Ashdown Forest
Ashdown Forest in East Sussex will hide from your life for years, but when it makes an entrance, it will also make an impression. For…
Tag: sand
The Naming Convention of Winds
Winds are labelled with the direction they have come from, not the direction they head towards, but why? A Westerly wind has come from the…
What is a Wind Shadow?
A wind shadow is a place where the wind doesn’t reach. There is a calm, sheltered zone on the downwind side of all obstacles, a…
Sign of a Barefoot Runner
My thanks to Tim Crook for his very interesting emails and for permission to share here. Hi Tristan You suggested getting in touch if we…
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 Fish Cliff Clue
When John Pahl and I were sailing around Iceland, we noticed that you could use the puffins to indicate the direction of land very reliably,…
Beach Hut Picture Puzzle
What direction are we looking in this photo of West Wittering beach in West Sussex, UK? Clues (if you want them): All dunes form with…
Sand Patterns, Shadows and Camel Balm
I recently got back from a brief work trip to the United Arab Emirates. Whilst there I visited Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Fujairah and spent…
The Colour of Water
The colour of water is determined by: A) What’s under it. B) What’s in it. C) What’s on it. D) And by light levels and…
Red Sun, Sand and Wildfires
As Ophelia ravaged the west coast of Ireland yesterday, the south coast of England was spared the high winds. The storm did suck in smoke…
How to Make a Compass Out of Sand, Snow or Dust
Whenever you’re on sand or snow, tune in to the direction the most recent winds have been blowing from and you’ll find yourself surrounded by…
Pin Holes on the Beach
When a wave breaks it pushes foamy water up the beach, this is the ‘swash‘. Some of this water flows back down the beach to…
A Sand Colour Mystery
If you study the picture below, you will notice that the sand is not all the same colour. There appear to be three colours. Ignoring…
A Unique Sense of Place
Navigation is about knowing where you are as much as working out how to get to where you want to be. A lot of the…
Sculptures in the Sand
Each part of the world has its unique natural navigational heritage with distinct differences, making each appear totally foreign to the other on first meeting.…
Ripples and Reflections
After an enjoyable private course on Friday – we finished standing in a field looking at Orion, the Plough, Cassiopeia and, of course, Polaris –…