Aligning a telescope to polar axis, RA,Dec etc etc etc.

The main view from my location is east to south. North and west are obscured by houses,trees and/ or street lights. I can observe Polaris.from the end of my garden......................so i wil do that.

OK i think i have this polar alignment wrapped up. I've been reading about it and there seems to be a basic way of understanding doing it:

1/Point front end of mount (polar axis) at Polaris
2/Set latitude guage to location (Irelad=53 degrees approx)
3/Manually move scope (latutude guage)up or down until Polaris is centred in finderscope
4/if celestial bodies still "drift" out of view at a high rate of speed either to the N or S..................the polar axis (mount)is either too far to the E or too far to the W.
5/Adjust accordingly.

Would that be it BASICALLY?

My polar axis (mount) should always be facing north every time i use the scope?.

Please feel free to let this fool know if he is completely wrong.

I got it working to a certain degree today. I estimated roughly north and aligned the polar axis to it. I then had a look at the moon. It took 6 mins from the time the moon came into my FOW til it left it.

Before today i was lucky if i saw the moon for 30 seconds.

Also to bring the moon back into view i barely have to touch any of the controls.

Its not perfect yet but im happy enough for now. I'll align correctly after i get back from my holiday.

Yep, I'm getting the hang of it too. It seems the more you set up, the easier it becomes.

Enjoy your holiday by the way!