LONDON — Are you au fait with Ordnance Survey? Know how to read a six figure grid reference? If you were left on a moor with just a compass and a map would you find your way home safely or wander aimlessly, eventually getting eaten by wolves?

The Royal Institute of Navigation are concerned about the nation's cartographical know-how and have suggested schools start teaching basic navigation to address the issue.

They believe we're all too reliant on technology, expecting smartphones and satellite navigation systems to do the hard work for us and becoming "sedated by software" in the process.

“It is concerning that children are no longer routinely learning at home or school how to do anything more than press ‘search’ buttons on a device to get anywhere," Roger McKinlay, president of the Royal Institute of Navigation said.

“Many cannot read a landscape, an Ordnance Survey map, or find their way to a destination with just a compass, let alone wonder at the amazing role astronomy plays in establishing a precise location."

“Instead, generations are now growing up utterly dependent on signals and software to find their way around."

Map reading skills are at risk thanks to increased reliance on technology.

The institute say they want schools to teach basic navigation "as a way to develop character, independence and an appreciation of maths and science."

They point out that phones can lose their signal and sat navs can lead you up the garden path, and the human brain is better at taking in all data such as weather and terrain. However, they insist that something more fundamental is at stake as we forget skills that have guided people for centuries.

"There is a wider issue than navigation here," they say. "Our view is that reliance on computers presents no conceptual challenges."

"The human brain is left largely inert and untaxed while calculations are made electronically, by a software ‘brain’ without the elasticity to make connections and judgements.”

The institute's membership includes Polar explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, a man who probably doesn't use Citymapper too often. Their patron, the Duke of Edinburgh, meanwhile, runs a charity that teaches young people a variety of life skills including navigation.