Woodlore Blog

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

A Canoe Trip in the Snow - Approx. 27 km - River Stour, Suffolk

“When there’s ice on the river, a wise man sleeps with his canoe boots.”

(Mine froze solid during the night – most unpleasant, though a dip in the water made them flexible enough to put on, they were still very, very cold.)

A night-time walk in the snow along my nearest river was enough to convince me that I needed to get the canoe out and paddle my favourite river; the Stour in Suffolk. Having just outfitted my canoe with airbags and skid plates, it seemed like a perfect excuse to get back out on the water.

It’s a beautiful river and though it used to be navigable by huge barges up as far as Sudbury, in places it is now so gravelled up and twisty that it’s barely passable by canoe! It’s a river I’m very fond of and one I’ve paddled alone many times, even at night. However in winter, with crusts of ice along the banks I took some extra precautions. Since the most dangerous bit would be getting out and portaging weirs (9 of them on the stretch I paddled, all with steep, possibly icy steps) I made arrangements to ‘call in’ before attempting to get out of the canoe and once I was safely back in, as well as at significant way-points and on encountering any other hazards.

(more…)

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. (more…)

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.

Over the past month we created a brand new area on our website, to introduce you to our full-time office team. If you’re a regular customer of Woodlore, you’ll hopefully be familiar with us enough to know that we’re a friendly bunch who are always happy to help our customers!

At the core of Woodlore is a loyal and diverse team, dedicated to providing the best possible service to our customers all over the world. Why not take a moment to get to know our team by clicking on the link below:

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.

Keith Whitehead, Dan Hume and James Bath of the Woodlore Team

It is with sadness that we announce that long-time team member James Bath will be bidding farewell to Woodlore later this year. Since joining the company in 2006, James has become a key member of the team, ultimately earning the role of Woodlore’s Head of Operations in 2010. In 2009, James became one of only two course leaders to reach the level of Fundamental Instructor, alongside fellow leader Dan Hume.
(more…)

Back in July, we invited you all to take part in an interview with one of Woodlore’s Fundamental Instructors and newly-appointed Head of Operations, Dan Hume. Many of you got involved and kindly sent us your questions, which we then whittled down to the best 20 entries. During a break from leading our courses, Dan sat down with us for a chat and gave us his answers:

1. In your current role at Woodlore, what is the most satisfying element to your job? (Question from Mark H.)
   
   Seeing clients leave with new found knowledge and the confidence to go off on their own.
2. And what is the worst thing about bushcraft and being an instructor in it? (from Mark O.)
   
   I can’t think of anything, I just enjoy it so much.
   

   Woodlore Fundamental Instructor Dan Hume on our Arctic Experience course

3. What has been your biggest challenge to overcome whilst at Woodlore, and what has this taught you? (from David J.)
   
   The biggest challenge I have found is teaching clients while I’m at such a young age, where most are older than me.  It has taught me to be more confident about my knowledge and to continue to learn as much as I can. (more…)

Woodlore instructor Dan Hume on our Arctic Experience expedition

For the dedicated Woodloreans out there who have been following our blog since its inception last year, you may remember that last summer we asked all of you for your thoughts on how we could improve our blog.

One of the ideas put forward was for an ‘Ask a Woodlore Instructor’ post, whereby we would take questions submitted by you and put them to one of our instructors. Well, it may have taken us a year to get round to it, but here we are!

Dan Hume, one of Woodlore’s Fundamental Instructors, has very kindly offered himself up as our first interviewee, and will be answering a selection of your questions on topics chosen by you.

During his career at Woodlore, Dan has led our Fundamental Bushcraft, Woodsense and Intermediate Bushcraft courses, as well as assisting on our Applied Bushcraft course and Arctic Experience expeditions. Later this year, he will be leading our Wilderness Navigation and Journeyman courses for the very first time.

If you’d like to get involved, all you need to do is post your question as a comment below (we’ll keep all of the comments hidden before picking the best ones to put forward to Dan).

The person who submits the best question, as chosen by Dan himself, will win a £10.00 Woodlore Voucher.

This has the makings of a really interesting article, so we’re excited (and maybe a little worried) to see what sort of questions we get!

ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

Woodlore's Wilderness Navigation course

Office Team member Becky had some time out of the office in April to attend our Wilderness Navigation course, led by James Bath.  Here’s what Becky had to say about her experience;

“Back at the beginning of April I was let out of the office for a week (thanks boss) to attend the Woodlore Wilderness Navigation course. I like a bit of a ramble at the weekends as well as the odd longer distance walk but my understanding of the map and compass were at best basic before this course. I was a little nervous about camping out in the woods rustic style for a whole week (I haven’t slept under canvas for more than the odd night for about 20 years) but with help from the Woodlore Outdoor Team I settled to it very quickly.

Course Leader James (Woodlore’s very own Head of Ops) promised great weather – apparently that particular course is always blessed so I packed sunscreen as well as Ultrathon. For the first couple of days the sunscreen didn’t get a look in as we got to grips with the basics of Navigation sometimes in the rain, wind and drizzle and after dark too. The weather wasn’t all bad those first days as I do recall the sun on my face as I attempted to walk across a meadow blindfolded!

(more…)