Woodlore Team

Woodlore Field Staff Biographies

Our field team are all first aiders, individually CRB checked and have been trained in Food Hygiene.

We are sure you will enjoy spending time with our staff on our courses. Below are some biographies so you can start to get to know them before you arrive.

 

Paul Kirtley

Paul is Woodlore's Course Director, responsible for planning and overseeing the running of our courses and managing the team of Field Staff who work on the courses. While this is a full time job, requiring time in the Woodlore office, Paul first and foremost enjoys being out on our courses.

He can be found leading Campcraft, Woodsense, Fundamental Bushcraft, Introduction to Bushcraft, Journeyman, Intermediate Bushcraft, Applied Bushcraft, Wilderness Navigation, and Woodlore First Aid courses as well as assisting Lars Fält on our Arctic Experience.

Paul was born in Yorkshire then spent his childhood in Snowdonia and the North Pennines, much of it outdoors either in the woods or on the hills, before studying at Edinburgh University. During his time in Scotland, Paul grew to love the mountain environment of the Highlands, walking and wild camping there whenever he could.

After moving south of the border again Paul came to Woodlore as a student, attending a Fundamental Bushcraft course in 1999. Following a further five courses with Woodlore, Ray asked Paul to join the outdoor team in 2003. Since then Paul has not looked back and left a successful career in the City to join the Woodlore team full-time. Paul says:

throughout my life, the one constant has been my love of the great outdoors, whether it was playing in the woods as a child, mountain biking, hiking, wild camping, skiing, shooting, photography or wildlife watching. Working for Woodlore allows me to indulge my love of the outdoors by simply getting out there, spending time in some wonderful places and working with other people who love the same environment, whether they are colleagues or the people who attend our courses.

 

James Bath

James was born and raised on the south west coast of Cumbria. As a boy, his playground consisted of the beach, shoreline and woods near to his parents' home. With age he was let loose on the local moors and then the Lakeland mountains behind. Always eager to be doing something outdoors, through his childhood James was a keen shooter, fisherman and walker. Even now James just enjoys being outside doing anything, any time of the year, particularly enjoying the "proper weather" of the Lake District - force ten gales and horizontal rain.

Throughout schooling James was always looking out of the window a little too much, many years later culminating in watching a pigeon on the windowsill for twenty minutes during his university finals. Despite gaining his degree in Countryside Management, this perhaps more than anything made him realise there really was no way to ignore the outdoors, and so now as a full-time member of the Woodlore staff believes he has found the perfect job. James joined the Woodlore team in 2006.

When James isn’t working on our courses he can be found in the shed, tinkering with equipment as our quartermaster.

 

Dan Hume

Dan was born and grew up in Suffolk. He enjoyed many outdoor activities including fishing, shooting, bushcraft and archery. Dan was lucky enough to have lots of countryside near his home and was able to practice his bushcraft skills that he had learnt from Ray's programmes. It was Dan's love of the outdoors that inspired him to travel to Cape York Peninsular, Australia on the Norfolk and Suffolk Wing Expedition with the Air Training corps in August 2006.

After assisting the Woodlore team during his work experience and then attending the Fundamental and Woodsense courses Dan was invited to join the Woodlore Team in 2007. During his time at Woodlore he has gained much experience in bushcraft and is especially talented at making fire and tracking. Dan’s interest in tracking started when he attended the Woodsense course in 2006 and continued on the Namibia course in 2007, learning African Bushcraft and Tracking with Ray, which culminated in spending time with the San Bushmen. In 2009 Dan also attended our Arctic Experience course learning the fundamental skills of Arctic bushcraft with Lars Falt.

 

Bob Johnson

Bob was born in Uganda, and grew up in the north of the country where his parents worked. Nature has been in Bob's life since the start, he was surrounded by bush. Bob's mother suffered as Bob started to wander as soon as he could walk, and she had cause to worry as there were snake sightings daily! Bob's boundaries expanded as he grew and so did his curiosity. Bob was drawn in by nature and, with his African friends, he would spend hours in the bush.

Bob started his travels at 23 and ended up in the Sinai, working in the diving/tourism industry. This was Bob's base on and off for 19 years, starting as a dive guide, becoming an instructor, managing a dive centre, eventually running the diving on charter boats. During this time Bob had many amazing experiences in the marine world with marine creatures large and small.

While in the Sinai Bob also spent a lot of time with Bedouin friends trekking by camel, or on foot, observing the landscape, high mountains, deep canyons, desert gorges, massive sand dunes and milti coloured wadi's. The Bedouin are enthusiastic and proud of their culture and they are excellent storytellers around the camp fire. You will often find Bob telling his own stories around the fire.

Bob started working for Woodlore in 2005, learning new knowledge about British woodland and Bushcraft. Having lived abroad for most of his life Bob says:

It's special seeing the seasons here is Britain. April is the month we look out for the first sightings of the swallows, the first call of the cuckoo and the beginnings of the dawn chorus, and the woods are full of bluebells. It's also the start of Woodlore's UK course season; what a great time to start!

 

Sarah Day

Joining the Woodlore team in 2006, Sarah arrived at her interest in Bushcraft after a childhood spent camping with family, cooking dough twists and kippers over open fires and scouring the beaches for fossils. At the age of eight she was bought Ray Mears Survival Handbook. In the years since, she has tried many of the different Bushcraft skills including cordage using a variety of natural fibres, basketry, dyeing using vegetable dyes, pottery, flint knapping, bone working, bow making (and archery) and, of course, shelter and fire.

Many of Sarah's skills (fibre work, basketry and pottery in particular) were also acquired as a result of her continued involvement in reenactments of Tudor life at a local manor house in which she has been taking part since the age of seven. Sarah's love of creative work led her to starting a degree in fashion and textiles in September 2007.

Sarah also enjoys sailing, hiking, hill walking, and has been involved with the Scouts as an assistant leader. Sarah is working her way through solo and tandem canoeing certificates, a relatively new interest sparked by two months working at a canoe camp in Canada in the summer of 2005.

 

Jeremy Ray

Jeremy was born in England and spent his childhood living in a small village in the hills of North Yorkshire. From a very early age Jeremy was out in the woods and moors watching insects and animals, fishing and exploring in all his free time. This deep interest in nature has stayed with him all through his life.

While still at school Jeremy moved with family to Sweden, a country of endless opportunity for outdoorsmen. With hunting, fishing, canoeing and so on just out the back door in the vast forests and countless lakes that cover this country Jeremy has ample opportunity to enjoy the outdoor life.

Jeremy says:

Working with Woodlore, a company staffed and run by people who find deep satisfaction in the outdoors and wilderness, offering courses for people with a similar mindset is an ideal situation for me!

 

Steve Suggett

Born in Tanzania but raised in Durham, Steve has since had the opportunity to return to Africa to visit a number of countries including The Sudan and Botswana. Learning Bushcraft has taken him to Canada, Arctic Sweden and Norway on a number of trips. Steve has also worked in Australia selling firearms to professional shooters and while there spent time in the bush, rain-forest, mountains and canyons. As a keen diver and photographer, Steve enjoys outdoor life from many angles. He continues to develop his outdoor living skills in all environments for bush travel, particularly enjoying making journeys on foot and increasingly by open canoe.

A long-time student of Woodlore's, Steve kept coming back for more until he ran out of courses to do and then joined the team in 2006.

 

Brian Fox

Brian joined the Royal Marines in 1980 and during this time he served in many countries ranging from desert to arctic, jungle to mountains. Brian completed several survival courses within those terrains. After leaving the forces, Brian obtained a Law Degree, and is also a qualified teacher in the Longlife Learning Sector which has enabled him to teach law and procedure within the West Midlands Police.

Brian's love of the countryside has continued where he spent many a foray hill walking, scrambling and camping. Brian’s interest in Bushcraft was inspired by Ray's many television programmes and books on the subject. Brian pursued this interest by attending many courses with bushcraft becoming his number one pastime. Brian joined the Woodlore Team in 2008.

 

Emma Hampton

Emma joined the Woodlore team in 2008 having been an "outdoors lass" as far back as she can remember. As a child she was ejected from the house to play in the woods and on the moors. Her love of fresh air, mud and itinerancy has been constant since then. She has a background in sailing, hiking, climbing, camping, Guiding and likes nothing better than to take a dip in a loch high up in the Scottish mountains.

Emma is particularly interested in craftwork, back country cooking and first aid. Various forays into teaching history and sailing led her to the conclusion that Woodlore was the place for her. Emma says:

There were a number of people in my life who have encouraged my interest in the outdoors and to be able to participate in Woodlore's philosophy and hopefully be that person for someone else is extremely rewarding.

 

Scott Harder

Scott has lived most of his life on the Epsom Downs, and so has grown up with the typical English countryside on his doorstep. He spent much of his youth going on the adventures in the woods and fields that only children can. This upbringing, mixed with yearly holidays to the New Forest, camps with the Scouts and a keen interest in nature led Scott to decide that he would never be at home in a city office job.

This realisation, combined with a sneaking suspicion that he was born in the wrong century (or even millennium), influenced Scott's choice to study archaeology at Durham. During this time, he attended several Woodlore courses which he thoroughly enjoyed, thinking "these people have the BEST job!!!". Following a very good performance on his courses in 2007, and was selected to join the team in 2008.

Scott says:

The first year at Woodlore has been thoroughly enjoyable, despite all the early mornings and hard work involved, and I very much look forward to the new year and a new season in the woods!

 

Ian Lawson

Ian was born and lives in Cambridge. He has many fond memories of childhood trips to Thetford forest, deer spotting, with his Grandfather and playing at his Uncles sawmill and in the surrounding woods. After a spell in the corporate world he went to work for his uncles tree surgery company and having re-ignited his passion for outdoors work went on to start his own company in 2005. After his first course with Woodlore in 2004 he very quickly realised that "playing in the woods" was in fact a hugely viable and rewarding subject. After several further courses he finally began working for Woodlore in 2008.

Ian Says:

I found that having learnt so much from Woodlore i began to find great pleasure in passing on my knowledge to others. In turn I have continued to learn from the many students we teach. Everybody you meet, knows something you don't

 

Kevin MacLeod

Kevin has recently re-located to the Kent & Sussex borders where he enjoys the stunning wooded countryside of this area. Most of Kevin's interests revolve around outdoor pursuits including, sailing, jogging, fell walking, camping, motorcycle touring and skiing (both X-Country and Alpine.)

In 2005 Kevin attended his first Woodlore course as a client and then made this a habit over the following couple of years. Having applied for a position in 2007, early in 2008 Kevin joined the Woodlore team as an Assistant, providing support for instructors. Commenting on his time with Woodlore so far:

I have found it so very satisfying and rewarding to see how Woodlore's customers can begin a course with uncertainty and trepidation but finish with confidence and a hunger to learn more but most of all a big smile.

 

Adrian Newton

Adrian's interest in the great outdoors began at a very early age living on the edge of the Pennines in North Derbyshire. He was extremely lucky to be surrounded by friends and family who enjoyed many aspects of the outdoors. He went fishing and camping with friends all over the country, from Scotland to Cornwall. He had friends that taught him to sail and canoe on a reservoir and the Rivers Trent and Dove near his home. Another friend taught Adrian and his brothers to ski in a field on a local farm which led to a life long interest in all snow sports including Nordic Skiing and Snowboarding. He has snowboarded all over Europe and North America.

After a period of living in the big cities of Milan and London, Adrian had the urge to get back to the nature he had previously enjoyed. This led Adrian to Woodlore's Fundamental Bushcraft course in 2004. The rest, as they say, is history!

Adrian has worked as a carpenter for twenty years now and through his love of this job, he has developed a keen interest in many of the craft aspects of Bushcraft, including greenwoodworking, carving, birchbark craft and knifemaking. Adrian joined the Woodlore team in 2008.

 

Tom Seward

Tom was born and brought up in Wiltshire where he developed a love of the outdoors. On family orienteering and camping trips, Tom spent many a happy hour exploring and making shelters in the forests and landscapes he visited. With strong Welsh roots, summer holidays were spent on the North coast of Pembrokeshire where he developed his range of water skills – fishing, surfing, kayaking and coasteering. Always a strong swimmer, Tom is a former Junior Welsh surf swim Champion and professional beach lifeguard. He has worked as an assistant instructor at an outdoor activities centre in Pembrokeshire, leading surfing and coasteering groups and developing his climbing, walking and kayaking skills, also improving his knowledge of the local environment.

Tom was introduced to Woodlore through a Fundamental Bushcraft course that he was given as an 18th birthday present and after completing his Campcraft course the following year, he was invited to attend a recruitment weekend. Tom says:

I once took a day off school (with parent's permission) to attend a book signing by Ray at a local bookshop in Marlborough, where my mother asked Ray if he did apprenticeships. Although Ray laughed and declined the offer, I am delighted to be where I am today and I’m looking forward to developing my experience further!

 

Keith Whitehead

Keith was born in Lancashire where he spent many long and happy formative hours with his father, exploring the moors and hills. These experiences were the foundation of an abiding passion for the outdoors that runs through his life.

After studying Horticulture at Merrist Wood college Keith worked within the industry for many years, before deciding to read a BSc. Hon. in Social Biology. This study led Keith to look more closely at the interactions between animals and their environment. He paid particular attention to humans, their ancestors and to indigenous peoples, their cultures, and technologies.

It was this shift in focus that lead him to Woodlore and the Fundamental Bushcraft course. For Keith this was "a life changing experience", bringing together all the strands of his life. He applied to Woodlore as an assistant soon afterwards and joined the team in 2007. He has since learned many new skills through private study, practice, and the wisdom of his peers. Keith says:

The passion of the people with whom I work is infectious and it is truly a pleasure to spend time with colleagues and clients in such a beautiful environment. The outdoors has always been my retreat and source of inspiration. I relish the opportunity to share this with anyone who is willing to learn with commitment .