By: Blonde Two
As I have already mentioned, Blonde One and I took our lovely young leaders out to do some night navigation on Friday. We had a great time, and some impressive skill was demonstrated. I thought that you Blondees and Blondettes might like the opportunity (from the comfort of your sofas, beds or loos) to have a go at a part of our course yourselves.
Here is the challenge. Look at the map image below. The purple circle shows your location, the pink arrow shows your destination. Now decide how you would get from purple to pink; remember that it is dark, you have a pathetic head torch and you don’t know what the terrain is like.
If you have worked that out, here are some questions (answers tomorrow!):
1. What is the feature that you are heading towards called?
2. What will it look like?
3. Reasons for following the wall?
4. Reasons for walking on a direct bearing?
5. Reasons for stopping for coffee?
1. Dont go on direct bearing – you would be walking diagonally downhill on unknown terrain – difficult to keep on bearing.
2. FIRST – Make sure with compass you are going to head approximately south-east to follow the wall, although information on the map only tells you its is a “bridleway”.
4. Measure distance with scale on compass – I reckon about 400 metres to point on wall at right-angles to destination, and then you could count 400 paces and/or estimate time – about 5.5. minutes at 3mph. Take a bearing from the map at right-angles to the wall from your estimated arrival point to your destination (should be about 54degrees), and walk no more than 100 metres. You are looking for a small promontory pointing north-east overlooking the downwards sloping ground ahead.
You could use the same method to get to the hut circle then walk back to the promontory keeping on the same contour as the hut circle. That option may give you some sitting stones at the hut circle for a coffee stop.
Woops! Just had another look. The feature is a depression and you would be looking uphill north-east.
Now I realise that what I thought was the wall is what I interpreted as a bridleway which it is. So my plan is still viable. I rarely use the 1:25000 and just overlooked the lines showing field boundaries.
We seem to have got you thinking. Micro-navigation is just a great big puzzle!
1. Never learned the names. I would call it a gully.
2. Up to a couple of yards deep, a few yards wide and probably damp in the bottom. Maybe even a small stream/trickle that’s too small to feature on the map. Or could even be a small tinner’s working (though I doubt it).
3. The wall is a handrail with checkpoints (where you reach the fields, then again to the east at the corner where the wall turns south). This corner is the closest easily reachable jumping off point for walking on a bearing.
4. If the terrain is clear, a direct line is the quickest, and it is not so far that you should get off your bearing. If it goes wrong part way then you can turn right and head for the wall as plan b.
5. As a reward when you get there (if you can find a nice flat rock)?
Option 3 would be to follow that inviting-looking bridleway, if in fact it exists and follows the line indicated (you’d have to keep checking as you walked). After the appropriate number of paces, turn 90* left and walk up on a bearing, counting your paces again as you went. The wall is your plan b again.