News from Peak Navigation Courses

Using a Compass for Map Reading and Navigation She's got it! Using a compass 1st Steps to Map Reading & Navigation Course It’s a commonly held misconception that a compass is only useful for navigating across open moorland, mountain terrain or in the mist.   Additionally many people carry a compass but do not know how to use it! We have been living and working in the Peak District for many years teaching Map Reading and Navigation. Frequently we watch people park up un the village green opposite our house get togged up for a walk and set off, only to see them coming back 5 or 10 minutes later as they had initially set off in the wrong direction. This is especially true of young people on their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions. Using a compass to “orientate” your map before setting off helps you to then recognise where features are on the ground (preferably using a 1:25k scale map) and therefore which way to leave the car park or village. With ...

Learn Map Reading and Navigation in The Peak District Whether you are a seasoned walker, a complete novice or someone who has for years followed others, Peak Navigation Courses have a course for you! For the past ten years we have been delivering training from our base in The Peak District and occasionally further afield in the mountains of Snowdonia and The Lake District. 1st Steps to Map Reading and Navigation Entry Level: Most people come for the one day 1st Steps to Map Reading and Navigation Course . It doesn’t matter if you are a complete novice or have some experience, this course starts with the very basics and leaves you able to cross easy open moorland using a compass. A great day out. National Navigation Awards: Some come to us wanting to gain an award under the National Navigation Awards Scheme. We highly recommend that adults can come straight in at Silver level not needing to have gained a Bronze Award first. This is a 2 day cours...

Peak Navigation Courses, Autumn programme 2014 1 st Steps to Map Reading and Navigation (Silver NNAS Day 1) Our “entry level” course suitable for the novice or those with plenty of experience who want to learn properly to navigate through fields and easy open moorland using a map and compass. (This course also forms day 1 of our Silver National Navigation Award Courses and is undertaken with “Moving onto Moorland” to complete the award).  Based from Foolow in The Peak District, a one day course costing £40. Dates: Saturday 6 th September Saturday 11 th October Saturday 25 th October Saturday 8 th November Sunday 23 rd  November Moving onto Moorland (Silver NNAS Day 2) This course is for more experienced navigators who already understand how to use a map and compass but want to progress onto moorland. The course introduces “micro” navigation techniques such as pacing and timing on a compass bearing. (This course also forms day ...

More Navigation in the Snow! Peak Navigation Courses run a series of “Quality Days“ or Navigation Master classes aimed at allowing people who can already navigate the chance of some more testing navigation in remote locations. Last Sunday’s course certainly proved that in snowy conditions on Bleaklow with high winds and wind chill temperatures estimated to be -8 degrees (though I thought colder). Setting off from Birchin Clough car park we ascended Lady Clough before crossing the Snake Road onto Bleaklow via Upper North Grain. Difficult navigation on featureless terrain - Navigation Masterclass Quality Day on Kinder Scout Specifically we practised pacing and pacing in snowy conditions where there is a significant loss of traction requiring more paces to 100m. After joining the Pennine way which we followed for 300m, we continued off path navigating to obscure pools and spot heights; via Over Wood Moss before reaching the shelter and welcome respite of Oyster...

NNAS Courses being run by Peak Navigation Courses Peak Navigation Courses are pleased to now be delivering NNAS (National Navigation Awards) in The Peak District.   We have recently been accredited as NNAS trainers and will be adding a full list of courses into our autumn programme.   It will however be possible to gain the silver award by arrangement (completing both our Introduction to Moorland Navigation Course and our Intermediate Navigation Course with some assessment built in). Locating our position on the map The Bronze training and assessment will be a two day course based from the village of Foolow.   The two days can be consecutive or spaced out over different weekends.   Day one being our normal 1 st Steps to map reading and navigation course but day two being a newly devised day specific to the bronze syllabus and allowing time for assessment. Learning to use a compass The silver training and assessment will follow the pre...