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.

Here at Woodlore, we’ve been using and stocking the classic Gransfors Small Forest Axe for as long as we can remember. Woodlore customer Peter Burton recently got in touch with us to offer his feedback on this tool, after really putting it to the test:

Hi Woodlore,

My name is Peter Burton, I purchased a Small Forest Axe from you two years ago to split some logs in my garden for my indoor wood burning stoves. I have access to three trees felled by a farmer - Chestnut and Sycamore, as well as fallen Beech and Ash branches from his land. I have cut these using a bow saw and my axe, splitting over 5 tonnes of logs this year:

Pete's reward for many hours of log splitting...

 

...and the rest!

Looking at the blade of this wonderful piece of kit, it is showing no signs of needing any attention and will still cut a sheet of paper. I am now looking for a smaller one to pack up for my Scout troop - the 14th Spen Valley, West Yorkshire.

Regards,

Pete

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!

The following entry was kindly supplied by Woodlore customer Nicholas Hall:

Hi all at Woodlore,

All the Julius Pettersson blogs motivated me to get my Julius Pettersson knife project finished.

I wanted something simple and functional, so I opted for reindeer antler kept in its natural shape for the handle, with stainless plates at either end and for the lanyard hole to keep water out. The whole structure was held together with epoxy:

Nicholas' finished knife

The sheath was stitched and wet-formed around the finished handle and blade with a dangler attached to the belt loop:

The finished knife, complete with leather sheath

It was an interesting and rewarding project with a finished knife that I am proud of and that will last a lifetime.

Kind regards,

Nicholas Hall

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:

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.

2011 has provided us with some odd weather here in the UK, with dry, mild days continuing all the way into December. However, anyone getting up early for work this past week could tell you that the cold weather is definitely creeping in - icy windscreens, gritters on the roads, and the sight of a postman in trousers instead of shorts are all tell-tale signs!

Ray Mears and the Woodlore Team have hand-picked a list of Recommended Kit and Clothing for Winter, to help keep you safe and warm this festive season. With the last few years bringing a healthy dusting of snow across the land (often followed by abandoned cars, closed shops and twisted ankles galore), now is a better time than any to get yourself prepared.

So don’t let the weather get the better of you – get out there and make the most of it.

(…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!