A recent study by the University of Warwick suggests that women are the sludge
at the bottom of the gene pool when it comes to reading maps (something to
do with spatial awareness and playing football apparently).
Well, duh. I’ve known that for years. As a teenager, I thought Britain was
arranged, like trifle, with England at the bottom, Wales and Ireland in the
middle, and Scotland on top.
Fran Loots, a qualified mountain leader and founder of Breathing Space
Outdoors, thinks that she can change all that. She runs Women Can Read Maps:
a weekend course teaching women basic compass and map-reading skills in the
valleys and peaks of the Scottish Highlands.
I’m not alone in needing this course. “Oh, I’m horrendous at directions,” says
Margaret MacLennan, an emergency response officer for the Scottish
Government. Catriona Cripps, a business consultant living in Stirling, nods
sympathetically: “I did geography at university, I’m a member of the
Ramblers Association, but I always leave map reading to someone else.”
Fran is unfazed: “Women assume they can’t read maps,” she says encouragingly.
“In reality, it’s just like riding a bike: you have to learn how to do it,
then practise.” And with that, she hands around Ordnance Survey maps of the
area.
Running through a series of rudimentary exercises, first we learn how to set
the map: this involves turning the map until it fits the landscape in which
you’re walking. “My husband teases me when I do this,” says Allison Jones, a
hill runner. “Maps don’t have to be read like books,” Fran counters, “and
let’s face it, it’s easier to move a map than a mountain. Women process
information differently to men, that’s all.”
Next we turn our attention to the contour lines of hills; symbols showing the
smattering of schools and churches; meandering streams; and Forestry
Commission boundaries. “Reading a map means just that,” says Fran. “Maps are
a collection of geographical descriptions. When you learn to look through
the blur of lines and shapes to read what they’re describing, you’ll always
be able to find your location.” This is good practical stuff, described in a
way that makes sense: our confidence takes root. Even the panic that ripples
through the group when Fran announces it’s time to tackle grid references
soon dissipates. Each square is a kilometre, regardless of scale. The
references reflect the bottom grid number; the side number; then a
micro-measurement using our compasses. Pretty soon, when Fran calls out 175,
512, our eyes dart across the map like avid bingo players, homing in on the
site referenced.
It’s time to put what we’ve learnt into practice. On a gravel path behind the
cottage, with forested peaks rising sharply beyond grassy meadows, Fran asks
us to count the number of paces it takes to walk to the car at the end of
the lane. We exchange baffled glances. “Ten times that many paces is a
kilometre: one square on the map,” explains Fran. “You need to be able to
judge distance and the time it takes you to cover it. If the path is 250m
along a trail and it’s foggy...”
Sobered by the realisation that we have always left the “take this path”
decisions to someone else, we set off across a muddy field. Climbing over a
wooden stile we follow a footpath along a fast-flowing stream, until the
forest gives way to a steep clearing, which we start to climb.
“All these things are on the map,” puffs Katy Galbraith, a businesswoman from
Essex, excitedly. It sounds naff, but we’re all excited: OK, we’re just
beginners but – maps, grid references, compasses – it’s all falling into
place. We measure a wiggly path on the map with cord from our compasses, and
as a team count 400m to the grid reference Fran has challenged us to find.
As we pace, it dawns on me that the art of navigation is actually the art of
observation. And in your experience, who are more observant – men or women?
Need to know
Women Can Read Maps (01764 670541, www.breathingspaceout-doors.com)
costs from £80, with B&B from £15 extra. The next scheduled courses
are on March 8-9, and April 26-27, in Comrie, Perthshire, about an hour’s
drive from Edinburgh.
Where to stay: Jennifer Cox stayed at Tiger Lily, Edinburgh (0131-225
5005, www.tigerlilyedinburgh.com).
B&B double from £195.
Getting there: London to Edinburgh return by train(08457 225225, www.nationalexpresseast-coast.com),
from £28.
Jennifer Cox is the author of Around the World in 80 Dates (Arrow,
£7.99).
