Which Way Are We Looking?
I took this photo in the South Downs a few days ago. Which direction are we looking? North, East, South or West? And Why? Struggling?…
Tag: south downs
Which Way Are We Looking – Night Walk
I went for a very enjoyable night walk in the South Downs last night. What direction are we looking in the photo above? Answer… We…
Downpour Dodging
Yesterday it was time put my body where my pen was. I had a lot of fun picking a route through the South Downs that…
Navigating the South Downs with Everyday Adventure
A fun day of natural navigation and outdoor clue hunting in the South Downs recently with the Everyday Adventure team. You can read all about…
Eric Ravilious and the Duck’s Bottom Effect
The English artist, Eric Ravilious (1903 -1942), is loved by many of us who tramp the same chalky hills of the South Downs that he…
Bronze Age Burial Clues and Puzzle
On the weekend we went for a walk through the last of the snow in the South Downs. We reached a line of Bronze Age…
Guy Roots on Wild Cherry
A wonderful example of guy roots acting as a compass on this unusually tall wild cherry tree in the South Downs. In the top picture…
BBC The One Show
I did a bit of instructing for BBC1’s The One Show last Friday. If you missed it you can catch up on iPlayer (for a…
Ivy Root Compass
On a walk in the South Downs earlier today, I came across a beautiful example of an ‘ivy root compass’. For a full explanation of…
Ramblings with Clare Balding
In 2010 I was honoured to lead Clare Balding on the first ever night walk for her wonderful Radio 4 series, Ramblings. Yesterday we were…
Astronavigating with the BBC
UPDATE: The piece I did with Mark Thompson was broadcast on BBC Stargazing Live on BBC2 last night. It will be available on iPlayer for…
The Smelliest Clue
One of the natural navigation techniques that ocean sailors have used for centuries is noticing that the incidence of flotsam and jetsam increases, on average,…
Fun guys to be around
UPDATE: My sources tell me that the first is a Magpie Inkcap (Coprinopsis picaceus) and the second is Green Elf Cup/Wood cup/Stain (Chlorociboria aeruginascens). My…
Thwarted Again!
For the past few evenings I have been heading out into the Downs to find a good spot to keep watch out to the west.…
Lightness and Darkness
I went for a walk in the South Downs yesterday afternoon. The air was cold, there were still chunks of ice lining the north-facing side…
Winter Solstice Drama
This is not the glorious image of the winter solstice sunrise that I had been planning for you. Events conspired against that. The original plan…
Force 9 Fun
I had hoped to sail to the Isle of Wight on Saturday with some old friends. We slipped Chichester marina at eight in the morning…
Friday’s Course and Tennis Courts
I have just been sent some photos from a private course I ran in the South Downs on Friday afternoon. The three navigators were Dom,…
The Power of Smell
I ran a private course in the South Downs on Saturday for a group of four friends. One of them gave me a great example…
BBC Countryfile
Recovering from a full and fun day filming with Jules Hudson and the team from the BBC’s Countryfile program. We were out on the South…