Enthusiastic navigator on 14 years as volunteer

Access and recreation Communities Volunteering

26 Feb 2026

Home Blog Enthusiastic navigator on 14 years as volunteer

Tony Page has been a volunteer with the Lake District National Park Authority for 14 years. He began as a guided walk leader and then began training other volunteers in navigation as part of the ‘Get Your Bearings’ team, who train other volunteers on navigation.

As LDNPA opens recruitment for another navigational trainer role, learn from Tony about why he became a volunteer, some of the benefits of being a volunteer navigational trainer and his favourite moments.

On why I became LDNPA volunteer…

I’ve been a fellwalker, scrambler and climber since I was a teenager and have always been active in the hills, and when I retired, I wanted to encourage others to share my enjoyment of the Lake District. I found the various navigation and group leader courses provided as part of the guided walk leader training programme were also very helpful for my own mountain leader training. I passed all the internal assessments to become a guided walk leader and then in 2015 passed the mountain leader award assessment.

On the benefits of being a Get Your Bearings volunteer…

As I volunteered, I realised I enjoyed passing on navigation skills more than leading and started volunteering with the Get your Bearings team so I could share what I knew with other volunteers.

The best bit of being a Get Your Bearings trainer is observing those ‘Aha!’ moments when the penny suddenly drops for one of the course members. It might be when they grasp how to take a bearing, or when they realise that they have arrived at a checkpoint exactly where their pacing suggested it should be.

I have thoroughly enjoyed passing on my navigation skills to volunteers over the years, hopefully offering them more confidence to complete their roles. I have watched the Get Your Bearings programme develop over the last 10 years, adapting to changing circumstances, technology, increased safety concerns and the needs of different volunteer roles within the park. Personally I enjoy working with my fellow instructors (every course has two) as working with other experts in the field brings the best out of myself (we all get lazy at times) and also picking up different techniques which may work better. Even as an experienced mountain leader there is much to learn.

Jonathan Smith Get Your Bearings trainer and mountain leader with 20 years experience

On what someone new to the role can expect…

Someone new to the Get Your Bearings team can expect to join a group of enthusiastic navigators who are very keen to pass their knowledge and skills on to other volunteers within the Lake District National Park Authority.

Almost certainly you will learn something that you didn’t know from one or other of the team, and very likely they will learn something new from you too. A hot topic with the team recently has been the place of GPS mapping on our courses. Do we use our smartphones on our personal trips in the hills? Of course we do! Another has been whether we should be called instructors, trainers or coaches. You will have guessed that opinions differ.

Anyone doing this role can expect to meet a wide range of abilities (navigationally speaking) and people who are willing to learn and appreciate the time we give them.

Ade Gidney Get Your Bearings volunteer

On my top Lake District walk…

I’m not sure I have a top walk in the Lake District. It varies with the seasons. In summer, a great day might well incorporate a scramble from one of the scrambling guides. In winter, when it gets dark early, I tend to enjoy shorter horseshoe walks, especially if there is snow on the ground and I can use an ice axe and crampons. In the spring, a walk starting through woodland will mean birdsong and I can practice my bird ID. The same walk in October, with luck, will mean the glorious colours of the autumn leaves.