Britain By Snorkel

This summer Bristol Explorer, Andy Torbet, will be leaving the mountain of Cave, Trimix and Rebreather diving kit at home and getting back to basics.

He's setting off from 18th June to September to explore the UK with just a snorkel. This will include free diving into wrecks and through flooded mines, high altitude lakes, low altitude lakes, rivers, rapids, waterfalls, caves, canals, offshore islands and snorkelling with seal, basking sharks and otters along with some classic shore dives.

Some of the sites will be accessible to all and he hopes to inspire others to join him for certain days and nights. Some sites will be completely new and others a little more hazardous. It'll including trekking, sea kayaking, 700 foot abseils, tomb-stoning, deep water solo climbing, mountain biking and a lot of driving from Cape Wrath to Lands End.

Andy will be keeping Explorers Connect up to date with his progress, so keep a look out for his weekly blogs. 

andytorbet@blueyonder.co.uk

Beginner's Map Reading Workshops - Free!

Cotswold Outdoor's latest initiative is to run free map reading workshops in stores between now and June. Aimed at the map reading novice, these workshops take you through understanding what a map is telling you through map symbols, contour lines and topography.

You'll also cover how to effectively take grid references - 4 figure, 6-figure and the national grid system - and how to take a compass bearing. The following locations will host the workshops: 10 May - London Knightsbridge 12 May - Chester 19 May - Newcastle 25 May - London Holborn 2 June - Tunbridge Wells 7 June - Cambridge 9 June - Guildford 22 June - Exeter Contact you nearest store directly to book a place. It's also worth remembering that all participants are being offered 25% off Ordinance Survey Maps bought on the day!

So if navigation is something you'd like to know more about, this is a great place to start. Check out the website below.

community.cotswoldoutdoor.com