Hero Worship

I’m not really a person given over to Hero Worship, but there has definitely been a number of influences in my life in the world of Wildlife, Tracking and Bushcraft. I’ve been lucky enough to meet and personally learn from some of them.

What I’d like to do is introduce them and say why they have influenced me.

The woods and wildlife has always been my first love and when not in the local woods netting newts, my earliest days saw me glued to the TV watching wildlife films. Even then Simon King was on the ‘box’ and involved in wildlife films (The Fox–1973) and often accompanied adult presenters. An early wildlife series “Man and Boy” stuck in my mind as they roamed Britain searching for wildlife. Of course in later years, I’ve admired Simon King as a  superb wildlife photographer.

 

No self-respecting countryman of around my age would fail to mention Jack Hargreaves as an early influence, especially if you came from the south of England as I do. I’ve never pretended to be a true countryman and it appeared Jack wasn’t either but nevertheless, I can’t help thinking that those early TV programmes with Jack in his shed full of clutter talking about the countryside and days gone by have had an influence in later life.

 

When I left the army in the 80’s I soon found out that I missed a number of things. One was the comradeship of the services and the other was the time spent outdoors. I didn’t necessarily enjoy digging deep holes where someone told me to dig, but I did miss crawling around in the dirt and the excitement of escape, evasion and practising the few survival and  field craft techniques I’d learnt.

It wasn't long before I found John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman’s ‘SAS Survival Handbook’ (1986) book in the shops which kick-started new adventures in my own little wilderness near the Devil’s Punchbowl in Surrey. Under the uncomprehending stare of the Forestry Commission (some things never change!)  I built a couple of shelters and stayed overnight in them listening to the chur of the Nightjars on the heath. The book was a huge influence on me and I never went out without my survival tin and old sheath knife (which I still have.)

 

 

You can’t help being influenced by Ray Mears during his early career and Country Tracks days. I think this started to fuse my philosophies of survival, wildlife, being close to the natural environment and the as yet unknown craft skills like carving, leather craft and cordage making  plus a smattering of other natural world interests (astronomy, meteorology and geology). Despite a busy career and manic attempts to catch up on academia lost during formative years, I continued local outings and realised that the tarp and hammock was the only way to sleep in the woods!

 

 

My quest for missing skills became frustrating until I found a book by Mors Kochanski grandly entitled ‘Bushcraft’ and realised that this guy was “The Grandfather” of wilderness living. This was confirmed when I followed him around for 4 days soaking up as much information as I could get on one of his rare visits to the UK. I’ve never met anyone with as much energy for his age and knowledge. I remember him saying “Oh, you again,” as I turned up to an axe demo followed by, “Can I borrow someone’s axe?” I rushed to oblige only to be informed (with a wry smile) that rule one was, “Never lend your axe to anyone.” I retaliated with, “Rule two is never ask, perhaps?”

 

Primitive technology tried to evade me and I couldn’t quite get into it until I met up with the venerable John and Val Lord. I spent a weekend knapping arrow heads, scalpel-sharp blades and my pride and joy, a primitive fixed blade. Just when I’d nearly finished making the wooden handle for it, John came over. “Why are you using a Laplander saw on that. You’re going to ruin it.” Needless to say, I started the handle again and fashioned a serrated blade out of flint to cut the wood for the handle.

 

To me, there is only so many times you can make fire-by-friction and although acknowledging that I have so much more to taste in the huge cooking-pot they call bushcraft, I was not following my true path which was wildlife and nature. Banging and crashing about the woods building and making and building things wasn’t exactly endearing myself to the wildlife.

Part of wildlife observation has always been looking at the signs that the animals leave behind. And this was a typically reactive view of tracking that I had. When I bought Lofty’s book, the section on animal tracks led me to purchase Brown, Pope and Lawrence’s “Animal – Tracks, Trails and Signs.” But I was convinced there was more to just looking at tracks and identifying the animal. I got introduced to another aspect of tracking by a good friend, Rod Anderson Boyle, who had been trained by Shadowhawk.

 

After subsequently attending a Shadowhawk course and meeting Ian ‘Max’ Maxwell I was literally blown away by the whole world of tracking. It’s had a profound influence on me on the way I see wildlife and nature. For the last 5 years I’ve traipsed down to Devon to learn this ancient art from Max and I suppose the rest is history, but nevertheless history still in the making. I’ve still so much to learn.

There have been so many others I’ve met, spoken to or followed on the internet over the years who have influenced me. They may not be household names or TV stars. I could name some, but it wouldn’t be fair on the others who’s names I can’t remember. I'm proud to call many of them my friends, meeting with them often. Many of them I will probably never meet, but I should say that each and every one has had an influence on my later life. I think you know who you are.

Thanks for the visit.

Hero Worship

I’m not really a person given over to Hero Worship, but there has definitely been a number of influences in my life in the world of Wildlife, Tracking and Bushcraft. I’ve been lucky enough to meet and personally learn from some of them.

What I’d like to do is introduce them and say why they have influenced me.

The woods and wildlife has always been my first love and when not in the local woods netting newts, my earliest days saw me glued to the TV watching wildlife films. Even then Simon King was on the ‘box’ and involved in wildlife films (The Fox–1973) and often accompanied adult presenters. An early wildlife series “Man and Boy” stuck in my mind as they roamed Britain searching for wildlife. Of course in later years, I’ve admired Simon King as a  superb wildlife photographer.

 

No self-respecting countryman of around my age would fail to mention Jack Hargreaves as an early influence, especially if you came from the south of England as I do. I’ve never pretended to be a true countryman and it appeared Jack wasn’t either but nevertheless, I can’t help thinking that those early TV programmes with Jack in his shed full of clutter talking about the countryside and days gone by have had an influence in later life.

 

When I left the army in the 80’s I soon found out that I missed a number of things. One was the comradeship of the services and the other was the time spent outdoors. I didn’t necessarily enjoy digging deep holes where someone told me to dig, but I did miss crawling around in the dirt and the excitement of escape, evasion and practising the few survival and  field craft techniques I’d learnt.

It wasn't long before I found John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman’s ‘SAS Survival Handbook’ (1986) book in the shops which kick-started new adventures in my own little wilderness near the Devil’s Punchbowl in Surrey. Under the uncomprehending stare of the Forestry Commission (some things never change!)  I built a couple of shelters and stayed overnight in them listening to the chur of the Nightjars on the heath. The book was a huge influence on me and I never went out without my survival tin and old sheath knife (which I still have.)

 

 

You can’t help being influenced by Ray Mears during his early career and Country Tracks days. I think this started to fuse my philosophies of survival, wildlife, being close to the natural environment and the as yet unknown craft skills like carving, leather craft and cordage making  plus a smattering of other natural world interests (astronomy, meteorology and geology). Despite a busy career and manic attempts to catch up on academia lost during formative years, I continued local outings and realised that the tarp and hammock was the only way to sleep in the woods!

 

 

My quest for missing skills became frustrating until I found a book by Mors Kochanski grandly entitled ‘Bushcraft’ and realised that this guy was “The Grandfather” of wilderness living. This was confirmed when I followed him around for 4 days soaking up as much information as I could get on one of his rare visits to the UK. I’ve never met anyone with as much energy for his age and knowledge. I remember him saying “Oh, you again,” as I turned up to an axe demo followed by, “Can I borrow someone’s axe?” I rushed to oblige only to be informed (with a wry smile) that rule one was, “Never lend your axe to anyone.” I retaliated with, “Rule two is never ask, perhaps?”

 

Primitive technology tried to evade me and I couldn’t quite get into it until I met up with the venerable John and Val Lord. I spent a weekend knapping arrow heads, scalpel-sharp blades and my pride and joy, a primitive fixed blade. Just when I’d nearly finished making the wooden handle for it, John came over. “Why are you using a Laplander saw on that. You’re going to ruin it.” Needless to say, I started the handle again and fashioned a serrated blade out of flint to cut the wood for the handle.

 

To me, there is only so many times you can make fire-by-friction and although acknowledging that I have so much more to taste in the huge cooking-pot they call bushcraft, I was not following my true path which was wildlife and nature. Banging and crashing about the woods building and making and building things wasn’t exactly endearing myself to the wildlife.

Part of wildlife observation has always been looking at the signs that the animals leave behind. And this was a typically reactive view of tracking that I had. When I bought Lofty’s book, the section on animal tracks led me to purchase Brown, Pope and Lawrence’s “Animal – Tracks, Trails and Signs.” But I was convinced there was more to just looking at tracks and identifying the animal. I got introduced to another aspect of tracking by a good friend, Rod Anderson Boyle, who had been trained by Shadowhawk.

 

After subsequently attending a Shadowhawk course and meeting Ian ‘Max’ Maxwell I was literally blown away by the whole world of tracking. It’s had a profound influence on me on the way I see wildlife and nature. For the last 5 years I’ve traipsed down to Devon to learn this ancient art from Max and I suppose the rest is history, but nevertheless history still in the making. I’ve still so much to learn.

There have been so many others I’ve met, spoken to or followed on the internet over the years who have influenced me. They may not be household names or TV stars. I could name some, but it wouldn’t be fair on the others who’s names I can’t remember. I'm proud to call many of them my friends, meeting with them often. Many of them I will probably never meet, but I should say that each and every one has had an influence on my later life. I think you know who you are.

Thanks for the visit.

Wilderness Gathering 2010

After a very tiring and damp few days at the Wilderness Gathering in Wiltshire, everything is now unpacked and cleaned.

As usual it was a fantastic 4 days meeting old and new friends. For Woodlife Network, it was highly successful as we reached our projected target on keyring sales/donations. Thanks to everyone who contributed. This will help keep the network going throughout the year.

Jon Mac, Angelo and Chris Grant all sent down their wares and both got a lot of interest. Chris’ knives weren’t for sale unfortunately but we sold some of Jon’s stuff; one kuksa will be on it way to South Africa soon.

The extreme baking competition also went well and we raised £40 for the Survival International charity. As always it was amazing to see the ingenuity of some people and how they made their bread and cakes from a simple mix.

We ran an impromptu spoon carving session and we had about 30 people at the back of our stall under the tuition of George and Nick (two of our members who helped out).

Again I’m indebted to them for their help. Everyone there completed a spoon project and there was some cracking examples of first-time spoons.

Not everyone was impressed with the proceedings!

For me personally it was hard work. I had two “Bushcraft and the Law” lectures to do as well as running the stall.  I also helped out Shadowhawk Tracking School. The night tracking was scheduled at 7.30pm which was not ideal to say the least. When we went to collect those interested, we thought that the queue outside the beer tent was a little large. As it was, it was the queue for the night track! We estimated it was over 100 people!!

Luckily Simon, one of the other Shadowhawk instructors came over to help and of course I was indebted to Steve who was also there to help. In fact without Steve, who was at my side all weekend, I don’t think I would have coped with everything going on. Cheers buddy. As usual a great team! Despite the numbers it was a great success and we had some great feedback.

One of the many high points of the weekend was me getting my Shadowhawk instructor feather from Max Maxwell.

As I said, it was great to see friends and meet new ones. If I didn’t have a lot of time to talk to everyone I do apologise. I’m now going to lay down for two days to recover!

Thanks for the visit.

Wilderness Gathering 2010

After a very tiring and damp few days at the Wilderness Gathering in Wiltshire, everything is now unpacked and cleaned.

As usual it was a fantastic 4 days meeting old and new friends. For Woodlife Network, it was highly successful as we reached our projected target on keyring sales/donations. Thanks to everyone who contributed. This will help keep the network going throughout the year.

Jon Mac, Angelo and Chris Grant all sent down their wares and both got a lot of interest. Chris’ knives weren’t for sale unfortunately but we sold some of Jon’s stuff; one kuksa will be on it way to South Africa soon.

The extreme baking competition also went well and we raised £40 for the Survival International charity. As always it was amazing to see the ingenuity of some people and how they made their bread and cakes from a simple mix.

We ran an impromptu spoon carving session and we had about 30 people at the back of our stall under the tuition of George and Nick (two of our members who helped out).

Again I’m indebted to them for their help. Everyone there completed a spoon project and there was some cracking examples of first-time spoons.

Not everyone was impressed with the proceedings!

For me personally it was hard work. I had two “Bushcraft and the Law” lectures to do as well as running the stall.  I also helped out Shadowhawk Tracking School. The night tracking was scheduled at 7.30pm which was not ideal to say the least. When we went to collect those interested, we thought that the queue outside the beer tent was a little large. As it was, it was the queue for the night track! We estimated it was over 100 people!!

Luckily Simon, one of the other Shadowhawk instructors came over to help and of course I was indebted to Steve who was also there to help. In fact without Steve, who was at my side all weekend, I don’t think I would have coped with everything going on. Cheers buddy. As usual a great team! Despite the numbers it was a great success and we had some great feedback.

One of the many high points of the weekend was me getting my Shadowhawk instructor feather from Max Maxwell.

As I said, it was great to see friends and meet new ones. If I didn’t have a lot of time to talk to everyone I do apologise. I’m now going to lay down for two days to recover!

Thanks for the visit.

Blustery Day

It was a very blustery day today; the sort of day where you keep to the outskirts of the woods, which is exactly what I did.

I walked around the outside of Park Wood, my nearest wood. I guessed that the recent rains would provide some tracks. This little wood provides little mammal activity but there was bound to be some. 

As suspected I picked up rabbit prints…

… and two lots of muntjac. The second set of tracks was considerably smaller and I managed to track it slipping about on the mud for about 20 meters before I lost it. The only mammal activity I actually saw was a squirrel.

A kestrel was making the most of the strong northerly wind but needed to come down often to rest.

The woodland edges provides for many plants. Water mint, great willowherb, rosebay willowherb, teasel…

…scarlet pimpernel, burdock, silverweed and thistle…

… and the associated butterflies like gatekeepers, speckled woods and cabbage whites.

 

My best sighting of the day was this wonderful brown hawker (A. grandis). I thought it was a bit odd seeing this at the woodland edge where there’s little water, but apparently they like to hunt here as opposed to rivers and ponds.

I’m off to the Wilderness Gathering on Thursday. I’ll send updates via Twitter (on the left). Let’s hope the weather stays fine.

Thanks for the visit.