I did a little bushcraft session for the local cub pack yesterday. Great fun for me and hopefully for them too ..read more

It was a beautiful day to be outdoors today and even if the childrens orienteering was mostly about the gruffalo they still had to practice orienting and reading a simple map so it was a useful skill. We also followed some wild boar tracks and had a chat about fly agaric ..read more

My oldest and I are camping in Sweden as a birthday treat for his eighth birthday. He's been patiently waiting since January for his special trip and is enjoying foraging for mushrooms, fishing and hiking. If he hadn't already fallen asleep he would have heard his first ever wolf howl too. Although thinking about it probably best he didn't hear it, he has a very active imagination and could probably freak himself out a bit ..read more

Now that I feature a review article on the Bushcraft Education blog on a monthly basis I've been testing a few products, recently it was the Jaakaripuukko 110 by Varusteleka ..read more

We couldn't fit the childrens fishimg rods into the car for a short camping trip to the Norfolk broads recently so they set themselves a challenge to do some survival fishing with nothing but some maggots, a readyman survival card and some paracord. They were succesfull. They caught 18 roach which in an emergency would have been an acceptable meal but on this occasion was just great fun. Fishing with willow rods Stripping paracord for the 'guts' to use as line A small roach Baiting hooks Another roach And another, it became a competition to catch the smallest as they were harder to hook ..read more

We've been managing Riddy Wood since 2015 but we are now unfortionately having to wind down our project of woodland restoration and environmental education. I was there recently to dismantle some of our remaining shelters and extract some of the timber and firewood we need to sell. It's a great shame to be leaving Riddy Wood after the time and effort we put into restoring some of the hazel and elm coppice there and the great courses we have run there over the last few years but I'm looking forward to new challenges ..read more

Stripping suckers from a coppiced lime stump has provided plenty of raw material for lime bast. It just has to soak for a few weeks before its ready to use ..read more

St Johns Wort A good tip for recognising St. Johns wort is to look for the translucent 'pores' in the leaves. Self heal ..read more

One of my favorite books as a child was 'The Children of the New Forest' and I am delighted that my children love spending time in the forests, woods and outdoors, although I am also glad that they don't have to hide in the forest from government troops like the charachters in the story.  Having a picnic looking towards the forest of dean and severn estury. Up a tree Eating hawthorn blossom In the high seat Tracking deer ..read more

Spending time out of doors is the best way to learn bushcraft, far more useful than YouTube and documentaries. There will be plants to identify, animal and bird tracks to interpret, edible fungi to find and poisonous fungi to avoid. Just get out there take a field guide and hone your skills ..read more