The natural Navigation: The Right Course, Naturally

This photo, from my recent and gallette-packed French summer holiday, shows the distinctive orange lichens that have daubed a southern-facing wall of Suscinio Castle in Brittany.

Being a coastal region, Brittany is a natural home for these orange Xanthoria lichens, which can be both a blessing and curse when it comes to using them to understand direction. This is because conditions need to be close to perfect for lichens to thrive, but if they are too good then a lichen will manage well on more than one side, and occasionally on all sides.

This nuance creates a challenge for those new to the subject of natural navigation, including those who took part in the upcoming BBC2 series, ‘All Roads Lead Home’. Sue Perkins, in particular, was understandably frustrated that the lichens would not always obey a perfect rule in terms of the aspect they preferred. In the very short time…

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I thought you might enjoy this picture I took a week ago of lichen and moss growing on a disused fountain in a garden in the south of France. Nature doesn’t make compasses much easier to read, but just in case you’re experiencing a moment of doubt: the photo is taken looking from the south side of the fountain looking towards the north.

After the rather disgusting photograph a few days ago I thought it was time to right the balance with something more pleasing on the eye.

The snow has finally begun to thaw in this freezing microclimatic corner of West Sussex, but I did manage a fair amount of stomping around in the snow over the past week. This is a picture I took in my local beech woodland a couple of days ago.

Lichens are very sensitive to their environment – moisture levels and air quality in particular – but also the surface they grow on. This means that they can be used to understand direction, but a little local knowledge and familarity with the stones and barks of your area helps greatly.

There is a rust-coloured lichen that is clearly not keen on surfaces that dry regularly and can be found on the moist sides of many trees…

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The third Condry Festival, ‘Nature and Outdoor Writing at its Finest’, took place on Saturday at the Tabernacl in Machynlleth, Wales. I was honoured to be invited to speak and it was a wonderful opportunity to spend some time in the company of those whose passion and dedication to understanding the natural world have set them apart. I listened to talks by Jack Grasse, Ian Wright, Jim Perrin, John Fanshawe and Andrew McNeillie. I learned a very great deal and enjoyed the process hugely.

Machynlleth is the right size for a small town and it holds some peculiar charms. There was an alternative taste evident in some of the shops and a vibrant liberal feel to the air. A source, who shall remain nameless, informed me that Machynlleth is the ‘lesbian capital of Wales’. I was in no position to argue with such an assertion, ill-equipped as I am with…

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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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