Basic navigation skills
Learn the basics of map reading, so you can follow routes with confidence and locate potentially interesting landscape features
Knowing how to read a map and use a compass is essential for anyone enjoying the outdoors. In more remote locations – fells and mountains especially – it’s always recommended that you carry a traditional paper map and compass, even if you’re using a GPS-based mapping app on your phone, because if weather conditions take a turn for the worse and you can’t use GPS, a traditional map and compass, along with the ability to use them, can be a lifesaver. Recommended GPS-based mapping apps for phones include OS Maps and ViewRanger.
Getting to grips with the basics of maps and compasses is easy. Compasses generally consist of: a clear plastic base with a compass housing that turns; the needle; a 1:25k map scale on the left; a 1:50k map scale on the right; a magnifying lens; millimetre scale at the front; a direction-oftravel arrow pointing to the millimetre scale.
Maps generally come in 1:25k and 1:50k scales, hence the two scales for distance measurement on the compass. Paper OS Maps are most common at 1:25k scale, with 4cm to 1km or 2.5in to 1mi – grid boxes are 4x4cm, so that’s 1km2 per square.
When you open a map, the top of the map is always north. These grid squares create a numbered grid made up of eastings (horizontal lines) and northings (vertical lines). Always think, “Along the corridor and up the stairs”. You can pinpoint any square using these numbers. To pinpoint a specific position within a square you imagine the square is made up of 10 vertical and 10 horizontal lines, including the main grid lines, and these are numbered (see step 4).
Then there are contour lines, which denote whether the ground is flat or hilly. Closetogether contour lines show a steep incline, while those further apart show a gentler gradient. Contours have numbers, which at a basic level tell you if there’s an uphill (ascending) or downhill (descending) slope.
This is a basic introduction, and more info about map reading can be found on the OS website: WWW.ORDNANCESURVEY.CO.UK.
1 HOLDING THE COMPASS
You should hold the compass level and in front of you so that the direction-of-travel arrow is pointing forwards. With the compass flat on the map, when the direction arrow is pointing in the right direction and the needle is pointing to the top of the map (north), you can turn the compass housing so that north matches the needle and you know which direction you’re travelling in.
2 FINDING DIRECTION
If you were at Alport Castles and wanted to walk to Ditch Clough Plantation, point the direction arrow in the intended direction of travel along the track marked with green dashes, with the red end of the needle (north) pointing towards the top of the map. Turn the map until the north needle and direction arrow match up, with the bottom of the compass facing you.
3 MEASURING DISTANCE
The previous step shows that you need to follow the track northnorth-west towards Birchin Hat before turning right to continue following the track north-east towards Grouse Butts. This map is 1:25k scale, so using the distance scale on the compass you can see the distance of the track to Ditch Clough Plantation is 1.3km from the point where the track turns.
4 GRID REFERENCES
When you record or find a grid reference, always give the easting (horizontal line) first and the northing second (vertical line). So read the number associated with the bottom horizontal line of a square, and then the one for the left vertical line. Here that would be 86 and 22. To turn this into a six-figure reference for Crows Chin Rocks, it would be 867 226.