Woodlore Blog

From now until 31st March 2012 we are pleased to offer you a very special discount when booking two places on our Fundamental Bushcraft courses.

Once you have made your first booking, please contact the office and we will make a second reservation for a friend or family member with the usual 20% deposit given free of charge. That’s a saving of £130.

This incredible offer is available for a limited time only and while places are still available, so please book soon to avoid disappointment.

Two clients working on their spoon and cordage on the Fundamental Bushcraft course

Please note: If you have already booked a place on our Fundamental Bushcraft course for 2012 and would like to book a second place using this special offer, please contact the office.

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

Rose hips are one of my favourite wild foods, and the sight of a few of them clinging to an otherwise bare hedge is always welcome in late winter. They are delicious and full of vitamin C, but tricky to eat.

Rose hips (or haws) – the fruit of the rose plant

(more…)

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.

(more…)

The following post was kindly provided by Woodlore customer Roger Howard, who crafted his own handle to fit our Hand Forged Knife Blade:

Dear all,

I thought I would send you a picture of my Julius Pettersson knife. It has been a pleasure to make and I look forward to using it soon, although it has already shed blood, my own!! So I’m told this is lucky!

Roger Howard's finished knife

I have used moose antler, English walnut and green fibre board. It looks just like a ‘Sheaf knife’ that my dad owned when I was a kid, (I always wanted it off him). Now I have one of my own and I made it myself.

I hope you can share this on your blog.

Roger Howard

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.

(more…)