Navigating with Trees in Cities
London plane trees are tall, broad-canopied trees with mottled bark that flakes away in patches of cream, grey, and olive. This gives their bark a…
Tag: london
Tree Trunks Lean Away From Buildings
Tree trunks lean away from the shade of buildings and towards the light. This habit tends to override the normal biases towards southern light, because…
Which Way Are We Walking?
North, East, South or West? And why? Answer… Spoiler Alert… Notice the green algae and mosses growing on the right side of the roof, showing…
What are Elephants’ Toes in Trees?
Elephants’ toes are the nickname for the way the bottom of a tree trunk flares out towards the prevailing wind. In the video above and…
Slowing Down in Nature
A Guest Blog by Christian Turek “Complete freedom is not what a trail offers. Quite the opposite; a trail is a tactful reduction of options.”…
Nature’s Clues & Signs – The National Gallery
During a break from recording an audiobook, I visited the National Gallery, a major art museum in Trafalgar Square, London. It has been a long-running fascination…
Nature’s Clues & Signs 3 – Soho Walkabout
A couple of weeks ago I was staying in central London for a week, mainly to record the audiobook version of my latest book, The…
The Audiobook is On its Way!
After a tiring but satisfying week in London, the audiobook is recorded and will be published within a few weeks. It will be available through…
What is a Landmark?
The definition of a landmark is simple: A landmark is any object – natural or artificial – that is easily recognizable and that helps us…
Learning about the Moon by Watching the Thames
An extraordinary guest article by John Pahl. I love looking at the night’s sky, following the movement of the Moon and stars across the sky.…
The Glitter Path
A ‘glitter path’ is light reflected off water from a low sun, moon or other bright object. Glitter paths help us to read water because…
How to Find Direction Using Tree Bark
The wind, rain and sun do not affect all sides of trees equally. This creates patterns on the trees’ bark that we can use to…
How to Cross a Park Like an Explorer
Sherlock Holmes may have felt the mist of the moor under his deerstalker on occasion, but he had a distinct preference for indoor clues over…
Fountain Rainbow
If you look closely at the partial rainbow created between the fountain and Chinese Pagoda in Victoria Park, London, you might notice that there is…
Finding Your Way with Cranes
If you like really esoteric natural navigation clues, then you’ll love this urban one. There are hundreds of clues that rely on our understanding of…
Noticing the Dirty Little Things
I have woken up encircled by scorpions, been to the odd literary party in the West End and even met royalty on occasion, but these…
Urban Natural Navigation
A couple of days ago I got off the train in London Victoria station at about 6.40pm. I knew the place I needed to get…
Gayathri Tiffin Room
My book is on the printing presses – this is very exciting and an excuse for a quick plug in my blog! In the book…