By: Blonde Two
I am pleased to announce that after Saturday’s Blonde Navigation Workshop (an enormous thank you to Dartmoor National Park Authority and to Ordnance Survey), there are now thirteen more ladies in Devon who can safely use their compass to find north.
Not only that, but these ladies can also work with six-figure grid references, pinpoint their location on a map, walk in the right direction for the required distance and avoid falling in a bog full of carnivorous plants.
Quite impressive for one day’s work, I am sure you would agree. Blonde One and I have agreed that we were very lucky to have such a lovely bunch of ladies to work with on our first workshop; we have also agreed that we both really enjoyed ourselves.
So, we Blondes have delivered some key skills (I know we did this because all of our ladies walked off onto the moor, and all of them stopped in the right place!) The thing, however, about navigating is that it requires a bit of practice. Hopefully we will soon be bumping into all fifteen of them out on Dartmoor; they will have compass and map in hand, they will know exactly where they are and they will be able to tell us about some of the exciting features that they have found.
If you would like to learn some basic navigation skills, we have two family workshops coming up, details below:
Monday 25th July (family session – bring the kids and learn how to navigate together.)
Saturday 3rd September (family session – bring the kids and let them prove they are better at it than you are!)
Costs: Adults (18+) £15; children (under 18) £10; family (2 adults/2 children) £35. For more information contact the National Park Centre, Princetown. Tel: (01822) 890414. Email: visit@dartmoor.gov.uk
Navigation has always fascinated me. Since, I suppose, it meets a basic human need. Where am I? followed by (much harder to calculate) Why am I here?
During National Service I worked on electronic gear intended to answer this question. Yes, yes, I know it isn’t the same when a machine does the work for you but we all arrive at our fascinations by different routes. Later, and for only a poignantly short period, my interest was rekindled when I did a few cruises in a yacht owned by brother Nick; he did the navigating and I watched, trying to appreciate the processes. Nick now has Alzheimer’s and I fervently hope he has moments of clarity that re-live the delight of making the landfall he intended.
I’m almost tempted by your courses. I have used OS maps and compasses to get around obscure parts of the Lake District, but never with any sense of certainty. Alas, I am a bad, argumentative pupil, intent on asking the question the instructor cannot answer – it has to do with my trade. Even so I can recognise the fun in teaching this subject. My felicitations.
Loved the workshop and felt I learned a lot! Thank you to you two fabulous Blondes, and the other twelve women. I’ll be posting my experiences soon. Catherine
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