Tinkadventures

04/25/2026

Had a great day teaching advanced navigation skills to members of Karabiner Mountaineering Club on Black Hill today. Lots I’ll be honest it’s usually raining and foggy and the ground is usually more swamp than solid, but not today! 😎
Good chance to focus on micro navigation, contour features and pacing.

Even spotted a hare!

04/16/2026

What a fab day leading a Freshwalks group up Red Pike and across to High Crag. It’s not an easy route, with tough terrain and big climbs, but the group's teamwork and support made it a real success and we had a fantastic time.

12/12/2025

A rare map moment is moving on. 🧭

This Saturday, 13 December, England says goodbye to a phenomenon centuries in the making. The rare alignment of the three norths - true north, magnetic north and grid north - leaves England at Berwick-upon-Tweed after three historic years together.

Events like this haven’t been recorded since the 1600s - and once it departs, the alignment won’t return for hundreds of years. Next stop? Scotland in 2026, before disappearing back into the North Sea.

Will this change how you navigate? No. Good map and compass users already account for the differences between magnetic and grid north.

But as rare moments go, this one’s worth marking on the map.

Where will you be following the three norths from? 📍

https://ow.ly/yib750XIlmp

11/23/2025

The only photo I took while teaching an introduction to navigation course today. Wet doesn’t describe it! 🤣

I think Tom and Sophie did very well to concentrate all day in the driving wind and rain. At this time of year adapting plans is essential and while I hoped starting with a classroom session at Sass Wellbeing Studio & Coffee House to see out the worst of the forecast - the rain never really relented so we eventually bailed off P**e hill to the canal for some woodland compass work.

That’s the last of the navigation courses for 2025 so keep an eye on our page and website for 2026 dates!

10/26/2025

Second day of the Gold and we had lots of weather today. 😂 Rain, fog, wind. Perfect for navigating between contour features and a few manmade ones - a good learning point for the group that man made features can be quite unreliable. Grouse butts abandoned and relocated and a boundary stone that has disappeared. But contours are always reliable.

Huge well done to everyone for coping with the cold wet weather and keeping focused.

10/25/2025

Had a fabulous day teaching Gold on Black Hill today. Plenty of opportunities to spot obscure contour features, pace on compass bearings and enjoying the autumn sun. Albeit it the northerly wind meant I had my winter jacket on all day! Saw a hare but only got a photo of his prints in the peat…

10/25/2025

Pro Tip: 43/52

08/25/2025

08/21/2025

Had a great day supporting Mike Raine: Notes from the Hill with a CPD course for outdoor leaders on teaching navigation skills.
We had a great walk around the Colne Valley, discussing maps and teaching methods for beginners to be confident outdoors.

Lovely to meet everyone and introduce more people to Marsden.