New map reading videos with Steve Backshall
Navigating your way around is an essential skill for any explorer or outdoor enthusiast and being able to confidently use a map is a vital skill which everyone should have before setting off on an outdoors adventure. Research shows that the skill of map reading is in decline and our #GetOutside champion, Steve Backshall, is helping us to reverse that trend.
Steve says: I’m always with a penknife, map and compass. I’m an OS map user in a big way. It’s almost a daily thing. I’m enormously proud of OS. Its level of cover in this country is extraordinary. I think it’s something that, hand on heart, Brits do better than anyone else.
Map reading is a skill that’s dying out. Everyone should be able to read with a map and compass. It can and will save lives.
Map reading videos
To help you to get the most out of your map, and to #GetOutside to explore the Great British countryside, Steve’s recorded a series of videos. They’ll take you through the basics step by step including:
- Which map is right for you
- Understanding map symbols
- Making sense of contour lines
- How to read a grid reference
- Knowing your compass
Find out how to read a grid reference here and then visit our website to watch the rest of the videos:
You can also find out more about map reading in our handy leaflets. There’s Map reading made easy or Map reading made easy peasy for the younger map-readers.
Hello, where can I get a hard copy of your Map Reading Made Easy leaflet?
Hi Anna
We’ve made them available online so that anyone can print them off and use them.
Thanks, Gemma
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When using an on-line map, how do I access the information re magnetic variation normally found on the legend of a printed sheet? I want to print a map and use it to navigate with confidence. Thank-you.
Hi Ian
Magnetic variation is available on the map legend on our standard printed maps and any OS Custom Made maps too, but isn’t available online automatically. The best way to do this online is on the BGS site as you can calculate the variation for any location: http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/data_service/models_compass/gma_calc.html
Thanks, Gemma