The natural Navigation: The Right Course, Naturally

Great to see so many willing to take on the heat of the summer on Sunday at the Uckfield Festival.

My day started with a breakfast interview with Barry Horsham at Uckfield FM, but then it was time for a four hour natural navigation walk in the Barcombe area. Thanks to Bernard Tagliavini for organising it and to everyone who came on the walk, it was a baking day but we tried to find patches of shade to stand in as we studied the trees, the clouds, mosses, lichens and the sun itself. We even found ourselves discussing Pacific sailors as we watched the ripples in a stream. (The ripples were less dependable in the areas where teenagers had been forced into the water by the midday heat for a wild swim.)

Something that I had not noticed before was that there appeared to be a much greater number…

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An enjoyable afternoon with the Soles and Souls walkers yesterday. We set off from Plumpton, led by Louise Gorst who runs a walk once a week and and likes to combine Sussex walks with an immersion in nature and a mindful approach to the outdoors. Periods of silence are interspersed with the opportunity to learn new things, from the arts of watercolour painting to natural navigation. Yesterday we climbed up from the Half Moon Inn to the South Downs Way, via Plumbton Bostall. The return walk took us through Ashcombe Bottom towards Blackcap.

Some of yesterday’s group can be seen in the picture, heading across a typically chalky South Downs field.

There is a ‘Camping Special’ in today’s Guardian and in it I get to lay an old ghost to rest. The first question I was asked was, ‘What is your favourite camping song?’

I can still remember being at prep school and finding the surname, ‘Gooley’, was proving an unwelcome additional burden to the trials of growing up. Chants of Ging Gang Goolie echoed for what seemed like about two years.

At the time I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to laugh, cry or sing along. If I remember correctly I tackled it with a mix of nonchalance, introspective sulks and racing around trying to punch people on the nose. None of these were very effective and so it is all the more extraordinary that I do have a fondness for this song. However testing those early years were, in a school that made Lord of the Flies…

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