All Roads Lead Home: S01E03: It makes a really nice tinkling noise

So for the final episode, Alison is leading the team through North Wales to Liverpool using natural navigation techniques. This episode is unique is that the team will have to navigate their way through the City of Liverpool by natural navigation alone.

Trek 1: Blaenau Ffestiniog - Mine

To begin the team need to find a waterfall to the North. They use an isolated tree at the mercy of the wind to find North. This takes a while and goes to show that natural navigation isn’t a quick fix, but a tool that can be used and learnt over time to help enjoy the land around us. Luckily they choose the right path and find the waterfall. We can use waterfalls and the flow of rivers as a marker for direction, even if it’s just that if you have to back track you know which way not to go!

The rugged landscape of North Wales is awesome to watch and really makes me want to go back there. But from the massive landscape, we look at the small webs of spiders to get an idea of direction. Spider’s webs normally face North East and from this you can find the direction you wish to travel.

Finally they make it to the old mine. The team did well as you can’t really see the entrance to the mine until you get close to it. It seems that their technique is getting better.

Trek 2: Betws-y-coed – Llandudno

Betws-y-coed is a place that brings back good memories for Lucy and myself. We spent a week there enjoying the wildlife along the River Conwy.

Weathering is the next navigation technique. We can use signs, as an example, as they are likely to weather differently on each side. Bleaching for example would indicate which side of the sign is more Southerly. This leg goes swiftly and gives them enough time for some tree hugging. Apparently halving the diameters of a tree trunk in cm equals the trees age. I imagine that this has a grain of truth, dependent on the amount of growth each year, which in turn is dependent on the weather each year.

Next we look at tree stumps. The heart of the tree is not normally at the centre. As trees normally have additional growth on the South, the heart of the tree should compensate by being closer to the Southern side of the tree. Oh dear, next we watch the team deal with some horses narrowly making their escape. Well, probably making more of a meal of it than necessary really! Then quite quickly making their way to Llandudno.

Trek 3: Great Orme - Liverpool

The next navigation technique is looking at graves, with the head at the Western end and feet at the Eastern end. So the people rise to face East when the Day of Judgement. Apparently the clergy are facing West to rise towards their congregation. You learn something new every day.

Very quickly the land is covered in mist. This makes their next landmark hard to find as they’re looking for standing stones! This also removes the ability to see the sea, the biggest navigation aid in this part of Wales. Taking turns to take the Westerly path at each junction, a good challenge at the paths crisscross for a good distance,  they reach a road – and refuge in the form of a cafe.

They then catch a ferry to Liverpool. This takes us into the natural urban navigation phase of the trek. Starting at St. George’s Hall they check the statue of Queen Victoria for weathering, sunshine, or lichen. Needless to say they look for a sign that they can understand more reliably. Looking at signs again, we see that algae doesn’t like the sun as it then dries out, therefore if you see algae on a sign – that’s the Northerly side of the sign. 

The tree tick effect comes into play even in an urban environment. With a row of tress all leaning towards the South the team make their way. They see a compass in the ground and this really confuses the team as they really focus on it. Even to the point of Stephen going back to the compass later on to check direction!

We learn from Tristan that moss and lichen can be used together. Moss liking the North and golden lichen liking the South! This helps the team forget the compass and get along on their journey. Finding a church and feeling quite confident on the way forward. Using the idea of the prevailing wind coming from the South West, the team quite cleverly uses pollution on a building as an indicator of direction. This leads them to their final destination, at the Everyman theatre that Alison first began performing.

This ends the series. It was a really interesting series and solidifies some of the concepts in the book. This has helped to sustain my interest in natural navigation and I’ll continue to look at nature not just for interest, but to find my way home! Thanks team.