Why the humble paper map still earns its place

A paper map does not run out of battery, works happily in horizontal rain, and shows you the whole landscape at once rather than a six-inch slice of it. But it only helps if you can read it. The good news is that map reading is a small set of skills, learned once and then quietly useful for the rest of your walking life. Here is what to look at first.

Start with the scale and the key

Before you follow a single path, check two things in the margin: the scale and the key. The scale tells you how much ground you are looking at. On a 1:25,000 map, 4cm on paper equals 1km on the ground, which is why these are the maps of choice for walkers wanting walls, field boundaries and stiles. On a 1:50,000 map, 2cm equals 1km — lighter to carry and easier to hold open in a wind, but the smaller details start to vanish.

The key explains colours and symbols, and it repays five minutes of your time before you go:

• Blue for water, from tiny streams to reservoirs.
• Green for woodland, often with tree symbols.
• Brown for contours and other relief.
• Black for buildings, walls, fences and, crucially, paths and tracks.
• Purple or orange for public rights of way on most UK leisure maps.

Contour lines: reading the shape of the land

Contours are what make a good map look like a fingerprint. Each line joins points of equal height above sea level, and the vertical gap between them — the contour interval — is printed in the key: usually 5 metres on a 1:25,000 map and 10 metres on a 1:50,000. Learn three habits and the hills will start to rise off the paper.

• Lines packed tightly together mean steep ground. Widely spaced lines mean gentle ground.
• Nested rings, getting smaller, mark a summit. Spot heights give the exact figure in metres.
• A V shape pointing uphill shows a valley or re-entrant. A V pointing downhill shows a spur or nose of a ridge.

This matters when you are tired. A route across three closely bunched contour lines is a short, sharp pull; the same distance across three widely spaced lines is a gentle amble. You can plan to avoid the worst of the climb, or deliberately go looking for it.

Footpaths, bridleways and open access land

Some lines on a map are legal statements about where you may walk, so it is worth knowing your dashes.

• Public footpath — on foot only. Usually a short-dashed line.
• Public bridleway — on foot, bike or horse. Typically longer dashes.
• Byway open to all traffic — rare, and usually a churned-up track.
• Permissive path — walked by the landowner's goodwill, and sometimes closed on particular days.

Then there is open access land, shown with a pale wash and a distinctive symbol. On access land you may roam off-path, but seasonal and local restrictions apply, and you must still leave gates and livestock as you find them. Remember the difference: a public right of way must be kept clear, whereas a permissive route can be withdrawn at any time. Also expect that a dashed path across a ploughed field may not be visible on the ground — the line is a legal right, not a promise of trodden turf.

Grid references: the language of location

Every UK leisure map is overlaid with a grid of 1km squares. The numbers along the bottom edge are called eastings and run left to right; those up the side are northings and run bottom to top. A four-figure reference, such as 3745, identifies a single 1km square — useful for pointing someone roughly at a village or a car park.

For walking, you want a six-figure reference, which narrows things to a 100-metre square. The trick is the order: along the corridor, then up the stairs. Eastings first, northings second. To give a precise point, read the two-digit number to the left of your position, then estimate tenths across the square. Repeat upwards for northings. So a stile at 374452 sits in the square whose bottom-left corner is 3745, 400 metres east and 200 metres north of the grid lines.

Practise this at home on a spot you know well — your nearest trig pillar or church tower — and it becomes second nature surprisingly quickly. It is also the single most useful thing you can hand to a mountain rescue team if something goes wrong.

Before you set off: a simple routine

Maps are tools, and like any tool they work best with a quick check before use. Do the same four things every time.

• Orient the map. Lay it flat and turn it until the grid lines run parallel with your direction of travel. Check the margin note about magnetic north — in the UK it differs from grid north by only a degree or two, but it is worth knowing.
• Mark your route. A pencil or a strip of low-tack tape along the day's path saves constant re-reading.
• Note your escape routes. Identify two or three places where you can cut a walk short — a lane, a bridleway junction, a pub.
• Estimate timings. A rough rule for hill walking is 4km per hour on the flat, plus one minute for every 10 metres of ascent. If the map says 12km and 500 metres of climb, budget around four and a half hours of walking, before you add stops.

Fold it properly, keep it in a clear case, and carry a compass alongside it. Learn to read contours, dashes and grid numbers, and the countryside stops being a nice view and becomes a place you can move through with confidence — even when the cloud comes down and the path disappears under bracken.