Better to be on the hill – than over the hill
It's always great to get feedback from friends that you have taught map reading and basic navigation. However, recently a couple have been saying that they are now taking on more adventurous trips but their planned timings fall short of their actual timings. When I taught them navigation we covered basic pacing and time keeping …
Guest Blogger – Bruce Donaldson, Phoenix, Arizona, USA It is a great pleasure to introduce my latest Guest blogger – retired computer programmer, who enjoys backpacking in the American southwest – Bruce Donaldson. Bruce talks about how he prepared for a retirement full of adventures. An interesting story that shows that retirement is not about …
or The Statistics Of Old Age I am giving a short talk at Countryfile Live this year and I have been trying to think of something key to say in 10 minutes. It has to reflect what I am about in my role as an Ordnance Survey GetOutside Champion. So it is going to be …
Following on from the revelations that walking is the most popular form of exercise among the over 60’s, I thought it an opportune moment to run through a few safety tips when walking in a rural environment. Now most of what I am going to say is commonsense however, it is well worth reiterating it …
Many of my target audience that I speak to about getting outside and enjoying some outdoor pursuit often come back with a similar concern. They hear a lot being said about wild camping and wild swimming and other wild activities. They get confused about the term wild and they think that because they are not …
It has been a long time coming, but research has finally shown that walking is the most popular form of exercise among the over 60's. It is hardly surprising when you consider it is our primary form of self supported motion! And that is the secret - all we need to do is keep on …
Whilst attending the Top Of The Gorge Outdoor Festival along with other Ordnance Survey Champions, myself and a couple of other were approached by a local National Trust Volunteer who made a statement that shocked us all. She said "The Champions all appear to be 'professional' adventurers" She was very clearly under the illusion that …
The weekend of 22-24 June 2018, saw the inaugural Top of the Gorge festival take place on the spectacular Warren Farm site overlooking Cheddar Gorge. The event is an outdoor adventure festival full of activities, but taking the opportunity to showcase inspirational people, enjoy great entertainment as well as local food and drink. The centre piece …
As we approach the summer months in the UK it is time to consider the effects of heat. I know " what heat" I can here you all saying! In the UK we tend to greet sunny days by striping down to the bare essentials and slowly cooking ourselves. This is fine if we are …
We have all made New Year resolutions or set ourselves up for challenges which at the time made sense and were feasible. But when circumstances change do we change our goals or targets or even cancel our challenges altogether - probably not. We just persevere and try to bundle our way through them because we …
