We were in dialogue with the owners of probably the best Navigation tools, aids and products for hill walkers, Mountaineers and Mountain Rescue personal, that company is Shaven Raspberry.

This fantastic little business is Owned and Managed by a couple of great guys that truly know their stuff:

Lyle Brotherton – Author of the Ultimate Navigation Manual and instructor to Global Search & Rescue teams and more locally, Advanced Navigation instructor to Mountain Rescue teams throughout the UK

Scott Amos – With over 20 years experience in Scottish Mountain Rescue, he was previously the training office for Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team, along with responsibilities for teaching Navigation to Mountain Rescue, Coast guard and Search and Rescue teams across the UK.

We thought we would share their observations of Positive outdoor 365, following an update to them on our first year in operation.

We hope this helps you to understand our ‘Why’

A refreshing and new approach to well-being in the great outdoors with the Boys!

A couple of great guys we know, Martin and his brother-in-Law, Chris, are celebrating their first very successful year, having set up the brilliant www.positiveoutdoor365.com – a place where they share their wealth of first hand, practical knowledge on how and where to safely enjoy the great outdoors.

They have shed loads of knowledge and experience, from the military, teaching navigation to completing Project 944 (9 highest Mountains in the UK in 4 days for 4 charities)

From the best kit to wear, what to carry in your rucksack, through to helping you be confident in navigation, these boys will help keep you safe and well to enjoy the great outdoors on every occasion that you venture out of your front door.

Here’s an extract from their Blog detailing the huge amount of experience and competence these guys possess when it comes to being outdoors in the hills and Mountains.

About Us

Collectively we have over 70+ years of Navigational experience which helps when trailing new kit, exploring new routes, or even getting ‘back to basics’ with Navigational tools and techniques.

Our Breadth of experience includes:

• Over 9 years of Military Navigational expertise, including Airborne forces and Completion of the French Commando course (3 days Escape and Evasion).
• Over 10 years of Assessment within the Northwest of England as a Duke of Edinburgh Assessor through all elements of the DoE awards scheme. (Bronze, Silver & Gold).
• Rescue Emergency Care Certified Level 2 – Snowdonia First Aid
• ML Trained – Plas y brenin
• Yorkshire 3 Peaks achiever.
• Sweden canoe long-distance adventure.
• All round adventures, Climbing, canyoning, potholing, abseiling, kayaking.
• Scotland – Winter Outdoors survival training.
• Wales black mountains and Brecon beacons survival training.
• Instructor – Ultimate Navigation School (based on the syllabus of the Ultimate Navigation Manual)
  • Trained the Ordnance Survey Champions at Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced level navigation.
  • Trained Public and Private clients including Lowland Search and rescue team and Aspiring Mountain Rescue candidates on both a team and 121 basis.
• Neebosh qualified ‘Competent person’ in all aspects of HSE. Enabling safe risk assessment and activities in workplace/external environments.
• QualSafe Certified ‘First Aid in the workplace’ – 3 Years
• ERYRI Gold Level Ambassador – 2021-2022 (Snowdonia)
• Outdoor space for wellbeing – Private Clients
• Peak District – Aircraft wreck hunting/guiding
• 80 to 100KM long-distance walking – Netherlands and Belgium.

We have operated externally in the following locations:

• England, Scotland & Wales
• The Netherlands
• Nepal – Chulu East & Thorong La pass
• Tatras Mountains – Slovakia
• The Czech Republic
• Sweden
• Denmark
• Belgium Ardennes
• Luxemburg.
• Germany – Black Mountains
• France – Trier
• Belize
• Cyprus
• Kenya
• Oman

Preferred areas of outdoors activity:

• The Peak District
• The Lake District
• Snowdonia
• Scotland

• Ireland, both North, and South are on the bucket list!

Sunday morning arrived and the weather, whilst chilly, was going to be relatively clear in contrast to our recent excursion to the lake District. Daysacks quickly sorted we headed off to the bus terminus at Old Glossop to start our fun outing!

Once underway, we wandered past the shooting grounds, which were alive to an abundance of people ‘Clay pigeon’ shooting at the venue on the side of the Edge Plantation. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed it quite so busy as today, and as such, the sound of the 12 bores was echoing off the plantation as we ascended up Lightside to pick up our route alongside Yellow Slacks.

Once clear, we spent the best part of the morning de-layering and re-layering as the sun appeared not to know whether it was supposed to be out to play or otherwise. No worries through, we maintained a reasonable pace until we located the stream crossing that would take us onto Shelf Moor and onwards to the classic site of ‘Over Exposed’.

Not too many people were out and about this morning, so we quickly captured a few shots at the site and then found a convenient location for coffee and a snack, away from the wind at Higher Shelf Stones.

The excitement of the day was to locate the crash site of the ‘Dakota’ located just off the nose of James Thorn.

As I had previously plotted the initial two or three Grid references on the map, we fell onto the first few scatterings with ease.

Time for the real fun bit now though, for those of you that know navigational terminology, we were about to get ’Flirty at 30’ as we descended Ashton Clough in order to locate the numerous aged piles of debris that once was a Douglas Dakota, that met its unfortunate demise on 24^th July 1945. (Killing all seven passengers on board).

What a fabulous morning’s hunting, whilst we did not locate the two Pratt & Whitney wasp engines, we did find multiple evidence of the unfortunate incident. Never mind, I guess I’ll just have to go again!!

Happy with our morning we made our way back to ‘The Queens Arms’ at Old Glossop for a well-deserved pint.

Martin & Chris

AKA Compass and Clogs

PS. I Have attached the best link I could find for further details of interest, happy hunting all!

C-47A 42-108982, Shelf Moor, Bleaklow – Peak District Air Accident Research (peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk)

Following the previous trip to the ‘lakes’ in October 2021, there were many mountains that Chris and I wanted to re-visit, and as the weather for the previous week had been almost tropical, we were mildly excited to be possibly visiting the beautiful National Park to get some sunshine, along with the spectacular scenery.

How wrong we were, one week out the weather forecast looked like snow all week and as the visit date got ever closer, it started to shift towards rain, with some fleeting chances of sunshine. Moreover, the temperature looked like it was going to be closer to 5 degrees, rather than the ‘heady’ 17 degrees that we had been experiencing of late.

Day I – The Old Man (men) of Coniston

After a steady drive to Coniston, it was soon to become clear that this day was going to be a little ‘cooler’ than we thought. No problems though, we quickly ‘layered up’ and set off to scale the ‘Old Man’ to hit the summit.

Heading up we passed several inquisitive ‘Erdys’ along the way and were soon (ish) at the Trig point on the top.

Perhaps the best way to describe the temperature, along with the accompanying wind chill, would probably be ‘Baltic’. It was certainly not a day for sitting and admiring, and despite numerous layers, Chris was feeling it!

Compulsory pictures done for the blog and we were off, perhaps the quickest we had moved all day!!!

The final episode for the day was being confronted by the world’s biggest plate of fish and chips, much needed after the events of the day!

Day 2 – The Lords Rake, Scafell

After the previous days Arctic conditions, Thursday looked a little more promising. We took a last check of the Mountain Weather forecast and set off towards Wasdale head, adjacent to the incredibly picturesque Wast water.

As we descended the long, narrow road into Wasdale, it was noted that the day was also going to be more than a little ‘chilly’, more layers please!!

We took the footpath up alongside Lingmell Gill, up to Brown Tongue heading towards Mickledore where we got our first siting of the ‘lords rake’!

After the last few days of icy and snowy conditions, the self-preservation button ‘tripped’, and I called the choice of route and instead we scrambled onto Mickledore and chose to take pictures of the ‘Lords rake’, it could wait, there will be better days where the ‘risk’ is substantially reduced.

Passing the Mountain Rescue post, we pressed on, up and over Scafell Pike and beat a hasty retreat down the route that we had ascended. The only disappointment of the day was the weather, the reality was somewhat different to the forecast with the culmination of the descent seeing us getting absolutely ‘battered’ by hailstones for about 15 minutes!

Another great day out, the key point being is that sometimes you must plan for eventualities and ensure your back up plan, or escape routes, are viable. The weather in this part of the world can make a significant difference to your potential well-being if you do not take the appropriate precautions prior to setting out!

Day 3 – The Fairfield Round

Today was going to be a fun day out, during the evening I had contacted a friend who was also heading to the lakes for the day. We decided to ‘join forces’ so at 10:30 we all met up at the main car park in Ambleside to get underway.

Before setting off though, it was important to introduce both Craig & Emma to the best sausage rolls in the world, courtesy of the ‘Apple pie’ in Ambleside. Lunch now sorted we were off!

What a fantastic day out, this route takes in some 8 Wainwrights, the highest being Fairfield at 873M, it’s a long one covering just over 11 miles, and 1,112 metres of ascent which took us exactly 7 hours to amble around (I wonder if that’s why it’s called ‘Ambleside’)?

We were blessed with a range of stunning views throughout the day, which also had its moments where the windchill reminded us of its presence, but that did not hamper a day of laughs, stunning views, and a little Navigation training throughout the day.

And of course, to cap it all the joys of the fantastic sausage rolls!

Martin & Chris

Lake District National Park 2022

Having just returned from a few days in the beautiful surroundings of the Lake District National Park, I felt compelled to just give a little airtime to an absolute gem of a find (via Booking.com) which is the fabulous ‘Hillsdale’ Bed & Breakfast location.

There are many to choose from but this one was chosen by the ratings that previous visitors had offered, particularly the breakfast score which achieved the maximum 10 out of 10.

From the minute we stepped through the door, we knew that this was going to be a fabulous experience as the hosts could not do enough for us.

Everything about this B & B was first class, the location, cleanliness, quality of the accommodation and the décor which highlighted one of the local characters ‘the Herdwick sheep’. Commissioned by a local artist, this theme ran throughout the venue and added to the charm, although I think Chris will be dreaming of ‘Herdy’s’ for months after!!

If you get a chance to visit this one, grasp the opportunity with both hands, you won’t regret it.

Martin & Chris

It’s a really encouraging sign that spring is on the way, with early daffodils staring to show, and crocus’ coming out in bloom, its reassuring that the drier, brighter days are just around the corner.

UNS Team Day out

The boys were ‘back in town’ last week with a bimble across the delightful Peak District National Park.

A little scramble up red brook and a subsequent wander over Brown Knowl coupled to a route back via South Head and Mount Famine was enjoyed by all, nearly as much as the pint in the ‘Royal’ afterwards.

1000Mile socks.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to trial these rascals to get a sense of just how good they are in keeping your feet warm and dry with their internal wicking layer of Tactel.

The write up below is the extract from the recent post on Inst’ highlighting my thoughts on the product. Its always important to ensure that alongside your sock of choice, you have a well fitted boot or shoe to enable a great walking experience without the fear of having to conduct feet maintenance half way through your expedition.

National Feet Week

National Feet Week takes place every year, and this year it from the 7^th to the 13^th of March.

As an avid outdoors type, it’s a great idea that we take good care of our feet, you never know where they are going to take you too!

What about your feet? Many people ignore common foot complaints or indeed serious pain rather than go to see an expert. Podiatrists are there to help with all manner of foot conditions and can usually help resolve minor issues quickly.

Where we’re coming from though, is the preventative maintenance of your precious feet, which should help you to avoid any serious complaints developing or spending time with your GP or Podiatrist.

Make National Feet Week a time to have your feet checked or to get that niggling issue sorted and make your feet your priority.

Things to consider: 

Nails 

Nails should be trimmed straight across without curving the corners of the nail as this can lead to ingrown toenails. 

Blisters 

Blisters, we’ve all had them and know how very painful they can be (they are basically a heat burn). Prevention is the key with blisters and dual layer socks are a great investment. (See the details above on the test drive of 1000Mile socks).

Friction on the skin surface is eliminated as the inner layer moves with the foot and the outer layer with the shoe. As with normal socks, it’s important to change them once they become damp.

The advent of a wicking inner layer (Tactel) is of great benefit in heat distribution for your feet, which should help reduce the likelihood of blister occurring.

If you feel a blister developing you need to stop walking immediately, remove your shoes and socks and examine your feet. Apply a breathable waterproof plaster or consider applying some material padding or cushioning.

Our blister plaster of choice is ‘Compeed’, I would strongly suggest having these in your rucksacks at all time for those ‘just in case’ moments!

Walking boots/shoes

Perhaps one of the most important questions is – are your boots/shoes comfortable?

There are so many good options to choose from, how do we know that we’re choosing the correct ones?

Many good outdoors stores have qualified staff that can help you to select the correct product for your foot type.

Purchase and wear new shoes well in advance to make sure that they are comfortable and do not pinch or rub. 

My boot of choice currently is Scarpa, and the walking shoe of choice is Meindl (watch this space for the road test on the Meindl Rapide GTX in May)

Insoles

A good insole will be helpful in the prevention of pain in the back, hips and knees and help to reduce impact related injury.

Sorbothane insoles are a fabulous option, which can fit snuggly inside the walking boot offering a little extra ‘spring’ in your step whilst walking, in addition to the reduction of impact across a range of differing trekking surfaces.

As we said before, do take care of your feet, you never know just how far they will take you!

Enjoy March

Chris and Martin

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