Navigation Skills

Manage your preferences

The Leeds Beckett website is designed to enable you to manage your own privacy preferences. By clicking on 'Cookies' below you can manage what data the site collects about your browsing. This will only maintain if you are on your own device or using a synched version of your chosen browser. If you are using a shared or public machine without synching your browser then there is no need to change the preferences.

Our site is built with accessibility in mind and we seek to adhere to the WACG AA levels of compliance for digital accessibility. To support that we have provided instructions on managing animations below.

Cookies

Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies enable you to use all the different parts of leedsbeckett.ac.uk. Without them services that you have asked for cannot be provided. Necessary cookies can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
Analytical Cookies
Analytical cookies help us understand how people are using our websites, so we can improve them and provide a better user experience. We also sometimes get our approved partner companies to analyse how people are using Leeds Beckett Websites and they may set their own analytical cookies in order to do this.
Marketing Cookies
Marketing cookies allow us to provide you with online adverts that are the most relevant and useful for you.
For more information please view our Privacy Policy

Animations & Interaction

The Leeds Beckett University website occasionally uses animations to page elements and animated gifs to add impact to pages. If you wish to stop them from playing for accessibility purposes or for personal preference then please see the guidance below. Please note that browsers sometimes change how they operate, so please refer to your browser help files to find their latest information.
How do I turn off animations?

Chrome

Chrome users will need to use browser extensions. Animation Policy from Google will help you set your own preferences.

Microsoft Edge

There is currently no way to disable animations within Microsoft Edge. Users of Edge (Chromium) browser can install the Chrome extensions above and use them.

Internet Explorer

To stop animations on a single page you can just press the 'Esc' key. This will stop the animation on that page. If you wish to restart the animations you need to refresh the page. To permanently disable the playing of animated GIF images, open Internet Options > Advanced tab. Under the Multimedia section, uncheck the Play animations in webpage check-box, click Apply and Exit and then restart your computer.

Firefox

Type about:config in Firefox address bar and hit Enter to open Settings. Search for the image.animation_mode flag and change its value from Normal to None. Once you restart Firefox this will disable animations.

Whether you are looking to gain confidence to explore a little further afield within your local environment or develop your skills to access more challenging or remote areas, our navigation sessions can teach you all of the skills you require no matter where you are on your navigation skills journey.

Navigation is the skill of being able to plan and follow a route and accurately ascertain your position at any given point.

Whether you are looking to gain confidence to explore a little further afield within your local environment or develop your skills to access more challenging or remote areas, our navigation sessions can teach you all of the skills you require no matter where you are on your navigation skills journey.

Navigation skills training can take place in your local area following footpaths through lowland terrain, around moorland and forests or in more defined hill and mountainous areas of the UK. Our professional and qualified instructors will guide you through the hills and countryside whilst you get to grips with reading a map, using a compass and working out where you are and where to go.

We can provide walking boots, waterproof jackets and waterproof trousers for you to use for the duration of the session if required, or alternatively you can bring your own.

Sessions will include map reading, learning how to relate the map to the landscape, how to work out distance and time, use of a compass and how to plan hill and mountain walks.

We cater for all levels of experience and ability from complete beginners, to those who are more experienced and have gained the basic skills but want additional support or guidance from our experts.

Our night navigation sessions focus on techniques for navigating in reduced visibility (for example during fog or mist) and in darkness and these sessions take place in the evening after sunset. Our team will help you take bearings and follow them in the dark, and show you how to use pacing and timing as an essential navigation tool to allow you to navigate safely through the landscape at night time or in poor visibility conditions. We provide head torches for our night navigation sessions, or alternatively you can bring your own.

During our beginner navigation sessions, you will mainly stay on footpaths and bridleways and our team will teach you skills including:

How to understand a map as a two-dimensional plan of your surroundings
How to understand map symbols
How to understand scale and what this means for you as a walker
How to orientate a map with and without a compass
How large hills and valleys correspond to contours on the map
How to work out which way to go using features or a compass
How to read grid references and why you may need this
How to use clearly identifiable features on the landscape to confirm where you are on the map
Techniques to find your location if you lose track of where you are

For those with some map reading or navigation experience, our intermediate and advanced navigation skills sessions can be tailored to develop and enhance your existing skills and include:

How to plan walking routes
How to navigate away from paths and linear features
How to use landmarks to orientate the map
How to use the compass to accurately follow a bearing
How to measure distances on the map and an introduction to pacing, timing and ticking off
How to identify dangerous or difficult terrain on the map
How to maintain your navigation in poor visibility
How to prepare for emergency situations

Developing leadership: you'll get opportunities to lead the way, hold the map and compass and lead the group, supporting others who may be less confident
Improving self confidence: by learning the skills to navigate you will have a greater confidence in your own abilities and it may inspire you to get out walking more
Learning lifelong skills: knowing how to read a map is a lifelong skill which is guaranteed to be useful to you for many years, no need to rely on your mobile phone map any longer
Building teamwork: by working together to understand the map, use of the compass and following a route you will strengthen team bonds
Improving communication: by listening to each other and working together to understand the map and use the compass
Being close to nature: you'll have opportunities to notice landmarks and points on the landscape that you may not have seen before, and during our night navigation you may even see the stars in the dark sky
Self-reflection: opportunities to reflect on how you worked as part of the team, what input you had and how you contributed

Our navigation skills sessions can be delivered almost anywhere! Our most popular locations for navigations skills are:

Yorkshire
Lake District
Peak District
North Wales

Navigation is the skill of being able to plan and follow a route and accurately ascertain your position at any given point.

We can provide walking boots, waterproof jackets and waterproof trousers for you to use for the duration of the session if required, or alternatively you can bring your own.

Sessions will include map reading, learning how to relate the map to the landscape, how to work out distance and time, use of a compass and how to plan hill and mountain walks.

We cater for all levels of experience and ability from complete beginners, to those who are more experienced and have gained the basic skills but want additional support or guidance from our experts.

During our beginner navigation sessions, you will mainly stay on footpaths and bridleways and our team will teach you skills including:

How to understand a map as a two-dimensional plan of your surroundings
How to understand map symbols
How to understand scale and what this means for you as a walker
How to orientate a map with and without a compass
How large hills and valleys correspond to contours on the map
How to work out which way to go using features or a compass
How to read grid references and why you may need this
How to use clearly identifiable features on the landscape to confirm where you are on the map
Techniques to find your location if you lose track of where you are

For those with some map reading or navigation experience, our intermediate and advanced navigation skills sessions can be tailored to develop and enhance your existing skills and include:

How to plan walking routes
How to navigate away from paths and linear features
How to use landmarks to orientate the map
How to use the compass to accurately follow a bearing
How to measure distances on the map and an introduction to pacing, timing and ticking off
How to identify dangerous or difficult terrain on the map
How to maintain your navigation in poor visibility
How to prepare for emergency situations

Developing leadership: you'll get opportunities to lead the way, hold the map and compass and lead the group, supporting others who may be less confident
Improving self confidence: by learning the skills to navigate you will have a greater confidence in your own abilities and it may inspire you to get out walking more
Learning lifelong skills: knowing how to read a map is a lifelong skill which is guaranteed to be useful to you for many years, no need to rely on your mobile phone map any longer
Building teamwork: by working together to understand the map, use of the compass and following a route you will strengthen team bonds
Improving communication: by listening to each other and working together to understand the map and use the compass
Being close to nature: you'll have opportunities to notice landmarks and points on the landscape that you may not have seen before, and during our night navigation you may even see the stars in the dark sky
Self-reflection: opportunities to reflect on how you worked as part of the team, what input you had and how you contributed

Our navigation skills sessions can be delivered almost anywhere! Our most popular locations for navigations skills are:

Yorkshire
Lake District
Peak District
North Wales

Booking information

What's available?
- Half day activity session
- Full day activity session
- Incorporated into full programme

Who can book?
- Youth and community groups
- Schools
- Universities and colleges
- Businesses

Interested in navigation skills sessions?

Get in touch with our team using the link below to book or find out more.

Book now

We are accredited by:

Why choose Navigation Skills with Carnegie Great outdoors

We are part of Leeds Beckett University with extensive experience working with external clients and groups
We hold Public Liability Insurance of £25,000,000
We provide all specialist outdoor activity equipment, which is thoroughly checked, cleaned, serviced and maintained by our team. We hold trade accounts with the leading outdoor equipment manufacturers and replace our activity equipment in line with manufacturer and National Governing Body Guidelines
We tailor our activities to meet your personal aims and objectives, or to fit the requirements of the group; meeting curriculum requirements, corporate learning aims, identified skill sets or learning objectives

All sessions are run by our friendly instructors who:

Hold specialist qualifications issued by the National Governing Body for each of the activities
Have excellent working knowledge of the activity locations
Are DBS enhanced checked
Hold a specialist 16-hour Outdoor Emergency First Aid qualification which is renewed every three years and covers the care of casualties in remote settings, in line with Government HSE regulations
Hold professional indemnity insurance
Have extensive experience working with a variety of client groups in the outdoors
Have a sound understanding of the outdoor sector including relevant legislation
Maintain a high standard of customer care