NNAS Night Owl – Peak District

A great question! Here’s why we think you should choose us for your National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) course:

• We delivered our first Bronze Navigator Award course for the NNAS back in 2016.
• Our instructor team has decades of teaching experience between them.
• We’re one of only a handful of Providers nationwide authorised to deliver the full range of NNAS awards including the Bronze, Silver and Gold Navigator Awards, the NNAS Night Owl and the NNAS Tutor Award.
• Every year, we train hundreds of keen navigators from right across the country turning them into more confident outdoor people.

Don’t just take our word for it. MountainXperience is the number one outdoor adventure provider in the area and four-time recipient of the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award. Check out our hundreds of 5* reviews on Google and Tripadvisor.

The NNAS Night Owl takes place over one evening and typically lasts around four hours. We usually start at 4pm and aim to finish around 8pm. The evening starts with a short ‘classroom’ session before heading out for some practical work.

Our NNAS Tutor Award courses take place in the heart of the Peak District in the small village of Edale. Only around an hour’s drive from Manchester or Sheffield and easily accessible from the M1 for London and the North, the Peak District is perfectly located in the middle of the country.

Edale also has a railway station on the Manchester-Sheffield line making it accessible to all.

The evening begins and ends at the fabulous Penny Pot Cafe however please note the cafe may not be open.

We’re proud to offer some of the best value outdoor courses in the UK. Our NNAS Night Owl course costs £29. There’s also a £1 course fee which is paid to the National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) on your behalf. Successful candidates will receive a digital certificate at the end of the course.

You can either choose to pay in full when you book online or if you book by phone you can avoid the online booking fees imposed by our booking provider.

If you’d like to stay over and make a weekend of it (always recommended!) then there are a few very local accommodation options available:

• Bike & Boot Inn is a new leisure hotel in the Hope Valley just a 15 minute drive away. Use promo code ‘mountainxperience’ to get big discounts on stays!
• The Rambler Inn is the pub just around the corner from where the course meets. It has nine en-suite rooms available as well as a one bedroom cottage.
• The Old Nags Head is just a short walk away in the centre of Edale and offers two small cottages which would ideally suit couples, families and small groups.
• Fieldhead Campsite is a small 45 pitch site again just a few minutes walk from where we meet. It’s a bit ‘rustic’ (there’s no electricity, wifi or even phone signal!) but it’s a lovely little site to get away from it all.
• Newfold Farm in the centre of the village (a five minute walk) welcomes tents as well as campervans and caravans or you can book to stay in one of their luxury bell tents. They also have a cafe and make great pizza at weekends!

If you have a car then you can also look for accommodation in nearby Castleton, Hope, Hathersage and other surrounding villages and small towns. Use your favourite accommodation booking website such as booking.com or airbnb.co.uk and search for ‘Edale’.

You’ll need outdoor kit for an evening in the hills whatever the weather! You’ll also need an Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 Explorer map for the Dark Peak area (OL1). If you happen to have an OS 1:50 000 Landranger (110) or Harvey Peak District Central map then bring them along but don’t go out and buy them specially. You’ll also need a compass. We recommend the Silva Expedition 4 but any long-edged compass will do the job.

Remember to bring enough food and drink with you to last the evening.

There’s a full kit list below. Please have a look at the weather before setting off and dress accordingly. Better to have an extra fleece and woolly hat in your bag just in case. Remember we’ll be outdoors all evening in all weathers so be sure to have the right gear. If it’s looking wet then keeping spares clothes to change into in your car is also a good idea.

• Comfortable hill walking clothing – personal base layers and trousers (not jeans)
• Waterproof jacket with hood
• Waterproof trousers (separate to your walking trousers)
• Spare warm/fleece jacket
• Walking boots or walking trainers
• Comfortable walking socks
• Warm hat and gloves or sun hat and sun screen (weather dependent)
• Vacuum flask for hot drink and/or re-usable water bottle
• Personal first aid kit and personal medication
• Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 Explorer map for the Dark Peak area (OL1)
• Compass (long-edge type such as the Silva Expedition 4)
• Headtorch
• Day walk rucksack – approx. 20-25 litres
• Packed lunch and snacks for each day

You can get hold of OS maps direct from Ordnance Survey or from any book store including Amazon but we recommend Dash4It – the map superstore. They guarantee the latest maps at the cheapest prices all with free delivery. They also stock a wide range of compasses. Use the discount code MOUNTAINX to get an extra 10% off OS Maps.

Of course. The requirements for the NNAS Navigator Awards and Night Owl are specified by The National Navigation Award Scheme and can be found below. Don’t be too worried if you don’t understand all the terminology as that’s what our instructors are there for but it might help you decide which level to start at.

• Speed, time and distance
• Pacing
• Contours
• Relocation
• Spatial Awareness 
• Navigation Strategies (attack points, collecting features, aiming off, hand, railing, etc)
• Appearance
• Dead Reckoning
• Kit Use/Practise