Harriet Bennett
Why map and compass still matter on the moor
There is a particular moment on a country walk when the path simply dissolves. One minute you are following a neat ribbon of trodden grass, the next it has frayed into a dozen faint sheep tracks across open moorland. For smallholders and anyone who spends time in the British hills, that moment is not a crisis — it is an invitation to use the skills that make walking genuinely rewarding. A map and compass weigh almost nothing, work in mist and rain, and never need a signal. They turn a worrying situation into a solvable puzzle.
The trick is to trust them before you need them. If you only reach for your compass when you are already unsure, you will be learning in the hardest conditions. Instead, use it regularly on familiar walks. Set the map, take a bearing to a gate or a crag, and check your progress. That way, when the footpath fades on a featureless plateau, your hands already know what to do.
Setting the map to north
The first habit is to orient your map so that it matches the ground. This is called setting the map, and it makes everything else easier. Place the compass flat on the map. Rotate the map and compass together until the compass needle sits inside the orienting arrow — the red end pointing to the N on the bezel. Now your map is aligned with the landscape. Features ahead of you on the ground will be ahead of you on the paper.
But there is a subtlety in Britain: grid north on the map is not quite the same as magnetic north, which is where your compass needle actually points. The difference is called magnetic variation, and it changes slowly over time. The margin of a good map tells you the current variation for your area. In most of the UK it is small — often only a degree or two — but on long legs across open moor it is worth adjusting your bearing. Check the map margin, and if in doubt, ask a local walking group or check the latest information before you set out.
- Set the map whenever you stop to check your position.
- Keep the compass flat and away from metal objects, phones and magnetic belt buckles.
- Note the variation from the map margin, and add or subtract it when you take a bearing.
Taking a bearing and walking on it
A bearing is simply a direction measured in degrees. To take one from the map, lay the long edge of your compass along the line between where you are and where you want to go. The direction-of-travel arrow should point towards your destination. Rotate the bezel until the orienting lines inside it line up with the north-south grid lines on the map, and the N on the bezel points to the top of the map. Read the number at the direction-of-travel arrow. That is your grid bearing.
Now adjust for magnetic variation if needed. To follow the bearing, hold the compass flat in front of you and turn your whole body until the red needle sits inside the orienting arrow. The direction-of-travel arrow now points along your route. Pick a visible feature — a boulder, a distant clump of heather, a dip in the skyline — and walk to it. Then take another bearing. Do not simply stare at the compass and walk; you will wander.
- Aim for a feature on the bearing, walk to it, then re-check.
- Count your paces if visibility is poor. A double pace is roughly 1.5 metres for many adults, so 100 metres is about 66 double paces.
- Time your legs as a backup. A common rule of thumb is 4 kilometres per hour on easy ground, plus a minute for every 10 metres of ascent.
Reading contours like a local
Contours are the quiet language of the map. Each line joins points of equal height, and the interval — often 10 metres on a 1:25,000 map — tells you how much height is gained or lost between lines. When contours are close together, the ground is steep. When they are far apart, it is gentle. That simple fact can keep you on track when the path vanishes.
Look for the shape of the land. A V-shaped contour pointing uphill is a re-entrant — a little valley or gully. A V pointing downhill is a spur or ridge. If you are walking along a ridge and the contours suddenly form a tight V pointing away from you, you have reached a spur end. If they form a V pointing towards you, you are entering a re-entrant. These shapes give you handrails and clues even when you cannot see far.
- Count contours to estimate how much climbing is ahead.
- Follow a re-entrant uphill to reach a col or saddle, then take a new bearing.
- Use a spur as a natural handrail down to lower ground.
When the footpath fades: aiming off and handrails
Footpaths on open moorland often fade because they are not official rights of way — they are desire lines, worn by livestock and walkers. When the trod vanishes, do not thrash about hoping to find it. Instead, use two classic techniques: aiming off and handrails. Aiming off means deliberately aiming to one side of your target. If you want to hit a bridge over a stream, aim for a point 100 metres upstream. When you reach the stream, you know which way to turn. Without aiming off, you could hit the stream and turn the wrong way, wasting time and energy.
A handrail is any linear feature you can follow — a wall, a fence, a stream, a ridge line, a forest edge. Even a faint boundary ditch can act as a handrail in poor visibility. Combine a bearing with a handrail: walk on a bearing until you meet the wall, then follow the wall to your destination. It is far more reliable than trying to walk a straight line across trackless moor.
- Aim off to one side of a point on a linear feature, so you know which way to turn when you hit it.
- Use handrails — walls, streams, ridgelines — to guide you when the path is gone.
- Stop every 15 minutes to set the map, check your bearing and confirm your position.
Practise, pace and keep it simple
Navigation is a physical skill, not a theoretical one. The more you practise, the more automatic it becomes. On your next local walk, leave the GPS in your pocket and set the map at every gate. Take a bearing to a distant barn and walk to it. Count your paces over 100 metres on flat ground, then on rough ground, and note the difference. Learn the contour shapes around your own smallholding or favourite moorland edge, so you recognise a spur or a re-entrant without thinking.
Keep your kit simple and reliable. A baseplate compass with a clear bezel and a decent magnifying lens is enough. A map at 1:25,000 scale shows walls, streams and contour detail that a smaller scale misses. Carry them in a waterproof map case, and keep the compass on a lanyard around your neck so it is always to hand. With a little practise, you will find that the moment the footpath fades is no longer a worry — it is the moment you feel most at home in the British countryside.
