Nicola Dennis is a long-standing friend whom I met during my caving activities, a multiply-qualified outdoor instructor who is in the process of becoming a Mountain Leader.
In final preparation for her assessment for a lower-level qualification, she and I ventured out one un-promising morning in mid-November to practise navigation. She chose the plateau just west of Dursley in Gloucestershire. This is not really a place where one could get lost, but has enough micronavigational features and misleading footpaths to make it a worthwhile venue.
There was very light drizzle as we left the car park, but as we made our way up the wooded path to the plateau, the skies opened, setting the tone of much of the rest of day. We walked anti-clockwise around the edge of the flat land at the top of the slope, staying away from the very limited amount of golfing activity, walking on bearings, counting paces, and the rest. Near the disused quarry on the west side of the plateau, we explored the boundaries of the sausage-shaped contour (it marks a depression, not a mound), and at the stone shelter 200m north east of the trig. point we had our flapjacks, but only after a most unpleasant encounter with a nasty brute of a bulldog which tried to kill Nicky's terrier.
As we were sheltering from the rain, it suddenly stopped, and the weather changed in a moment from cool and wet to cold and dry, which we both much preferred. I did not have the surface pressure chart to hand, but I bet a Mars Bar that it a front had passed right over us at that very moment.
In these improved conditions we made our way to the southern end of the plateau, practising contour interpretation on the way, then practising pacing on a bearing as we made our way back towards the golf clubhouse. After that, a pleasant stroll through the woods lead to the Old Spot Inn, where we sat next to the fire, and I had two well-deserved pints of Old Boar real ale, which was superb, and two packets of Pipers Lye Cross Cheddar and Onion crisps, which are the finest in the whole wide world.
It wasn't the most epic hike either of us had ever done, but it was the first we had done together. The next day, Nicky passed her navigation assessment, so it must have been time well spent.
