Hello, I'm Tom. I'm doing a quick five minutes about how to orientate yourself anywhere. Navigation hacks if you like.

OK, first one. This is a tree. Trees often have much denser, greener foliage on the south side, as that's where most of the sun comes from in the northern hemisphere. And the top of the tree often curves in the south or south easterly direction too. You'll need to look at a few trees that are clear of heavy shading or strong winds to spot this stuff.

This is moss. Moss grows on trees, and moss likes being in the dark, on the side with the least sunlight – the north in the northern hemisphere. Obviously this doesn't work in heavily shaded woodland, etc.

These are satellite dishes, and almost anywhere in the world you're never far from one. In the UK, consumer dishes point at Astra, which is approximately 145° from the north, or approximately south east.

This is a church. Old churches have the alter at the east end of the building. The problem is, it's mostly old churches, and it's not 100% consistent. If in doubt, ask the vicar. In which case you might as well ask him where you are.

OK, now it's time for the science bit, and to drop my OmniGraffle skills. This is a watch. Lay it horizontally, pointing the hour hand at the sun. The halfway point between the hour hand and the 12 is south. That's for the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, point the 12 at the sun and the bisection with hour hand is south.

OK, another one. Stick a pole in the ground, on a flat, clear surface. Mark the tip of its shadow with something. Wait for 15-20 minutes and mark the tip of its shadow with something else. The line connecting the first to the second is west to east.

Here's another trick. If the moon rises before the sun has set, the illuminated side with be pointing west. If the moon rises after midnight the illuminated side will be the east.

And finally, if none of this stuff works, try and make a compass.

Basically, you need some kind of ferrous metal and a method of suspending it. Get a needle and try and magnetise it. Stroke the needle with a ferrous metal, along the direction you want to point north. If you don't have a ferrous metal, you can use silk, but it will take a while and won't last. And if you don't have any silk, try getting a battery over two volts, wrapping some wire around it and charging it for 5-10 minutes.

To suspend your newly magnetised needle, use a bowl of water or hang it from a very thin thread. Be careful of knots and tangles.

That's it. Ta.