Woodlore Blog

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!

Christmas is almost upon us, the maelstrom of human activity is reaching its pre-festivity crescendo. Now is the perfect moment to step aside from the hurl and burl of shopping to sit by a campfire and reflect upon the natural world. Today was the shortest day of the year, despite our calendars prediction of the years start, tomorrow the Northern Hemisphere will begin its inexorable tilt back towards the sun and our days will grow longer. Already underground plants are readying themselves to burst forth in the early spring, while inside the bellies of our deer new life has started to grow.

Together with the creatures of the wild we may still have to face the storms and cold of January and February, but there is potential in the air. Christmas falls perfectly in mid winter, a time for family, a time to celebrate and a time for community. Nothing nature can throw at us will withstand the cheer and spirit of Christmas.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 - Ray Mears, December 2011

Still have Christmas shopping to do but are worried about receiving it in time for the big day? Well, as of now, Woodlore will be sending all UK orders over £10.00 via Special Delivery - Royal Mail’s guaranteed next working day delivery service – at no extra cost, to arrive in time for Christmas.

If you have any concerns about ordering in time for Christmas, please give us a call on 01580 819668 and we will be more than happy to help.

Struggling to decide what clothing to take on a winter expedition? Can’t choose what to buy your brother who loves fishing? Here at Woodlore we’ve tried to make things a little easier this year, with our new Shop by Activity area:

Ray Mears and the Woodlore team have scoured our ever-growing online shop and hand-picked the very best items for a number of outdoor activities. Whether you’re looking for Arctic clothing or equipment, new gear for your next fishing trip, kit for a hunting or tracking excursion, or simply some vital products for this coming winter, click on the above photo for some helpful hints.

Christmas Posting Dates:

Our final posting day this year will be Friday 23rd December. However, in order to guarantee delivery before Christmas, please place your orders in accordance with the following dates:

Customers in the UK:

Please place your order by 14:00 pm on Thursday 22nd December. Additionally, all orders placed after 14:00 pm on Tuesday 20th December will be dispatched via Royal Mail’s Next Day Special Delivery service at no extra charge.

Customers in Western Europe:

Please place your order by 14:00 pm on Monday 12th December.

Customers in Eastern Europe, USA & Canada:

Please place your order by 14:00 pm on Friday 9th December.

Customers in South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand:

Please place your order by 14:00 pm on Monday 5th December.
 

Office Opening Hours:

The Woodlore offices will close for the Christmas period at midday on Friday 23rd December. We will reopen for business at 9:00 am on Wednesday 4th January. Orders can still be placed online during this period, but please note that they will not be dispatched until the office reopens in January.

Any queries during this time should be sent to: info@raymears.com

We wish all of our customers the very best for Christmas and the New Year!

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.

If you’ve missed any episodes of the new series of Wild Britian with Ray Mears, you can now catch up online with the ITV Player - just click on the image below:

Click here to watch the new series online

We are excited to announce that the popular ITV series Wild Britain with Ray Mears will be returning to our screens this year for a second series. Starting on Friday 14 October, Wild Britain kicks off a new 10-part run, as Ray takes us to some of Britain’s finest and most beautiful natural habitats and celebrates the very best of our wildlife.

See the official ITV trailer for this series below:

From ITV:

In this second series, Ray ventures further afield as he explores the wild landscapes of Great Britain – ancient pine forests, deep bogs and remote mountains. From the dramatic Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands and the underwater world of a sea loch in the Outer Hebrides, to the steep sea cliffs on an island off the coast of Wales, Ray unlocks the vital links between the plant, animal and insect worlds and the role of man in the evolution of our ever changing landscape. Sharing his knowledge of field craft and his passion for our native wildlife, Ray shows us the hidden natural world that lives just beyond our doorstep.

 Broadcast dates:

1. Caledonian Pine Forest – Friday 14 October at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
2. Skomer – Friday 21 October at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
3. Chalk – Friday 28 October at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
4. Lowland River - Friday 04 November at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
5. Sea Loch - Friday 11 November at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
6. Ancient Forest - Friday 18 November at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
7. Flow Country – Friday 25 November at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
8. Broadland - Friday 02 December at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
9. Mountain & Moorland – Friday 09 December at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD
10. Best of Show – Friday 16 December at 8pm, ITV1 & ITV1 HD

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.