Which Way is the Wind Blowing?
The video above is taken from St Mary the Virgin’s church rooftop in the town of Rye, East Sussex, UK. Which direction is the wind…
Tag: mosses and lichens
Is this a Sunrise or a Sunset?
Is this a sunrise or sunset? And Why? Spoiler alert… answer below… Moss on the roof suggests that is more likely the north side of…
Choose Lichens Over Mosses for Effective Navigation
Mosses get all the press, but lichens are the stars when it comes to effective natural navigation. In the video above I look at the…
How Sketching Taught Me to Capture the Spirit of a Tree
A guest blog by Kerry Cooper Resolution day – 1st January 2019. I set myself the goal of sketching every single day for a whole…
Nature’s Clues and Signs 1 – East Marden
Welcome Welcome to the first in a new nature’s clues and signs series. Over the coming months I will be heading out on a series…
What do these pictures have in common?
I’m back from a short natural navigation exercise. It didn’t go to plan, but that is always part of the plan. I’d hate to stop…
The Meaning of Missing Moss
Moss is important in natural navigation, but not the quick easy method that many seem to think. I’ve written about the challenge of using moss…
The Fine Art of Looking at Ugly Walls
Walls that start life looking the same do not stay that way for long. The sun hits exposed south-facing walls hard in the middle of…
The Many Faces of Chichester Cross
Chichester Cross is a market cross – the building that symbolises the heart of the market square in my nearest town of Chichester, West Sussex.…
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…
The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs
The ultimate guide to what the land, sun, moon, stars, trees, plants, animals, sky and clouds can reveal – when you know what to look…
The Truth About Moss
Moss is probably the best known natural navigation indicator in the world. It is also excellent at demonstrating how easy it is to go wrong…
Naturally Navigating Dartmoor
The Foggiest Idea by Tom Vanderbilt. Published in Outside Magazine December 2010. I’VE LATELY COME to the realization that my whole sense of direction has been slipping…
Frost Shadows and Compasses
It is that time of year when nature likes to get out her frost compasses for us to admire. I took this photo last Friday…
Green Tinged Trees
Picking up on a theme I touched on a few days ago, it is remarkable and delightful how differently we all see the world. Yesterday…