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Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Bronze - Map Reading
The centre buys their own maps. Take care of them and they will last longer. To write on unlaminated maps use "HB" pencils. Do not press too hard, this obliterates paths and tears maps. Use a soft eraser for the same reason. After use, a map should be re-folded along the original folds.
A map is a representation of an area of ground as seen from a the air. It is a representation as it uses symbols to indicate features such as hills, rivers, roads etc.. It is important to know what each symbol represents to help in your navigation around countryside, i.e. ensuring that the church you are passing is marked on your map, that it is on your route, and that you are passing it on the correct side (either left or right).
Above some 1:50,000 symbols
It is important to remember as many different symbols as possible because it wastes time to keep referring to the key during a walk. Also if you use an unlaminated map in heavy wind or rain it is not practical to keep getting the map out of the map case.
TEST SYMBOLS. POINT OUT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
WOODLAND, FIELDS AND BUILT UP AREAS AND BETWEEN
FOOTPATHS AND BOUNDARIES AND THE DIFFERENT
SYMBOLS ON 1:50,000 AND 1:25,000.
There are two common types of map, 1:25,000 and 1:50,000. On the 1:25,000 map 1 cm = 25,000 cm (250 m). On the 1:50,000 1 cm = 50,000 cm (500 m). Therefore the 1:25,000 map shows more detail, as 1 cm represents less land. It is said to have to a larger scale. The map is always drawn with north at the top of the map. It follows south is at the bottom, east to the right and west to the left. These are cardinal points and the points in between are known as inter cardinal points.
TEST THE CARDINAL POINTS.
There are lines on the map running from north to south and east to west. These lines, which are numbered, can accurately describe the position of any landmark. The lines running from north to south are called EASTINGS as they tell us how far east a landmark is. The lines running east to west are called NORTHINGS as they tell us how far north a landmark is.
When describing the location of a landmark in that manner it is known as a GRID REFERENCE. In giving a grid reference, eastings are given before northings, e.g. 'along the corridor and up the stairs'. Using the numbers on the map, i.e.. 34 52, describes an area of 1 km², the square to the top right of where the lines intersect. This is a too large an area for accurate navigation, therefore the km squares are further broken down into 10 x 10 squares and an extra two numbers are used to describe this 100 m² area, i.e. 345 522. This is known as a six figure grid reference.
As the grid references will only go up to 999 on both the northings and eastings, the grid references will begin to repeat themselves after every 100 km. Therefore, each 100 Km square is given a two letter reference making each grid reference unique, e.g. SO 458123.
The grid is set against convenient lines of latitude and longitude. 40° north for the horizontal axis and 2° west for the vertical axis. Being a rectilinear pattern, the grid differs from the lines of longitude and latitude, the only grid line which points to True north is the one which coincides with 2° west. The other vertical lines differ by an increasing amount the further you get from the axes.
TEST GRID REFERENCES WITH SYMBOLS.
Setting, or orientating, the map so it matches your surroundings is an important part of map reading, and makes it much easier. There are two methods (without a compass). The first is by ensuring a line feature in the landscape is parallel to the same line feature on the map. The second is by ensuring that your position on the map, a landmark on the map and the landmark in the landscape are all in line.
Some people find it difficult navigating when the map is not the right way round in relation to the surroundings. Try walking with the map "set" all the time i.e.: as your route turns, turn the map accordingly.
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