 2 metres of our start point, not dreadful but not great on such a small area.
We continued to practice this skill on a larger scale near Strathblane. The wind was incredibly cold up here and I was reminded of how clumsy and haphazard I can become when I don't want to take my gloves off. It's such a dangerous habit and I'll need to make sure I Man Up at times!
I was really pleased when Gary quizzed us on our observations and I realised I'm much more aware of 'collecting information' and being aware of distance and land shape, I also think I'm much better at finding navigational 'handrails' and using them sensibly than I was prior to the first navigation day. We were using a mixture of maps, mostly 1:25000 and 1:50000. Gary had printed sections of these out for us but had stretched sections. I find this really difficult and confusing and it's a weakness I need to be aware of as I've confused myself with this before.
I think I'm getting ok at working with 1:25000 maps but I need to do a whole lot more with 1:50000 as that's primarily what we'll be using. It's amazing how much detail is lost when the map is compressed down a bit and when I've marked up sweeping sections of the watershed on memory map 1:50000 I think I've probably mislead myself as to their difficulty.
I really enjoyed the day and once again felt I'd learned a lot, gained confidence and highlighted areas that I need to work on. I'm already itching to get out again but will need to wait until the end of my Abba tour which I'm embarking on today!
Gary explained to us how the OS grid system works and how it relates to longitudinal and latitudinal lines. We learnt how the grid has been adapted to work across the globe despite the world not being a very uniform shape (a geoid if I remember correctly!). This makes sense and helps to clarify a lot of the information around the edge of maps and also to understand the relationship between magnetic north and grid north. I was very pleased to have some information confirmed that my mum has mocked me for years in believing - you DO need a different compass to use in different parts of the world. Take note world adventurers!
We spent a while clarifying how to give and interpret grid references, 4-10 figures. I discovered my watch can tell me my grid reference, although possibly only in terms of latitude and longitude and although I don't quite comprehend this enough to be able to interpret it, I understand the meaning of all those numbers and that a minute is a division of a degree, not just a measure of time! All ground breaking information for me. Just at the point my brain was starting to feel a little overloaded Linda, Stuart's wife, came to the rescue with soup and rolls.
Gary Tompsett : Lois Simpson : Stuart Macfarlane : Tom Berry
Keziah Higgins : Carol Martin : Elspeth Luke
We
spent the afternoon outside and even when we were not practising a
specific technique Gary was talking about methods to help navigate which
really increased my awareness of my surroundings. I've quoted grid
references a lot in our route planning but I now realise that they're
not that precise and that I could be more accurate by using the ruler on
my compass, simple and obvious when it's been pointed out. Of course
this level of precision is only useful if you're very accurate in
gauging your pace and following a bearing.Disappointingly the next exercise proved I'm not that great at doing either! We stopped briefly in a park local to Stuart's house and calculated our pace over 100 metres. I know I've done this before and am annoyed that I can't remember at all how many paces I would take over that distance, even on the flat. I also proved to myself I'm very poor at judging near distances and I had thought I'd improved after the last course. Approximately 130 of my steps are equivalent to 100m, on the flat, on a decent path, without snow. We practised walking on a bearing and each walked 20 steps and then turning 90 degrees again and again until we'd walked a full square. The intention of course was to arrive exactly back at a Cadburys Fudge, strategically placed on the ground at our starting point but a young Jack Russell puppy spoilt that plan.
The biggest challenge of this exercise as it turns out is adding 90 onto 90 again and again. Once we had mastered the mathematics we all arrived back within 2 metres of our start point, not dreadful but not great on such a small area.
We continued to practice this skill on a larger scale near Strathblane. The wind was incredibly cold up here and I was reminded of how clumsy and haphazard I can become when I don't want to take my gloves off. It's such a dangerous habit and I'll need to make sure I Man Up at times!
I was really pleased when Gary quizzed us on our observations and I realised I'm much more aware of 'collecting information' and being aware of distance and land shape, I also think I'm much better at finding navigational 'handrails' and using them sensibly than I was prior to the first navigation day. We were using a mixture of maps, mostly 1:25000 and 1:50000. Gary had printed sections of these out for us but had stretched sections. I find this really difficult and confusing and it's a weakness I need to be aware of as I've confused myself with this before.
I think I'm getting ok at working with 1:25000 maps but I need to do a whole lot more with 1:50000 as that's primarily what we'll be using. It's amazing how much detail is lost when the map is compressed down a bit and when I've marked up sweeping sections of the watershed on memory map 1:50000 I think I've probably mislead myself as to their difficulty.
I really enjoyed the day and once again felt I'd learned a lot, gained confidence and highlighted areas that I need to work on. I'm already itching to get out again but will need to wait until the end of my Abba tour which I'm embarking on today!
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