Immerse yourself in the world of bushcraft and experience the wonders of nature through the eyes of Woodlore. If you’re wondering if bushcraft is for you or if you already have experience but can’t commit to a full week, this course is the perfect introduction to the breadth of experience and quality of training that we offer.
Passionate and experienced instructors will introduce you to the limitless subject of bushcraft by expertly demonstrating and explaining each skill before you have the chance to have a go. A hands on experience that leaves students thoroughly inspired to continue their journey into "the art of the possible".
Further Information
Discover nature and the possibilities of our beautiful woodlands during this short but comprehensive adventure. We invite you to join us around our campfire, taste some backcountry cooking and experience the pleasures of living in our beautiful countryside. During the course, our instructors will lead you into the world of bushcraft, teaching you some of the core skills essential to living comfortably in the outdoors and opening up the many doors of this fascinating subject. As part of this course you will be taught how to light a fire using a Ray Mears Fire Stick which will be yours to take home at the end of the course.
The Introduction to Bushcraft course is aimed at those who have never carried out any bushcraft before or more experienced people who would prefer a shorter course. The teaching pace gives everyone a chance to learn the skills and practice them while taking in the wonderful woodland they are surrounded by. This is fully immersive training from which everyone can learn.
The skills that will be taught during this course include:
Making shelters using both man-made and natural materials
Discovering various methods of fire-making
Management of fire
Cooking over a fire
Putting out a fire and leaving no trace
Learning about many useful trees and plants around us
An introduction to navigation and tracking
How and what to pack for a week of bushcraft in the UK
If you would prefer to attend a more in depth week-long course to take your skill set further please take a look at the Woodlore Fundamental Bushcraft course.
Students attending this course often surprise themselves with their own achievements!
This course starts at 16:00 on day 1 and will finish at 16:00 on day 3.
Catering
All meals for this course will be provided, allowing each student the opportunity to do some backcountry cooking, therefore if you have special dietary requirements please let us know on your consent form or contact the office.
Course Site
The Introduction to Bushcraft course will take place at an expedition style camp in East Sussex. The camp is situated in beautiful private woodland with lots of wildlife including owls, badgers, fox and butterflies. We do not have shower/toilet blocks at our sites, therefore all aspects of the course will have a fantastic wilderness feel, using a screened camp shower and a screened latrine in the woods.
We have a car park at the course site where you your car will be kept during the course (if you bring one).
Other Details
Joining instructions will be sent to participants of the course 9 weeks before it is due to start, giving details of where to meet, at what time, and what to bring with you.
Dates, Costs and Bookings
Please select a course date Please ensure that you read our Terms & Conditions prior to booking your place.
You must be over 17 to attend this course. We may allow you to attend the course if you are slightly younger accompanied by an adult, at our discretion. If you are under 17 please take a look at our Junior Fundamental Bushcraft courses.
2025 Dates - Introduction to Bushcraft
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Course Name:Introduction to Bushcraft - Is Bushcraft for me? Location:Woodlore Camp,
East Sussex,
United Kingdom Course leader:Wayne Egerton Course Size: 20 Cost per person: £300.00 (inc VAT)
Introduction to Bushcraft is rated 5/5 based on 42 customer reviews.
All of our reviews are from people who have attended our courses.
Overall Rating:
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1 of 42
Wow what a fantastic experience. I couldn’t praise the Woodlore team enough, they were incredible. Always on hand to support us, their knowledge and teaching methods were second to none and made for a thoroughly enjoyable and valuable life experience. I truly hope to be back soon for the next stage of my learning. Many would benefit from this course, even if they’re not familiar with bushcraft previously!
Anthony Hickinbottom
Rated: 5/5
2 of 42
We had an amazing time on the Intro to Bushcraft course with Woodlore. All of the instructors are incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. The skills we learned are invaluable, and the instructors made it easy to internalize the information. The location was also beautiful. We had an amazing time on this course and we can't wait to do the week-long course with Woodlore next summer. Highly recommend!
Adil Trehan
Rated: 5/5
3 of 42
The Introduction to Bushcraft course really gave me a great base to build upon in a wide variety of skills. Ranging from how to organise camp for sleeping, eating, fire, shower, toilet and washing to bush cooking demos, navigation, safety, how to set up a tarp, knots, various methods for making fire, how to make a leaf litter shelter, uses of various trees and plants.....and I'm sure I've forgotten many other things! It was very well organised and each instructor - Wayne, Steve, James & Callum - took it in turns to present each subject very clearly and with a wealth of knowledge.
It was good value for money, enjoyable and nice to know I've learnt the basics from a team that really knows their stuff! (Just have to revise and remember it now!) Thank you!
Vicky Edwards
Rated: 5/5
4 of 42
A thoroughly rewarding experience. This was a 40th birthday gift for me and a very good one. The first thing to note is the positive atmosphere created by the team running the course (Dave, Wayne, Callum & James on my course). There really are no silly questions and they were all really patient and genuinely enthused by the outside world and bushcraft. Ray also made a surprise appearance on the last day which was a real bonus, as was the lift back to the station to catch our train in a hurry! I would definitely recommend this course and hope to be back for a longer course myself to build on what I learnt. Customer service has also been extremely good, with a lost jumper finding its way back to me in the post at no cost. Keep up the good work!
Dan J-c
Rated: 5/5
5 of 42
Excellent Course. Staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Sarah was outstanding, happy to spend extra time demonstrating and explaining. She is a great asset to the company. Callum, Brian were great, explanations clear and well delivered, not rushed.
Only disappointment was the food.
Suggest staff have name tags.
Many Thanks. Hope to return again.
Paul.
Paul Booth
Rated: 5/5
6 of 42
Fantastic course. If you have ever thought of doing one of these courses stop thinking about it and go and do it, you will not regret it. When you get your first tinder bursting in to flames you will not stop smiling and with the exceptional instructors you will. The instructors are exceptional, every question answered with knowledge and experience and in a friendly way not like when you were at school. I cannot recommended these courses enough, go on try one and if you like it half as much as I did you won't want to leave the camp.
Mark Dunning
Rated: 5/5
7 of 42
I had the best time on this course. As someone who hasn’t even camped much, I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was a great weekend and introduction to bushcraft. The team are wonderful. They were all deeply knowledgeable and excellent teachers able to share that knowledge. They were also incredibly patient and encouraging when not every skill came easily. The course itself is brilliantly structured and a huge range of skills in packed into such a short space of time. It’s ignited a new passion and I can’t wait to get out there and put the skills in to practice.
Roisin
Rated: 5/5
8 of 42
Fantastic weekend, kind instructors with encyclopedic levels of knowledge of bushcraft. Would highly recommend it for anyone, especially beginners.
Anonymous
Rated: 5/5
9 of 42
The Introduction to Bushcraft course was given to me by my children as a Christmas present and now well retired and not of a younger disposition any more I was slightly worried that I might not be able to cope. However I enjoyed the experience which brought back memories of my youth as a scout and on Outward Bound trips. The group of 14 came from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages but everyone mucked in together. I think that the highlight for most of us was when we could make a fire without a match or a lighter. Good fun. I have some birch bark and will show my grown up kids how it's done. We were all pleasantly surprised that Ray Mears himself took time out to give us 2-3 hours of his time even having recently returned from Australia. It was much appreciated. All the staff were very knowledgeable and I would recommend to anyone with a spark of adventure to have a go.
Graham Beard
Rated: 5/5
10 of 42
Hi All at Woodlore,
I have just returned last night from your Introduction to bushcraft course in East Sussex 9th -11th June 2017.
I wanted to take a few moments to extend a huge thank you.
I am known by my friends and colleagues as someone who has high standards and am annoyingly picky, if I say so myself, about the quality, context and aptitude generally in products and services. It is rare these days to find such level of quality, knowledge, experience and dedicated care that exemplifies this. Woodlore both as a company and through the experience with each individual representing Woodlore has not just met those but far exceeded them.
The admin organisation prior to the event was as good as the fabulous efficient layout and running of both camp and content of the course. This is my first experience of Bushcraft and Its my intention for this to be the beginning of a long and pleasurable journey into a new direction in life for me. So I spent a long time analysing and assessing which company would provide the best results for me. I choose Ray Mears not because of any past known name, because really I didn't know about him prior to this new path for me. Instead my choice was based on content, overall organisation and subtleties I picked up about care and commitment to being part of a bigger picture than just selling courses.
Individually each team member should be appalled for a brilliant job.
David the quarter master led a brilliantly run camp and team. He has such a wonderful demeanour, quietly observing and mildly guiding with a lovely warm sense of humour. He was so good assisting those who needed his help, and approached them in such a way so they gain the knowledge and stay safe, yet enabled rather than told. I truly felt I could 'grow' with his assistance as opposed to be hampered or restricted - really such an amazing skill and one I personally really appreciated.
Tom has the most amazing knowledge of Trees, plants and his delivery and style of teaching and explaining is so enthralling to listen, I really could listen to it all day.
Nick and Kevin have such a deep care for sharing their knowledge and skill it comes through every time they spoke to the group and I felt their real desire for us learn.
Both were so organise and efficient, with such a clear delivery and a methodical approach to everything.
Above all the whole team were simply great guys and seemed to be genuinely wanting us all to have the best experience possible - and for me they definitely achieved that.
I don't take for granted how much effort goes into the set-up of such a comfortable and well thought through camp. As well as knowing how much time, effort, experience and genuine care has to go into making any course run so smoothly it's as if no effort is being extended at all - that is pure professionalism at its best.
I have no doubt I will be spending time with Woodlore again soon.
A Pickett
Rated: 5/5
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Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to frequently asked questions about this course can be found here. If you have a question about this course, please contact us.
Sadly, this is unlikely. Ray occasionally visits some of our UK courses, but this cannot be guaranteed as he is often away. If you would particularly like to see Ray on a course, please take a look at the list of courses and expedition he is leading this year.
No, not necessarily. We will provide a tarp for you to sleep under for the duration of the course and there will also be the opportunity for you to sleep in a natural shelter that you will be building. However, if you feel you will be more comfortable sleeping in a tent please bring one with you.
We do not have toilet and shower blocks at our course sites, preferring to use more simple and natural facilities. The toilet is simply a trench dug into the ground in a secluded spot, just like you would use when on a trip in the wilderness. We provide a container with toilet paper, hand gel and matches. This is a hygienic, easy and practical method. If you would like to have a shower, we have a canvas bag shower in a private area and a bucket for heating water over the fire. You may find it useful to bring some flip flops or similar to avoid getting your feet dirty while showering.
Yes, we carry on whatever the weather. We will obviously try to keep everyone as sheltered as possible when it is raining and some of the schedule may be altered but the course in its entirety will take place.