The following post was kindly written by Woodlore Aspirant Instructor Sarah Day:

Though spring can seem a long way off during the final throes of a British winter, it won’t be long before the new course season starts!

For me, this year is especially exciting because I will be working on some courses that I’ve never worked on before. Some of my outdoorsy books have been removed from their shelf and are lying around the house in various stages of read-ness, the backs of my notebooks are full of diagrams of things I want to make, lists of kit I need to mend and things I need to do in preparation for the new season.

However, one aspect of preparation that isn’t always mentioned in conjunction with Bushcraft is fitness. Although the set up of a camp and the day-to-day running of it demand more walking about than an average day in an office job, many of the skills that form part of your outdoor arsenal are aimed at minimising the amount of energy required and working efficiently; but that doesn’t mean being unfit is fine – it’s not.

A recent training exercise made it quite clear just how important fitness is. Quite apart from increasing your ability to get yourself out of trouble, it frees you up to enjoy every moment you spend outdoors. If you’re slogging up a hill, out of breath, the scenery will be of less interest than if you’ve just loped up it with relative ease; or put another way, the quicker you collect firewood/dig the trench/collect water, the more time there is to watch wildlife/sit around the campfire or learn a new skill – the stuff of great and lasting memories.

Use this time of year to gear up for the coming spring: practice your skills (particularly fire lighting!) in the more difficult conditions, get out and learn how to identify trees without their leaves, go bird watching – see if you can spot any winter visitors before they depart and… GET FIT, so that when the opportunity arises you can be off, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready for whatever the new season can throw at you!

Recently some senior members of the Woodlore Field Team received swift water training at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottinghamshire. We were instructed by an extremely experienced group of fire fighters, who make up part of an international search and rescue team.

Practising defensive swimming in fast moving water

When we are in the wilderness, bridges and ferries become a rarity, yet sometimes we are still faced with no option but to negotiate rivers, streams and lakes, and so we regularly find ourselves entering water that potentially can be cold, deep and fast-flowing.

It is no surprise that water is one of the most dangerous elements we face outdoors and it is therefore essential that any outdoors person can swim and is confident in water.  As outdoor professionals, running courses in and around water, it is also essential that we have an understanding of the hazards presented by water and a  knowledge of how to prevent and deal with problems, should they occur.  This recent training provided us with that knowledge and offered a refresher for the more experienced members of our team.

At the National Water Sports Centre we were able to realistically recreate threatening scenarios in a sterile, safe environment and it provided a valuable opportunity to get into the water and physically experience its immense power.

The training has increased our teams’ confidence and has undoubtedly contributed to our understanding of the dangers associated with water and will in turn help to improve the service we provide for our clients.

Learning to deal with submerged obstacles such as branches and fences

Negotiating a river crossing as a team

 

 

Practising throwing rope to a swimmer

 

 

Once a swimmer has grabbed the rope, they can be pulled ashore

 

 

Some of the Woodlore team after training

Woodlore Field staff member Rob Bashford

Please join us in welcoming six new members of staff to our Field Staff Biographies page. We are very pleased to introduce Iain Gair, Mark Booton, Rob Bashford, Ross Burt, Steve Corbyn and Susan Hipkin as yearling members of Woodlore’s Outdoor Team, following their assisting on various courses during the 2011 course season. Click on the above links and get to know them if you’re joining us for a course this year!

All six new members of staff have fitted in perfectly to our fantastic and ever-professional team, and we are very pleased to have them on board.

We are already looking forward to our new UK course season beginning in April, and it is with great pleasure that we also welcome the following people as new course assistants for 2012: David Southey, Joel Toren, Mark Callard and Nigel Hopkins.  They have all recently passed our intensive recruitment process and we look forward to working with them this coming season.

Coming soon: Tracking in Namibia with Ray Mears

We are extremely pleased to unveil a new area of our website today, where you can find details of our New and Upcoming Courses. This brand new page means that you can now easily and regularly check what’s new in the Woodlore Course Department.

Our most recent addition to this page is a brand new expedition, led by Ray Mears himself. Tracking in Namibia with Ray Mears is a fantastic new course, taking place in October 2012. You can now sign up to be notified by e-mail as soon as places are released.

A number of other exciting new courses and expeditions are currently being developed here at Woodlore, and these will be added to our New and Coming Soon page throughout the year, allowing you to share in the excitement of these forthcoming events and plan your future adventures with us.

We hope in providing this information it makes it quicker and easier for you to check what’s new and assists you in your planning ahead. 

Remember to check in on a regular basis, as we have a lot planned for this year!

(…if you can beat the squirrels of course!)

The following post was kindly provided by Woodlore Aspirant Instructor Sarah Day

During a walk around a local wood, I noticed the ground was littered with thousands of ripe chestnuts – while I picked some of those (extricating them from their spikey cases with the toe of my boot) more were falling out of the trees; luckily none hit me – I imagine it would have hurt! It makes me wonder how people would have extracted the nuts thousands of years ago when most folk would presumably have been barefoot or wearing soft moccasins – maybe they just squashed the cases with a log then picked out the nuts?

Ripe chestnuts peeking from their husks

It was interesting trying to notice clues as to which husks held the best nuts. Obviously some of them were bigger, but I found the best way to tell was to look at the back. Where the nuts had grown to a fairly good size there was a cross of un-spikey husk showing – some of these held 2 or 3 good sized nuts. The other clue was to avoid husks that were browner in colour, as these had mostly fallen before the nuts were ripe or had already been raided (and rejected) by squirrels; I concentrated instead on husks that were still light green.

Some of the nuts contained little worms although no holes were visible on the shells – I expect their eggs were laid before the fruits formed and the holes are made as the mature insect burrows out. The main indication of bugs inside was that the shells were shrivelled, usually around the top of the nut. Some trees seemed much more affected than others, so if you’re out foraging and are finding a large proportion of buggy chestnuts, it may be worth moving to a different tree. Some trees were much more productive than others, with most cases containing 3 huge chestnuts, wheras on some trees nearly all the nuts were shriveled or full of bugs!

The result of a little foraging...

The other innovation was that it was far more efficient to kick several into a pile (preferably on the hard surface of the path!) and squash them at the same time – I wonder if in the past it could have been a group activity, with everyone joining in – especially if it was a case of beating not only the ever present squirrels and other rodents, but presumably wild boar!

 The other picture is beefsteak fungus – edible, grows on oak, turns the wood a  rich dark colour – furniture makers love it! Very tasty, but can be bitter – soaking overnight in milk or water helps. Does not taste like steak unfortunately!

For your chance to win four places for you and your kids on our new Family Wildlife Walkabout course in 2012, plus £1,000 spending money, take a look at this very special competition being run by ITV Wild:

For your chance to win an exclusive one-day Bushcraft course in the UK led by Ray Mears himself, please enter the following competition with 5.11 Tactical:

Woodlore Nordic Skiing Expedition

With the Woodlore Winter Expedition courses fast approaching in early 2012, we asked Woodlore Head of Operations Dan Hume to write us an article of his memories from the Woodlore Nordic Skiing course.

I have very fond memories of my time spent in Norway in February 2008. Perhaps it’s a course that almost lurks in the shadows and goes unnoticed but it really was so much more than I expected and truly was one of the best weeks I’ve spent outdoors.

Brian Desmond who led the course, is a very experienced person in his field and he introduced the group to the basics of skiing over several days, pushing some members of the group onto more difficult terrain when appropriate. We had time to practise our newly learned skills whilst being amongst breathtaking scenery.

After completing the first few days, I felt confident in setting up and maintaining my skis and negotiating some surprisingly tricky terrain, I’d also become better at managing my layers, an important consideration in cold environments.

At the end of the week, we drove up into the mountains and travelled with our equipment, on skis, staying each night in a mountain hut, amazing scenery and team atmosphere; great fun.

It was a good feeling to know I had started the week as a beginner and by the end had travelled confidently and safely for many miles with my gear. A great introduction not only to Nordic skiing but to the north in general.

If you are wondering weather to join us this winter, I assure you, you will not be disappointed.

If you have any questions regarding this course please do not hesitate to contact us in the office and speak to Dan.  If you would like to join Woodlore and experience a fantastic introduction to the north on the Nordic Skiing Expedition or any other winter expedition in early 2012, please book soon as there are only a few spaces remaining.

Following the recent release of Woodlore’s new course dates for 2012, places on the one-day Walk in the Woods with Ray Mears sold out very quickly!  Since then we have had many requests for more dates, as so many people had missed out.  Therefore, due to popular demand for this fantastic day out with Ray, we are very pleased to announce two additional dates for this course to take place in May 2012: Book your place here

Walk in the Woods with Ray Mears course

This course would make a perfect Christmas present for any Ray Mears fan.

We anticipate these courses to sell out quickly, so please book soon to avoid disappointment.

We are delighted to announce three new Woodlore courses to take place in the UK in 2012:

Woodlore Walk in the Woods with Ray Mears

The first is the welcome return of Woodlore’s classic Walk in the Woods with Ray Mears in East Sussex.  Due to popular demand, we have reinstated this fantastic chance to spend a day in the woods with Ray and to learn from him first-hand.

The second new course is the exciting Fire Lighting Techniques course; a 2-day workshop that will teach you numerous ways of fire lighting and fire management.  This course will be led by Woodlore’s Head of Operations, Dan Hume.

The third course to be announced is the brand new Rekindling the Fundamentals course.  This 5-day course is catered specifically to those who have already completed the Woodlore Fundamental Bushcraft course and wish to recap on the skills, refine their techniques, or simply find somewhere to practice.

We anticipate these courses to sell out quite fast, so please book soon to avoid disappointment. If you have any questions at all on any of these courses, please feel free to get in touch.