National Trust Wild-camp Experience Weekend

The forecast said rain. Little did we know how much of a downpour it was going to be – nor did we have any idea how long it was going to go on for!

Despite the monsoon conditions the brave souls who signed up to the National Trust Wildcamp Experience made the most of the conditions. While holed-up under the parachute, some good carving was achieved as well as making some nettle bracelets.

I led a tracking walk in the short period when there was no rain. The damp conditions showed us fallow, muntjac and badger prints.

After applying some natural camouflage Saturday night, there was some excellent wildlife sightings including Simon, Liz and myself chasing after a badger down the local ride and watching him disappear in a culvert.

Slightly better weather on Sunday meant that we could go for a plant walk and make some hedgerow tea including making the fire from scratch led by JP.

That’s about it for our Family Bushcraft events this year. We have received some excellent feedback from the participants of these events; so if you want to come along, then register an interest for next year here.

Serious tracking is next in October when we run our popular Wilderness Immersion Course and Woodland Tracker. Meanwhile we have our last show in September at Hatfield Forest. More about that later.

Cheers for now.

National Trust Wild-camp Experience Weekend

The forecast said rain. Little did we know how much of a downpour it was going to be – nor did we have any idea how long it was going to go on for!

Despite the monsoon conditions the brave souls who signed up to the National Trust Wildcamp Experience made the most of the conditions. While holed-up under the parachute, some good carving was achieved as well as making some nettle bracelets.

I led a tracking walk in the short period when there was no rain. The damp conditions showed us fallow, muntjac and badger prints.

After applying some natural camouflage Saturday night, there was some excellent wildlife sightings including Simon, Liz and myself chasing after a badger down the local ride and watching him disappear in a culvert.

Slightly better weather on Sunday meant that we could go for a plant walk and make some hedgerow tea including making the fire from scratch led by JP.

That’s about it for our Family Bushcraft events this year. We have received some excellent feedback from the participants of these events; so if you want to come along, then register an interest for next year here.

Serious tracking is next in October when we run our popular Wilderness Immersion Course and Woodland Tracker. Meanwhile we have our last show in September at Hatfield Forest. More about that later.

Cheers for now.

Wilderness Gathering 2013

It’s difficult to believe that the Wilderness Gathering is in its 11th year. In year 3 a small stand appeared inviting people to join the Woodlife Network community. This year it seemed that everywhere you looked Woodlife Trails had some sort of presence.

JP carried out rabbit prep and his ever popular bow-drill demo assisted by Jason from the WG stand and Pablo carried out his Bushcraft and the Law and Tracking talks.

The whole Woodlife Trails Team mucked in with the Night Tracking Masterclass which turned out to be a huge success.

Of course the Woodlife Makers Guild with John Arthur, Joe and Jason helped the Woodlife brand name seep through the show with John’s amazing carving, Joe’s canoe building and Jason’s leatherwork.

Back at the stand and Trooper and Nigel basically ran the Table of Death and made sure everyone was in the right time at the right place, while Hannah assisted not only behind the scenes but front of house guiding people in the direction of our newsletter sign up.

The Team wouldn’t have been complete without Beccy and her and JP’s menagerie of birds and animals. Mr Spock, Harry the Hawk and the 3 ferrets were the real stars of the show.

Thanks to those who came along to see us and a big thanks to all our friends old and new who we met at the show.

Wilderness Gathering 2013

It’s difficult to believe that the Wilderness Gathering is in its 11th year. In year 3 a small stand appeared inviting people to join the Woodlife Network community. This year it seemed that everywhere you looked Woodlife Trails had some sort of presence.

JP carried out rabbit prep and his ever popular bow-drill demo assisted by Jason from the WG stand and Pablo carried out his Bushcraft and the Law and Tracking talks.

The whole Woodlife Trails Team mucked in with the Night Tracking Masterclass which turned out to be a huge success.

Of course the Woodlife Makers Guild with John Arthur, Joe and Jason helped the Woodlife brand name seep through the show with John’s amazing carving, Joe’s canoe building and Jason’s leatherwork.

Back at the stand and Trooper and Nigel basically ran the Table of Death and made sure everyone was in the right time at the right place, while Hannah assisted not only behind the scenes but front of house guiding people in the direction of our newsletter sign up.

The Team wouldn’t have been complete without Beccy and her and JP’s menagerie of birds and animals. Mr Spock, Harry the Hawk and the 3 ferrets were the real stars of the show.

Thanks to those who came along to see us and a big thanks to all our friends old and new who we met at the show.

Dads & Lads Weekend

We were in Hatfield Forest last weekend again. This time it was a Dad’s and Lad’s weekend.

The lad’s had been on a Bushcraft overnighter previously and had persuaded the Dad’s to come along on one of our weekends.

The provisioning was pretty spectacular and broke Woodlife Trails’ record for the amount of food brought in for a weekend!

It wasn’t long before everyone was settled in and introduced to the Forest Woodlife Trails style!

Barefoot walking, night vision and night tracking was just a starter.  It was followed the following day by some expert tuition on carving led by JP.

It wasn’t too long before the long-awaited silence descended on the camp as everyone concentrated on their individual carving projects. Everything from light sabres to tent pegs and butter knives to Harry Potter wands were cleverly carved. It was clear this was a skill that many would carry on after the weekend.

Pablo took a tracking session and persuaded everyone that noise and sudden movement were not conducive to good wildlife watching. The penalty for being noisy was a good super-soaking!

The badgers were conspicuous by their absence and much of Hatfield’s wildlife decided that Saturday night was not the night to appear to the world. This may have been because there were other activities in the Forest that weekend. One pair did manage to get pretty close to a number of fallow deer.

After a fire-lighting session on the Sunday in which everyone without exception managed the difficult skill of catching silver birch with a ferro-rod (fire-steel) JP led the party on a wild plant walk. It was clear that the abundance of Forest plants were beginning to get past their sell-by date. Seeds, fruit and nuts were the tell-tale signs of the beginning of the season of abundance which is early autumn.

The final activity was rowing on the Hatfield’s Lake with the backdrop of the realistic medieval re-enactors who were certainly not out of place in the wonderful medieval forest which we are lucky enough to use for our courses.

Thanks to the folks who came along and threw themselves into the activities and, as normal, thanks to the Woodlife Trails crew who come along to assist.

Dads & Lads Weekend

We were in Hatfield Forest last weekend again. This time it was a Dad’s and Lad’s weekend.

The lad’s had been on a Bushcraft overnighter previously and had persuaded the Dad’s to come along on one of our weekends.

The provisioning was pretty spectacular and broke Woodlife Trails’ record for the amount of food brought in for a weekend!

It wasn’t long before everyone was settled in and introduced to the Forest Woodlife Trails style!

Barefoot walking, night vision and night tracking was just a starter.  It was followed the following day by some expert tuition on carving led by JP.

It wasn’t too long before the long-awaited silence descended on the camp as everyone concentrated on their individual carving projects. Everything from light sabres to tent pegs and butter knives to Harry Potter wands were cleverly carved. It was clear this was a skill that many would carry on after the weekend.

Pablo took a tracking session and persuaded everyone that noise and sudden movement were not conducive to good wildlife watching. The penalty for being noisy was a good super-soaking!

The badgers were conspicuous by their absence and much of Hatfield’s wildlife decided that Saturday night was not the night to appear to the world. This may have been because there were other activities in the Forest that weekend. One pair did manage to get pretty close to a number of fallow deer.

After a fire-lighting session on the Sunday in which everyone without exception managed the difficult skill of catching silver birch with a ferro-rod (fire-steel) JP led the party on a wild plant walk. It was clear that the abundance of Forest plants were beginning to get past their sell-by date. Seeds, fruit and nuts were the tell-tale signs of the beginning of the season of abundance which is early autumn.

The final activity was rowing on the Hatfield’s Lake with the backdrop of the realistic medieval re-enactors who were certainly not out of place in the wonderful medieval forest which we are lucky enough to use for our courses.

Thanks to the folks who came along and threw themselves into the activities and, as normal, thanks to the Woodlife Trails crew who come along to assist.

Luke

Luke is a keen tracking enthusiast, inspired by Pablo's early posts on the Woodlife Network.

Over the past few years he has become enthralled by our native wildlife and the art of tracking them, using bushcraft and all the associated skill sets used to try and get closer to our wonderful natural environment.

Luke is involved in a group focused on tracking the alleged big cats from sightings in the south west of England. He is determined to change Pablo and JP’s stance on Big Cats in the UK!!

His particular interests are: Wildlife, tracking, primitive skills and technology, wild foods and natural history, with the occasional bit of canoeing thrown in.

He likes nothing better than getting out into his local woods with his kids and watch their enthusiasm and confidence in the outdoor environment grow.

The things he enjoys most about being a Mentor/Assistant with Woodlife Trails  is the fact that they are able to ignite a passion within WT attendees and watch that spark being nurtured and grow before their very eyes. Also the fact that Woodlife Trails is not just a Bushcraft & Tracking company, but above all it's a family.

Luke has his own blog http://cotswoldbushcrafting.wordpress.com/