"to adventure"
We moved to Cheshire in the North West of England three years ago and have spent time exploring the surroundings.
Nearby is a gem of a park – Marbury Country Park. It has a range of different habitats and amenities to explore and use – our dog Sorcha just loves to roam in there.
The park is run by The Friends of Anderton and Marbury and home to the beautiful Marbury Lady Sculpture.
Join Sorcha and myself as we explore the park.
Currently, I am in the hammock in the garden – it struck me while here my blogging has gone out the window these last few years – I suppose that I should not feel surprised at that as I am no professional writer and am easily distracted.
Bushcrafting has been always ticking along for me however these last few years I have been distracted with the world of Canoeing once again.
Have a lot to catch up on here with Bushcraft but here is my latest little piece of Bushcraft experimenting – using a Thrawhook to make rope.
So hopefully I will figure out how to finally make Heather rope. This was used extensively for centuries all over Scotland and seems to be quite a lost art.
Up until I got my DSLR (Nikon D3200) any pictures I took of the Moon showed a bright blob in the sky. Even with the standard kit of the D3200 things only got slightly better.
It was not until I obtained an 18-300mm zoom lens that I started having success (though I am a definite amateur here). The best bit of advice I ever received about shooting the Moon was to use a shutter speed of around 1/250 to 1/400, ISO 100 to 200 (though some say higher), f10 – 12 and around 200mm (though I do start to creep towards 300mm at times) – then I started to get some better results. I have since been told to shoot with the focus set on manual but have not tried that yet.
Getting the focus crisp seems to be my goal – most Moon pictures I take I bin but just occasionally the details of the craters really pop out.
While out and about I try and get the Moon from different angles – though I have never mastered that art where you can use your zoom lens to make the Moon look larger than it actually is in comparison to other objects around it – below the Moon is sitting on top of some electricity cables.
I have always wanted that Moon shot with a plane or a bird flying across it – this is the best I can come up with – one day 🙂
I often shoot the Moon through tree canopies however the scene below of the Moon over Lose Hill in the Peak District really caught my attention.
I have tried to put my photos of the Moon into the order they would appear in the sky from Waxing to Waning and realised that I had only one Waning Moon picture – must work on that 🙂
It is not all about detail – my kids asked to do this pic with a camera phone.
My last picture on the Moon is one of it rising. I took this without really looking at my settings – not crisp as I was using auto focus instead of manual but I do like that one of the craters is visible.
Cheers, George
Over the last few years I have tried to crack that elusive low light photography skill with varying levels of success. I must admit to using Adobe Lightroom to help bring out these evening colours. My next few posts will be in this area as there has not been much in the way of Bushcrafting going on 🙂
To begin with I have taken a few evening pictures which included horses from around our village, our dog Sorcha and one from the Thames.
Hope you like them.
The next post will be on my attempts with photographing the moon.
George
Currently I am on holiday in the North West of England. I was reflecting on the fact that the 2020 Bushcraft UK Bushmoot had to be cancelled due to Covid when I suddenly realised that I had never got round to writing a blog on the 2020 Wintermoot that took place last February – pre-Covid, of course. I had published plenty of videos from the event but not actually written it up – probably due to the fact I was still digesting the enormous amount of food I had eaten in that week 🙂
The Wintermoot is held at the same place as the summer Bushmoot, at Merthyr Mawr in South Wales, and as it is a smaller affair (around 45 folk in comparison to the 200-300 at the summer event) it feels very homely. I soon had my camp set up (seemed strange with no leaf cover over me and no family with me) and the kettle on.
Tony – the boss – settled on two main areas for cooking and food preparation and after a bit of strange rope work (in terms of the kitchen tent on the right) we were soon set up and the fire lit. Folk arrived over the first two days and prepared to get on with the cooking – well not me personally (I just do not have that artistic sort of mind) – my focus was on photography, video work and building campfire cooking constructions.
Not sure who obtained the deer for us but after setting up the tripod it turned into a butchery class (led by Wayne) and then a shorter class on preparing the hide for tanning. Before long the ribs were slowly roasting over the fire on the rotisserie.
It was great to see everyone getting involved and trying out new skills.
Cooking Contraptions
Throughout the week I had fun alongside a few others coming up with different set ups for cooking.
These included:
All these alongside the usual cooking with Dutch ovens, skillets, frying pans and in foil.
The Wintermoot, like the full Bushmoot, is family orientated with lots of chances for the kids to get involved if they wish. Even without any snow the February temperatures were low but everyone was kept warm with the great food on offer.
As I am no chef I struggle to describe these different meals – I can but try with my photography skills – as an experienced eater I can say they were brilliant 🙂 – Lots of people helped out with the cooking but special mention must go to Beth Shepheard, Andy Illsley and Wayne Jones – as well as cooking continuously they demonstrated butchery, baking and food preservation.
In amongst all this cooking and eating we managed a few other activities including fun on the range, constructing a Windlass and a bit of Jedi training.
As it is a long time until next year’s Bushmoot I do hope we can have another Wintermoot next February.
Stay safe and hopefully see some of you next year.
George
The Bushcraft UK (BCUK) Bushmoot was supposed to be held this August however like many other big events had to be cancelled due to worries around Covid.
Wayne Jones from Forestknights Bushcraft (a fellow BCUK Moderator) along with his co-worker Beth Shepheard offered to run a small (for 20 to 30 people) Minimoot at his woods near Arundel for anyone who felt they could make it.
This was proper camping (no cars anywhere in the woods) and after a few trips back and forth with the trolley we soon had our hammocks up. I was joined by my son Finlay and our friends Dave and Alan.
We had a communal cooking area and Fin managed to sneak a movie in each evening around the fire (got to make allowances for this day and age).
The Minimoot, like the Bushmoot, was a relaxed affair however there were a few classes. One of the first that many asked for was spoon carving – this one went to Wayne to organise with all ages involved – it was great to see all that knowledge being shared.
Multi activities
If spoon-whittling didn’t appeal, we had a lot more going on over the weekend including;
Usually in the afternoon we had the range up and running – we had all sorts of bows to choose from and Finlay was happy to be shooting some Mint Imperials down the range from his catapult.
One thing that did not happen on this weekend was going hungry – Beth and Wayne (I will put them in order of priority here) are renowned for their cooking skills around a campfire. They cooked a mega breakfast every morning, a curry on the Saturday night and had the pizza oven fired up on a number of occasions.
It was not just Beth and Wayne around the fire – eveyone got stuck in. My son Finlay loved making pizzas and Alan (being a cheffy-type person) loved the raised firepit – I was happy to stick the kettle on every now and then 🙂
It was not all hard work (though that heat really made doing simple chores twice as hard as they actually were) and in the evening we would sit around our campfire before joining a socially distanced group fire when it was fully dark.
Most evenings you could hear the penny whistle from the likes of Stephen Crump and on the Saturday we had great singing (and guitar work) from Ruth and Mel.
As a photographer I usually struggle to get good shots in the woods with my phone camera and have to rely on the big old DSLR. But on this weekend the light was fantastic, so my DSLR never left my rucksack. Loved seeing all these rays through the canopy with the smoke from the cooking fires.
Thanks again to Wayne and Beth for hosting the Minimoot – the first camp I had attended since lockdown. It was great to see some friends again in a relaxed and socially responsible way – there was plenty of room in these woods.
Cheers (and look forward to future Minimoots alongside the main Bushmoot), George
With the lockdown in force I decided to record some of the action happening around my garden . Things were happening both in the air and on the ground.
I was particularly impressed the day the red Kites decided to swoop low over the house. I soon got to learn their high pitched call, which gave me a bit of a warning of their approach, giving me a chance to get a half decent shot of one.
Being Spring there was life bursting forth in all corners and it was great to see all the new colours appearing.
While clearing the ditch out by the side of our house I was distracted by these two beautiful Damselflies.
You can see them in action in the video below.
Finally it was great to hear the sound of an approaching Chinook – more of a man-made birs of prey but one that brings back many memories for me,
Stay safe everyone.
Cheers, George
Over the years building hammock stands have really intrigued me.
My Freestanding Hammock Stand is great for popping up in the garden or putting in the back of the car to take to events – however I have only one and with this current Covid crisis found I have been spending more time in the garden – so more hammock stands were needed. I did not have all the wood I needed for another Freestanding Hammock Stand however I found I had a lot of old fence posts that could be turned into something.
I have only one decent tree in my back garden and an old swing frame (they are too far apart to use together) that I can hang a hammock off so I needed some kind of ‘Hammock Upright’ that did not need to be dug into the ground.
The ‘Hammock Upright’ you can see below is the one I built and it shows it being secured by land anchors. It is not portable (well I can move it around the garden easily) but it is robust. I know that there are ways to make them lighter however I wanted to use the wood I had on hand.
While making a video on the upright it struck me that iron pins would do the same job as the land anchors.
So to see how it is all built have a look at my video below.
Cheers, George
Update (02/05/2020) – Brought the two uprights together and used pins on both.
Looking back at last years pictures I was struck by the number of events I had attended or places I visisted that had an element of rememberance. Even though these events and places can be tinged with sadness there is always that element of happiness when you are either with, or remembering old friends.
The pictures above are from;
To finish here is a short video from last years Airborne Soldier unveiling ceremony in Aldershot.
Cheers, George
For todays post I was struck by the lovely sunshine we were experiencing here in the south of the UK. So after delving into a few of lasts years pics I chose those that made me smile.
I am not someone who copes well with heat however I do appreciate the sun, especially on these cold and windy days I usually get when out and about. Today I had to appreciate the sun in the garden as I am tasked with taking the dog for a walk tonight (only allowed to go out for excercise once a day here) so here are a few memories of better times in the sun.
Remembering a happier time in France on the cliffs and trees in the sunshine.
Stay safe folks – now to find some more memories.
George
Having not posted for a while and not being able to travel due to the Corona pandemic I have been looking back at some my older pictures and videos to bring a smile to my face and it worked – plan is to make this a regular thing until we get the go-ahead to get out and about again.
So here goes – It was a great trip on Dartmoor with the Sea Cadets/DofE last year where we had a little fun along the way (Dave you have to put up a lot with me I know). Alison and Catherine had no idea they were being watched while I photographed them at The Vyne (National Trust).
I spent a bit of time stalking (with a camera) a herd of Deer in the snow (very crunchy snow) and I had a laugh watching the mother Bison scratching her cheek on her calf’s bottom.
Finally looking at my Youtube channel this short video from the Bushmoot always brings a smile to my face – great people in a great location – here is to hoping we can meet up this year.
Cheers, George
Over the last few years I have written a fair bit about carving Finnish Candles or Log Rockets using just the tools I would carry in my bergen (saws, knives, axes etc) so I thought it was time to see what could be done with a chainsaw.
I decided to opt for the Log Rocket as I thought there has been plenty written about using Finnish Candles (referred to sometimes as Swedish Candles/Torches). At the Bushcraft UK Bushmoot last year I asked my friend Rob Nash if he was willing to carve a large log rocket for me using his chainsaw.
For those of you who just like to watch a short video on its construction here it is – for those of you who prefer detailed instructions there are loads of pictorial steps after the video below.
The Log Rocket
The log rocket worked spectacularly and you can get a sense of scale (forgot to measure it) from the picture of Rob standing next to it.
I chose a large piece of piece of what I think was Spruce (hard to tell when there is no bark and it is seasoned). I will be referring to the 3 parts of the log rocket as you can see in the bottom left picture below.
Section 1
Rob took out a slice of the log (approx 1/3 of the log) and stopped the cut about 15 cms from the bottom. Then he cut in from the side at the bottom of the log to remove Section 1.
Section 2
To describe this cut is quite difficult so refer to the picture above in which the pieces are numbered. The aim was to leave Section 3 with a point that could be removed to form the chimney. Again it was a case of cutting down to about 15 cms from the bottom and removing section 2 by cutting in from the side.
Section 3
You can clearly see the point left on Section 3. Rob made an undercut at the bottom first this time and then removed the ‘Point’. This is the area that would form the chimney. The triangular-shaped piece of wood from the centre point was split down further with an axe to form the kindling to get the log rocket going.
The final step here in the bottom right picture shows Rob cutting out a piece of wood at the bottom of Section 3 to slightly enlarge the ‘firebox’ area.
Firebox opening
I have shown the final look of the firebox opening in the top left picture below. Rob created this firstly by re-assembling Sections 1 & 2 with Section 3. The he marked the corners of Sections 1 & 2 that needed cutting to form the firebox opening (that might sound overly complicated, but it’s important if you’re not to cut the wrong corners).
Once he’d cut off the corners he shaved off more wood from the ‘Shoulder’ of the opening so as to enlarge the firebox area.
The Raappanan Tuli cuts
To increase the surface area of the chimney and help the log catch light more quickly I asked Rob to makes some cuts in the flue area. I got this idea from researching different types of log fires – this style of cut comes from the Raappanan Tuli log fire.
These cuts are particularly useful when you have a damp log as the increased surface area greatly increases the chances of the fire taking properly.
Final touches
I used strong wire to hold all the pieces of the reassembled log together – an alternative would have been to make some dovetail joints and join them together with green wood pegs – see here for more details – How To…. Build a Dovetail Log Rocket Stove.
Finally my friend Mark used his drill to give the log rocket a face (which also helped provide a bit more ventilation).
Firing up
I used slivers of the central section Rob had cut out of the log as kindling and lit it all with a lollistick lighter (a firelighter pierced on a sharp stick – have a look here – Lolli Stick Fire).
Party time
The log rocket was a stunning central feature for everyone to sit around in the evening and we even used it as a backdrop in a wedding photo (Magdalena and Phil renewed their vows at the Bushmoot).
We even added a little bit of Cap’n Badger’s magic Rainbow dust to ‘mix the colours up’ a bit.
When I looked at the log rocket the next day (over 14 hours after it was lit) the base was just a mass of burning embers – quite a log rocket, I would say.
Cheers
George
It has been a year and a half since the 2017 Chosin Cup. Since then I have been wanting to finish this blog post however I just could not get the video for it together – thankfully I have now finished the video – it was a bit of ‘Writers Block’ for videos you could say 🙂 , the video is at the bottom of the post.
We had teams from all over London (including one from the South of England). After a hectic weekend of tests they were faced with the Endurance race.
They needed all the warm up they could get as it was just mud, mud and more mud.
In between the piles of mud there were plenty of ropes to haul themselves along – some made it all the way but some did not…..
There were plenty of obstacles to throw themselves over, under or through.
Finally though it was the finish line and the finish of the Chosin Cup.
Here is my ‘Writers Block’ video 🙂
Cheers
George
With the fair bit of snow we had last Friday here in Hampshire I decided to get out and have a bit of fun in our garden with my lad Finlay. We decided to build ourselves a little Quinzee snow shelter. We had built one years ago and Finlay wanted to see if he could remember all the steps.
The snow was coming down fast however we did not think we had enough snow to make a massive pile. Normally I would pile rucksacks, brash, logs or rocks into a pile, cover it in snow, pack it down and then pull out everything from the centre from what would become the door – we did not have anything like that so we managed to beg the use of my wife Alison’s pilates ball – did the job 🙂 Granted I would not have the ball out on a trip but needs must and all that – you decide what you want to put in the centre of your Quinzee (saves digging out a lot of snow as well).
We tried lots of different methods of collecting snow, from using a spade, the sledge, the rake and rolling up massive snowballs. They all worked to different degrees however the giant snowballs were pretty efficient.
Once we had collected enough snow we used the spade to pack the snow down really well and smoothed the whole thing down with our hands.
Both Finlay and myself took it in turns to dig out the ball – it did not take long and as the snow was well packed it did not destroy the walls of the doorway as it came out. At this stage I would normally be pulling out the rucksacks, rocks etc.
I also pushed a lot of twigs into the top of the Quinzee where it was thinnest to a depth of about 10cm’s. These twigs are a safeguard for when you dig out more snow from the middle.
Once insided we had plenty of room to enlarge the shelter. We used our snow shovel but I have done this with just a piece of wood before. As soon as a twig appeared we left that area alone and carried out excavating elsewhere. Soon we had a space big enough that either of us could curl up in. I do not like to make these Quinzees to large as a small space is easier to keep warm than a large one is.
Finlay finished the Quinzee off by smoothing off the inside walls with his hands, making the entrance smaller and lining it with conifer branches.
All the snow is melting now (48 hrs since we built it) however it is still standing and looking good. We could have spent a little while longer making the doorway smaller however hot chocolate was calling and we took our final snap and headed indoors.
It was a good project to work on with Finlay (some good Father and Son time) and I was proud to see that he stuck it out in some heavy snow conditions to the end.
Cheers
George
Looking back on my blog post catch up odyssey I have been stumped at the small number of pictures I have for this trip 🙂
Maybe I have been coming here for too many years now but I cannot think what caused this. It was though as usual an excellently run weekend by the Sea Cadet staff with activities for all age ranges.
We had activities for the Junior cadets, Campcraft and the DofE for older cadets and for the adults we had the Lowland Expedition Leaders Award – all in all a packed and fun weekend with the Sea Cadets – probably what kept me away from my camera.
Cheers
George
Seriously behind on my blogging now – life has lots of distractions for me at the moment (trying to learn Coding and French to name two). Looking back on my photographic filestore I came across some pictures of a cadet campcraft come bushcraft weekend from last Easter.
The Sea Cadets were only joining us on the Saturday so the Friday was a relaxed day of set up in the beautiful Pippingford Park in the Ashdown Forest. I was working with my friends Dave, Alan and Jess.
The cadets joined us first thing and thankfully brought the breakfast along with them – courtesy of the camp chefs. Then it was straight down to classes such as erecting tents, mapwork and kit. Evening time was spent around the campfire – these introductory campcraft weekends are for some cadets the first time they have ever slept out in the countryside.
After the cadets had bedded down for the night I tried out a little night time photography with my Samsung phone camera – I was surprised that the lens captured all the detail of the tree tops.
Early Sunday morning found me with a cup of coffee in my hand – supplied by our very own Warrant Officer – Dave Lewis – not often a Petty Officer receives such an honour – I did think he was after something 🙂
Straight after breakfast it was back into class. The cadets covered some First Aid, cooking on stoves, packing kit away and some more nav.
While out and about I did come across a Badger Set that was covered in tracks and other sign. The other sign included spotting their latrine and the snuffle marks their snouts leave in the humus layer.
There was little in the way of fungus at this time of year except for the big Bracket fungus and the Birch Polypores. I also spent time turning grass into rope and looking out for early buds starting to poke out.
As per usual there was time to have a brew (and gave me an excuse to use my cranes).
It will not be long to the next cadet camps in 2019 however I am told it will be an Advanced Campcraft course in the mountains of North Wales – looking forward to that one.
Cheers
George
It is getting a bit of a tradition now of having a family calendar – I get to take all the pictures and my wife Alison creates a wonderful calendar to share with our family at Christmas – here is Alison’s selection for the 2019 Bushcraft Days calendar.
The cover picture
If you have never been to see the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis I would strongly advise you to add it to your ‘Bucket List’ of places to visit – far older than Stonehenge and set on the idyllic west coast of the Isle of Lewis.
I did ‘over do’ the de-hazing of the picture in Lightroom to get the effect you see in the sky.
January
We had a few snowy days here in the South of England in January, so on a beautiful bimble round the village I came across this rather noble (and toasty) looking lady – she had plenty of hay and was well wrapped up.
February
Sticking with the snow theme this picture of a rather forlorn looking Daffodil was taken behind our local church – St James. This picture made it onto the weather section of Meridian TV here in the UK – first one ever for me 🙂
March
Beautiful Thistles – not taken in Scotland but on the slopes of the Brecon Beacons in South Wales while I was on a Duke of Edinburgh’s Expedition. I used my mobile phone for this shot and was very impressed with the results.
April
I spent a weekend with friends hiking in the Peak District and we were presented with this beautiful temperature inversion. I took the picture from just below the summit of Mam Tor overlooking Hope Valley.
The tall structure is the cement factory however you can just make out the tower of Castleton Castle on the right of the picture.
May
This picture was taken in the grounds of our local National Trust (NT) property – The Vyne. I must have chased this Thistle Down seedhead for at least half an hour before I got a shot I was happy with – nearly got my feet wet but it was worth it.
June
I took a group of friends and their kids from my village to the Brecon Beacons and we had a great time running up and rolling down the hills (well the kids did).
This picture of my son was taken on the ‘Diving Board’ on Fan y Big – it looks more precarious than it actually is.
July
The July spot went to my ‘Morning Classroom’ shot (granted the picture was taken in August). I stepped out of my tipi one morning at the BCUK Bushmoot and was met with this sight of the suns rays streaming through the canopy.
The parachute was set up to hold outdoor classrooms at our bushcraft event.
August
I took an evening stroll with my family while on holiday on the Isle of Lewis to visit my fathers grave. The graveyard is set on the ‘Machair‘ by the coast – as my children stared out across the Atlantic I managed to capture this silhouette shot.
September
On a trip to the mountains of North Wales with my ‘Grumpy Chums’ from Crisis we had ‘All The Seasons’ in one day. While descending from Llyn Idwal were were met by this curtain of hail/sleet moving through the Ogwen Valley.
I used my phone for this picture as it is water proof and my DSLR is not.
October
Another trip down to our local NT property – The Vyne and I managed to capture this lovely shot of my family. The leaves were just turning so producing some lovely purples along the lake side.
November
Each year my sons school host a fireworks night to raise funds. I decided to take my tripod this year and try out some slow shutter speed photography. I got a few good shots however I was particularly impressed with this one – not bad I thought for a first attempt.
December
Not taken in December (in August at the Bushmoot) however I thought that this picture of a long log fire with a sprinkling of ‘Magic Dust’ was a fitting Yuletide end to my calendar.
I hope you all have a great 2019.
Cheers
George
The summer holidays were nearly over at the beginning of September however I still had plenty of chances to indulge my photography habit.
A walk round the Roman town of Calleva on the outskirts of Silchester brought me to these two beautiful spots. Just outside St Mary’s Church in Silchester I spotted a British Legion Remembrance silhouette – the sun was just in the perfect position I think.
Inside St Mary’s Church my wife Alison showed me the beautiful Carpe Diem stained glass window – it is in remembrance of two young locals who died tragically, six months of each other.
I get lazy with photography so this month I decided to push myself a little be that with Panoramas and having my kids showing twice and with difficult light conditions such as I found in Abby’s barn.
Mid month found me in North Wales with my Grumpy Chum friends from Crisis. The weather came in all forms from sunshine to hail. We had a fantastic time climbing and the light lent to some great photography moments.
The end of the month found me in East Sussex at the annual Sea Cadet Chosin Cup competition. It was a fantastic Adventure Training weekend where cadets compete for the covetted Chosin Cup. During our Endurance race I snapped this picture of fellow instructor Niamh Kelly as she raced through one of the tunnels.
My final Memorable Moment of September 18 has to be my Birthday. Spent at home with my family.
Cheers
George
This post feels like a step back in time – way back to the spring in fact. As usual life is getting in the way of keeping my blog up to date.
My Grumpy Chums from Crisis headed off up to the Peak District in early April where nature was coming alive all around us.
We spent most of our time around the Hope and Edale valleys – These valleys do offer some fantastic photo opportunities such as these early morning shots.
Most of our time was spent on the hills and for the first time I noticed these little bronze castings set into the paved area around the summit of Mam Tor. Depictions of everything found around the summit of Mam Tor.
Everyone who was on the hills that weekend seemed to be enjoying themselves, be that mucking about with daft photos, floating amongst the clouds or just generally chilling out and taking in the scenery.
Take the rough Cavedale track above Peveril Castle in Castleton and you come to a spot made famous by William Turner. I spotted the painting below of the castle when I viisted it and tried to find the spot William Turner stood to paint it – just about got it I think.
The Grumpy Chums – a fine body of men who in spite of high levels of grumpiness (and camera shyness) get on in fine fashion and like nothing better than getting away from the south of England as much as possible 🙂
This trip was the first time I ventured down into the Blue John Cavern. There was not a great deal of the stone to see on the trip (it is still a working mine I am told) but seeing all the old equipment and the caverns really caught my interest. I particularly found the ferns growing in the caves by the lights intruiging – they only exist because the lights are on continually.
Near the end of the trip we were joined by Alison, Catherine and Finlay and spent the day visiting Stannage Edge. Did not have any climbing equipment with us so had to settle for enjoying the views.
Cheers for now.
George
This year I took most of August off work and spent it with my family in Wales, Wiltshire and the Western Isles – it was a busy time but my camera was never far away.
My Morning Classroom
I set up this parachute at the BCUK Bushmoot as an extra classroom – it was located in front of my tipi and as I got up one morning I was presented with this wonderful view.
A Happy Cap’n
The Naughty Corner at the Bushmoot has two two things that never change – they are Cap’n Badger and his Skull. The skull is always being passed around the fire and it always has Kraken rum inside it 🙂
You have my thanks Cap’n for maintaining this tradition.
Demon Fire Face
Never one to let a good fire go unnoticed the pizza oven at the Bushmoot gave me this cracking Demon Fire Face this year – you can even see its right arm.
A Bushmoot Wedding
Last year it was the engagement and this year it was the wedding. I took a lot of pictures for Phil and Magda but this one ticked all the boxes for me:
The Coastal Survival Crew
In the middle of August I spent five days with my lad Finlay at the Wilderness Gathering working with my friend Fraser and the Coastal Survival Crew. As a land lubber I have no idea why they keep asking me back each year but I am not going to say no – they are a great crew to work with.
Running Free
The latter half of August found me with the family up on the Isle of Lewis – I ran free on the beaches there as a kid and it is great to see my kids and their cousins doing the same.
Family
I do not get to Lewis that often and rarely when all my brothers and sister are there at the same time – this year they were all there and I made sure I got this picture (thank you Alison for taking it) – as rare as ‘Rocking Horse Poo’ you could say.
Callanish Stones
The Callanish Stones are located on the Isle of Lewis and were laid down long before Stonehenge. It is a beautiful place to visit and all the more special when there is no one else there to get in your shot.
Breanish Falls
Thanks to my cousin Scott for taking the time out to show me the delights of the Uig coastline. Along the way we stopped to photograph many beautiful spots however the falls at Breanish really grabbed my attention.
Atlantic Sunset
One evening the whole family went out to visit my fathers grave in Ness – it is by the sea and this is the view he has – miss you Dad but glad you have a great view.
North Rona from Sula Sgeir
My family carry on the tradition of the Guga Hunt each year on the rocky island of Sula Sgeir. As I left the island at sixteen I never went on the hunt – this year though I went out with the fishing boat to pick up the lads and bring them home.
Looking out from this crack in the rocks on Sula Sgeir I was able to make out the other lonely outpost in the Atlantic that is North Rona.
The Guga
Not all the Gannets were ‘Dressed’ on Sula Sgeir due to having to leave early because of the weather. I spent a day with my nephew Tam and the rest of the Guga Hunters preparing the last of the Gugas
A good month for a holiday and a good month for photography.
Cheers
George
Travelling back from Manchester tonight I decided to re-instate my ‘Memorable Moments’ posts again. It has been a fantastic summer of photography for me – so here are just a few moments from July 18.
Nottingham Nights
On a work trip to Nottingham I happened across this little scene by the side of the canal – I wonder what the story was here?
Foggy, Cyril, Cleggy and Compo
Meet three of the Sea Cadet ‘Last of the Summer Wine Troup’ – Graham, John and myself. We missed our final member Dave Lewis this year on our Brecon DofE trip – Hopefully you will be with us on our Peaks trip in October Dave?
Woodcraft School
We attended John Rhyder’s book launch (Woodcraft – A practical celebration of the tree) at his woods. It was great to see the book being launched and catching up with old friends – the kids though had a ball investigating all John’s camp gadgets.
A Scottish view from a Welsh hill
I happened across this view on the side of a hill in the Brecon Beacons. I posted it on my Facebook account for all my Scottish friends. I did enhance the purple a little for artistic effect 🙂
Hanging About
My local National Trust property is ‘The Vyne‘. I do spend a bit of time there when I can with the family however on my last trip I went alone. I would never have gotten this shot of the Thistle Down seedhead if the kids had been pulling on my shirt tails.
Boys and Toys
What can I say – boys and toys 🙂 Finlay and myself had a ball working at our friends Phil and Philippa’s farm – there is just something I love about driving tractors.
Farewell to a Friend
HMS Belfast – home to my Sea Cadet unit – City of London. I dont get down for a visit very often as I do not live in London these days. The visit was a sad one as it was for the funeral of our old shipmate Bernie – we did though give him a good send off at the Cathedral and the wake afterwards – Bernie was a WWII vet and a member of the Coastal Forces Association.
Parched Times
My final moment was found at the back of our church – St James. With all the hot weather over the summer I think we only had rain once or twice in July. I saw this wind blown Sycamore leaf lying on some very parched yellow grass and had to grab a shot of it. I used Lightroom to manipulate the colours so as to try and make the raindrops stand out a bit.
Now for August.
Cheers
George
Things have been settling in here at the Bushcraft UK Bushmoot here in Merthyr Mawr.
Took time out to test out my new barbeque pan – well tested it out as a toast rack really – works a treat so everyone is happy 🙂
There was much to do in terms of getting the site ready for all the visiting Bushcrafters so we were all soon getting stuck into the prep.
A favourite of mine is helping out getting all the chutes up. Our secret weapon ‘Pete’ is a dab hand at shooting a line high into the trees.
Later that day I spotted that our handiwork was receiving some attention in terms of some art work.
My kids did help out a little however they are on holiday and soon got into the swing of things. They have been out playing every day getting dirty, crafting and generally having a great time.
We got the range set up and it was soon on use. We will use it every day and have our annual competition next week.
Later in the evening I let the kids watch a movie and I spend a little time up at the Naughty Corner.
Things are well set up now and we have everybody arriving – more on that in my next post.
Cheers
George
We arrived at the Bushcraft Uk Bushmoot (Merthyr Mawr in South Wales) on Sunday evening. I am here for the next week and a half working with the Mootley Crew on what is what I call – My Busmans Holiday.
Sunday night was a busy one with all the set up of the family campsite – 3 hammocks, one tipi for kit, one tent for daughter and the main tarp for the kitchen/fire area.
Needless to say we relaxed when it got dark and had an early night (Not before spotting all the Ooglie eyes on the trees).
Alison got her customary coffee in her hammock and we all got out customary pancakes – fair trade I think.
It was good to catch up with everyone as they started to arrive on the Monday. I did get a bit of relaxation time and spent it snoozing under the main tarp – woke up to some lovely shadows dancing above me.
Alison headed off on Monday evening but thankfully she will be back later in the week.
It is all busy now setting the Moot up so I will finish here and catch up with you all later.
Cheers, George
Moving onto March of this year in my scramble to catch up on my blogging backlog, found me once again, involved in training our Sea Cadet instructors in becoming Lowland Expedition Leaders (LEL).
The weekend was based at TS Black Swan – the Sunbury & Walton Sea Cadet unit on the banks of the Thames. After lots of the usual admin there was plenty of adventure training lessons to be gotten through. We try to get all the basics like Legislation, Health & Safety and Kit covered in class before heading out for outdoor sessions.
Students learn all about tents and stoves in a very hands on way. They need to learn fast as they are expected within a couple of months to be teaching these subjects to cadets (under supervision though).
From the start we like to get the students practicing their teaching skills. In pairs they were tasked with giving short lessons in subjects such as map and compass work. I was particularly impressed with the cardboard compass they produced to teach everyone about its different parts.
Much of the rest of the time was spent out and about practicing the use of maps and compasses on the North Downs. It was a much cooler time of the year as you can see from the pictures below – a time of year I find far more comfortable in comparison to the heat we are currently facing – as I write this in mid summer.
Here is to some cooler times soon (I am Scottish) 🙂
Cheers
George
Work has brought me to Nottingham tonight. So I have decided to post using only my phone for a change. Not easy but worth a try I think.
The evening has been warm and it has been great to visit old haunts for me like ‘Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem’.
The canal always offers a picture or two. Having worked with Crisis for the last 22 years I got a feeling that the shoes I spotted on the toe path had a story to tell, what that story is I will never know.
Further along the the canal as I bimbled along it was all lit up by flashing lights – on closer inspection there was a real ‘mosaic’ feel to the whole moment.
Just before hitting my hotel a few more moments opened up for me including brooding skies, old & new signs, and a relaxed bunch of geese settling for the night.
Cheers
George
Day 4 of our North Wales trip last February with my Sea Cadet friends found us once again on the slopes of Carnedd Llywelyn. This time we were joined by a number of newer instructors looking to get a taste of the mountains.
We started off doing plenty of nav work and re-visited Jacques ‘Peaks in Peaks’ art work – unfortunately one of the peaks had subsided in the time we had been away 🙂
Once we had gone over the summit of Pen yr Helgi Du we enjoyed a great scramble down, along and up the ridge of Bwlch Eryl Farchog. The views were stunning and everyone got the chance to test themselves out.
Once up onto the slopes of Carnedd Llywelyn we stopped short of the summit due to the snow and sheet ice. There was though a fantastic temperature inversion to observe all along the horizon and the summit of Tryfan could be seen just poking out of the low lying clouds.
We had a relaxing walk back off the mountains, passing by  Ffynnon Llugwy reservoir where Graham managed to allow his Bothy bag to roll down into it – after a slight ‘dip’ it was blown back to the side for him to retrieve (all in the video below).
Cheers
George
Some days are just meant for relaxing – Day 3 of my Mountain Mooch in Snowdonia was a thoroughly relaxing affair – The Snowdon Horseshoe did tire me out a bit the day before so all I wanted was a stroll and some hammock time.
I set out for Llyn Geirionydd on my own (everyone was doing their own thing on this day) with my rucksack packed with sandwiches, cameras and my hammock.
Llyn Geirionydd is a stunning lake and thankfully had some nicely spaced trees to relax and watch nature go by. I did take a stroll around part of the Lake and tried to capture some of the colour that was around. It was late winter with little new growth happening but still enough to keep me happy.
Feeling relaxed and renewed I headed back to camp to await the arrival of the rest of our group.
Cheers
George
Day 2 of my winter trip to Snowdonia found me with Jacques on the Snowdon Horseshoe. We struck out early with a mind to tackle the horseshoe from the Crib Goch side first.
The day was slightly overcast to begin with and there was a smattering of snow high up.
As it was early there were few others around as we ascended Crib Goch. The wind was negligible however you had to watch out for the sheet ice.
I do love scrambling along the edge of Crib Goch – especially when you have good vis from it.
We were soon up onto Snowdon itself and as usual (well it is for me) the clag was right down. There was a small group of climbers sheltering in a bothy below the summit and from the laughs they sounded to be having a good time.
After a short break we headed off down the Watkins path before veering off down to West Peak. It was crampon time here as the snow was pretty hard packed here – one of my crampons kept coming loose so I think a new pair are in order.
The weather really cleared up for us as we motored over West and East Peaks. The views were spectacular and we were even spotted someone para gliding around East Peak.
Coming off the horseshoe I was knackered however I was so glad I took up Jacques offer of a trek round the horseshoe once again. In the right weather and with the right kit it is a cracking day on the mountains.
I put together this short video of the day.
Cheers
George
Last February the London Area Seacadet Adventure Training team headed up to North Wales for some staff training. This annual trip is one I really look forward to as it gives me a chance to test my mountain skills once again.
An advance group of us – Perry, John, Jacques, Jenny and myself all headed up a few days before the main group arrived. For our first day we headed out into the less touristy part of the Snowdon range – the Carneddau Mountains.
Our aim was to take a slow hike up towards Carnedd Llewellyn doing a bit of nav training, scrambling and winter work. All the winter work we planned was to play about in one of the lower snow fields where it is perfectly safe.
I went on ahead of the group at the beginning to find a good spot or two for photography. Jacques soon caught up with me and started playing about with some ice in a pond.
Firstly it was just a case of seeing if he could move the whole sheet with his poles but then as usual – he stepped on it 🙂 We found when it broke that it came out in quite neat triangles.
Jacques soon had a little range of ice peaks made up so I decided to make up a little video with him – titled by Jacques as ‘Peaks in Peaks’.
From the ice pond we were soon scrambling along ridges, throwing snowballs and watching Kestrels hovering overhead – quite dramatic scenery and hardly any another souls around.
Once below the summit of Carned Llewellyn in a gently sloping area we had a little play with some crampons and ice axes.
The return home was just as slow as the ascent as everyone was pretty tired out from this first days hike however we were treated to some great views and a fly past by the RAF.
I put together a short video of the day below.
Daty 2 of the trip found Jacques and myself completing the Snowdon Horseshoe in ‘slightly’ wintry conditions – more of that in the next blog.
Cheers
George
Over the last year or so I have found that my Bushcrafting has been taking a bit of a backseat to my other Adventure Training responsibilities so it was great to get back to some Bushcraft with fellow instructors from London Area Sea Cadets at one of our regular Multi Activity Staff Training (MAST) weekends.
It was a bit of CPD weekend for some and a bit of a new adventure for others. We took our time setting up camp on the Friday in the Mereworth Woods training area we had been given access to as the students were not due to join us until the Saturday morning – a kind of calm before the storm you could say.
Saturday
The weather was on the whole kind to us with no major showers but the tarps were up just in case. Graham got his cuppa in bed that morning (being an officer and all that) and then modeled his Buffalo sleeping bag for us by the fire – I have no idea why the thing has a full face zip – weird 🙂
Along to help out and do some CPD were Dave, Alan, Charlie and Graham. The instructors from the Adventure Training team looking to learn the basics of Bushcraft were Ben, Lee, Sam and Gary. We like to run these Bushcraft courses from time to time to expand out Expedition Leaders skill set so that they can pass the knowledge onto their cadets.
Time for Tea
Before they were allowed to have a cuppa on the Saturday morning the students had to learn about lighting a fire. Off they went to learn about gathering dead standing wood, processing and grading it before learning to use firesteels – needless to say the tea and coffee was soon brewing.
Saw and Knife use
After their brew it was time to learn how to use saws and knives safely. Once the wood was gathered they learnt about safe knife cuts and battoning. I like teaching in this way as there is no need to get axes out (and we did not have time to cover them anyway). The students produced some strong tent pegs and looked at the techniques for making feather sticks for fire lighting.
Camp Set Up
One of the things I wanted the students to do over the weekend was to set up their own camp. They learnt some of the basic Bushcraft knots with Charlie and how to throw a line through the trees. Soon they had their parachute up and firewood collected. Once that was all done they spent time with Dave and Graham learning how to put hammocks and tarps up (no ground dwelling on this weekend).
Atlatl Carving
A popular activity at cadet camps is Atlatl dart throwing so Dave and Alan spent a couple of hours with the students getting them to carve their own Atlatl throwers. All the skills that they had learnt in the morning with the saws and knives were used here with some finer knife cutting technique thrown in to get the points done.
As this was CPD time for the experienced instructors Dave went off earlier on the Saturday and experimented with Spruce roots as cordage. After digging up a little he split them down and removed the bark (with the forked stick) before using it to bind his demonstration Atlatl dart for his class. He also used Sweet Chestnut bark as a flight for his dart – worked perfectly well.
We had a nearby glade that was soon set up as arrange and the darts were soon pinging away. I have used Atlatls for years and shown hundreds of people how to use them – they never fail to intrigue people and offer hours of fun either in their construction or use.
While Dave and Graham ran the range I went back with Charlie and Alan to help gather the material for ponassing some fish. Dinner was to be Trout, Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs. As well as ponassing we wrapped and bound one Trout in Sweet Chestnut leaves (these were the biggest we could find) and its inner bark. The fish was then cooked over the open fire when the coals were nice and ready.
Alan ran our little galley and had the students helping him out on all the stages. It was not long before everything was cooked and even less time until everything was eaten.
We retired to the students parachute for the evening to watch the fireworks display – Sweet Chestnut wood sparks fantastically. Luckily we did not get one of the many thunderstorms we could hear nearby pass over us, so we remained dry while we watched the fireworks.
Sunday
After a good nights sleep it was time for the breakfast feast. My wife Alison had made me up a pancake mix and Alan soon had the skillet working hard cooking pancakes (with a few rolls baking away on the side in the Dutch Oven). As well as pancakes we had the students cooking fresh sausage rolls over the fire (another great cadet pastime.
Bowdrill
Straight after breakfast – out came my bow drill kit. This was not a full on bowdrill workshop but a taster to show how ‘assisted bowdrill‘ works. When we do this activity with cadets we always do it with the assistance of an instructor (or as a group of four or five) due to a lack of time usually. We used a couple of different methods and got good embers every time.
Grass Rope Making
In the Sea Cadets we work with ropes a lot (seamanship and all that) so I showed the guys how to make rope using grass. This is a fast rope making technique and we can create enough (with the right material) to make enough rope to do a seamanship class if needed (or just make earrings).
Char Cloth
To finish Dave showed the students how to make some char cloth in a tin – we did not have time to finish it all off but they got the principles.
It was soon time to pack everything up and head home. Normally it is just the instructors that do most of this work so it was great to see all the students getting stuck in to put everything away in the correct manner so that it can be deployed quickly the next time we run a course.
It was great to be back out doing Bushcraft again and sharing knowledge on the subject. I hope some of the guys are with us in a few years helping to deliver this course as having a good understanding of Bushcraft really enhances their skill set for teaching cadets. I hope to be back running another course at MAST next year.
Cheers
George
you are either good enough or you are not…….
Way back in 2010 our Sea Cadet Adventure Training team in London decided to get a licence to train and assess our instructors to become nationally recognised Expedition Leaders – this was through Sports Leaders UK and was titled the Basic Expedition Leader (BEL). Bar one year since then we have been training and assessing our instructors to become Expedition Leaders.
Due to changes in the industry wanting to make these qualifications more descriptive to their role the title has been changed to the Lowland Expedition Leader (LEL) award – fair one as far as I am concerned – so this post is dedicated to our last seven BEL students to be assessed last year: Nina, Donnah, Matt, Scott, Tony, Sharon and Gary.
The assessment weekend happened in November 2017 in and around Ashdown Forest. The students were assessed on their navigation skills, group management, knowledge on kit & equipment and their levels of nature awareness.
Along the way everyone had to give 5 minute ‘on the hoof’ presentations as well as running classes back at base. Over the previous 10 months we had worked closely with all the students and had seen them working with cadets in the outdoors so were confident of their abilities.
We do not assess the students on our own as we have to bring in an independent assessor and a representative from Sports Leader UK to oversee everything on the weekend – there is no skimping on this assessment – you are either good enough or you are not.
It is not all stressful – we do have fun along the way – well mostly the Area staff do I suppose 🙂
As well as having all this work and play I am always on the lookout for those little shots to make the day more interesting. The autumn colours brightened up the overcast skies and we managed to fit in a pub lunch along the way.
The assessment is over a weekend so we were back out on the Sunday morning testing their map and compass skills again with the odd scenario thrown in.
We move on now to the LEL award but it is with a fond heart (this has got nothing to do with all the admin by the way) that I look back on the BEL.
It has all made possible by my colleagues Perry, Graham, Jacques, Dave, Ben, John, Jen, Duncan, Alan and our very own Cliff – all who have been involved as instructors (and some as students as well) over the years – apologies if I have missed anyone here.
The 2018 students are already under training for the LEL award – so more on them later.
Cheers
George
It was late October 2017 (I know I have a lot of blogging catch up to do) and I set off North to The Peak District with my lad Finlay. We were off to join teams from London and Southern Area Sea Cadets undertaking their Gold DofE Expedition.
It was a busy 5 days and the weather was glorious resulting in some fabulous Golden Peaks.
The cadets and young instructors undertaking their Gold Expedition had four tough days ahead of them carrying all their food and kit as they hiked through The Peaks. It was a windy but warm Peak District that greeted us on their first day.
Setting off from Pindale Farm they soon passed through Castleton and ascended up onto Mam Tor. This is a steady climb but one that affords great views on a clear day.
Day 1
All the staff headed off to different locations to ensure that the teams walked the route (they do this without supervision) safely. I went onto the slopes of Mam Tor with Finlay and Dave Lewis.
After spending a bit of time watching out for the teams from the minibus roof we headed up the slopes some more. Finlay got a bit of nav practice in from Dave and a bit of flying practice from me 🙂
After Mam Tor the teams headed West along the gentle ridge that is Rushup Edge before heading North down into the beautiful Edale valley. We met the teams a couple of times along the way but otherwise left them to their own devices as we explored the countryside and practiced our own nav.
Camp for the night for the expeditioners was the remote but rather well laid out campsite at Upper Booth Farm.
Day 2
This was a tougher day for everyone as the route was up and over the Kinder plateau. The weather was clear so that made the nav much easier for everyone (including ourselves).
I did not see everyone leave camp as I set off to ascend Kinder from the small town of Hayfield on the Western slopes of Kinder with Dave, Nina and Finlay.
There was a temperature inversion that morning and the mist was trapped in the valley. The mist slowly crept up the valley until it topped out onto Kinder reservoir making for a great panoramic. I also spotted for the first time a Mist Bow. This happens rarely – when you get sunlight reflected off water and through mist.
Once on top of the Kinder plateau we settled down into some crags and got the hammock out. I carry my EDC Hammock around with me for just such occasions. We spoke with the teams as they passed through our positions and it was good to see them all in good form.
After a while Nina, Dave Finlay and myself moved North over the Kinder plateau to observe the teams dropping down Snake Path. Finlay spotted a dead lamb along the way an got some more nav practice in from Nina – Dave got his head down and I got a few more pics 🙂
I followed the last team from a distance down Snake Path while the rest went back to Hayfield. We all met up again at the campsite the expeditioners were using that night.
Day 3
The weather turned on Day 3 with lots of low cloud and rain. Finlay had left the expedition the night before with my wife Alison so just Dave and myself headed off up into the woods over Ladybower Reservoir to meet the teams.
We eventually spotted them all as they hiked on through the clouds and rain. Eventually the clouds lifted but the rain did not. The teams walked up onto Stanage Edge later in the day and the wind started to pick up. Luckily they only had a short section to walk along the Stanage path and were soon down into the shelter of the woods and their camp for the night.
Day 4
I did not see the teams on this part of the route but thankfully the weather improved greatly for their last day. Straight after breakfast they were back up onto Stanage Edge and hiking South East to the finish at the Fox Inn.
After a short de-brief all the kit was dried out and the ‘Survivors’ group photo was taken.
There ended a fantastic October expedition to The Peaks.
Cheers
George
lots of wind, snow, life and colour
Like many others in the UK today I woke up to a touch of snow this morning – not enough to cause any undue trouble but enough to make a photographer smile.
We visited our local church, St James, here in Bramley for the 9am service (Alison was leading the service) and afterwards I took a stroll around the church to see what stood out for me. The Daffodils had taken a bashing however when I got down low their beauty really stood out. Needless to say my kids were happy just to ping snowballs at me.
I then took a stroll around our local woods – The Frith and the first spot I found were these two horses in their winter coats nibbling on some hay. I adjusted my angle and got the lovely heart shape effect with their heads which you can see in the bottom right picture.
At this time of year it can be hard to see the colour in the landscape but if you look close enough you can see it. The Hazel catkins were all fluttering in the strong wind but I did get a picture of some hanging nice and still in a more sheltered area – they look delicate and beautiful however they are tough little things ‘hanging on there’ in the wind.
I was hoping to spot some Deer in the woods however they were all out on the fields today. The wind was strong but the Roe Deer were in the fields on the lee side of the woods avoiding the worst of it. They kept a close eye on me as I passed on by – normally they sprint off but not today – there spot was just too good.
I also spotted a few of our feathered friends in the woods from the Kite soaring overhead, the Robin flitting from tree to tree and the Pheasant making his presence felt in its usual noisy way on the woodland floor.
As Bimbles go this was a pretty special one, with lots of wind, snow, life and colour.
Cheers
George
Unlike the Saturday where navigation skills were the focus the Sunday at Chosin Cup is all about testing the cadets skills such as teamwork, ropework, first aid and archery – to name just a few (there will be a further post on the Endurance Race).
After a short briefing the cadets were sent out in their teams to various stances set out in and around the woods earlier that morning.
Being Sea Cadets a weekend without testing their Seamanship skills in some way would not be proper so they soon found themselves having to construct a pulley system to transport water across a ‘raging river!!‘.
Bushcraft is a key part of their training now so their firelighting and pioneering skills were also tested however there was always time to take a few minutes’out‘ on the hammock.
Our adventure training boss Ben McDonald had organised for a mobile climbing wall to turn up that morning. I have no idea how they scored this event however the cadets were up and down it like yoyo’s.
A couple of challenges they faced involved climbing in pairs carrying a ball between them and making the climb blindfolded – both more difficult than you would think.
A favourite of mine is archery. This year our archery instructor Jacob brought along his Area kit so my poor bows could have a year off (I broke one a year ago so glad we have new kit). It proved a ‘hit‘ with both the cadets and staff and even the visiting VIP’s had a bash.
Perry and Deano spent the morning running the tree climbing stance. The cadets had to use ascending devices to climb up into the big old oak tree. This was done to varying degrees of success as it can be difficult if you do not get the knack right.
We had a birthday that weekend – Frankie Mae Edwards turned 13 on the weekend and the cadets had brought her along a cake to celebrate. Needless to say the staff did not get to see much of the cake – thankfully I missed out on all that polishing – well done Cliff and Dave – vary shiny job.
Normally all our classes are located outdoors but this year for some reason the First Aid and the Navigation quiz was hosted indoors – no idea why and hopefully will not be repeated next year 🙂
The one activity missing from this post is the Endurance Race – that deserves a post all of its own which will follow after this.
Soon it was time for the awards and we all paraded in the massive troop shelter on the training area. Enfield unit came 3rd, Sunbury & Walton unit came second and Poole unit won the visitors trophy.
First place went to Merton unit and the Team leader trophy went to Niamh Kelly. Well done to everyone – cadets and staff for taking part in what was a great weekend.
I compiled another short video of the day.
Next up will be the post on the Endurance Race.
Cheers
George
Catch up time again – this post is the one I think that caused me to stop blogging for a bit last year – just too much to capture and show I thought. As you can see I have finally gotten off my backside and written it up.
Chosin is the is the one cup any Sea or Royal Marines cadet who does adventure training in the London Area wants to win. It is a tough weekend where all their skills are tested.
Our new Area Staff Officer Ben McDonald managed to get the training area around Pirbright Ranges booked (they were not in operation thankfully) for a weekend in late September last year. We found a great little woodland to set up the staff camp and an open field for the cadets to use on the Friday night.
The Friday is always a hectic one with setting up camp, sorting the teams out as they arrive and planning for the Saturday and Sunday events.
I took a fair bit of video on this weekend so have made up a number of short videos for the post (hence the delay in writing this up). This post will focus on the Friday and Saturday only with a further one with the Sunday Shenanigans.
Saturday morning got off to a quick start with some staff heading out to check points and some to act as a roving assessment team. I was part of this roving team and had along with me Sharon Selby and Kim Pybus. Sharon and Kim were under training for their Basic Expedition Leaders qualification (now known as the Lowland Expedition Leader Award) and they were using the weekend to help hone their navigation skills.
My fellow colleagues Dave Lewis and Dan Keefe each had a team of trainee instructors as well to take out making for one of the best staffed Chosin Cups I can remember.
Sharon and Kim were soon off navigating and I kept a discreet distance away most of the time. We were hunting the cadet teams that had headed out earlier however they bumped into Dan’s team where one of his trainees – Gary 🙂 put a seed of doubt into their minds as to their location. Needless to say this caused a moment of two of Faffing to happen but they soon got on with things again. They did get their revenge later when we bumped into them again :-).
It was not all study on the day – Kim and Sharon are a little bit mad but great fun to be with – that is what makes them great instructors.
The teams were set tasks along the way and we came across units having their team work assessed at the First Aid stand. Not the usual First Aid but a blind fold carry through the woods – a lot more difficult than it looks – only one team member could see and they were not allowed to touch the other team members in any way.
Another stance was about communications. Instructions were given to a runner behind a tarp, the runner had to pass the info to the others who had to then navigate through a pretend minefield. Their were plenty of other stances including erecting an antennae in a tree and a navigation quiz.
Along the way I did come across some intriguing spots, including checkpoint markers (hope the Paras won), a Pine with its inner trunk burnt out, beautiful Welsh Love Spoons carved by Phil Dent and some great skies.
Looking back on my videos there were some more silly scenes apart from Sharon and Kim.
Once the teams had finished the navigation for the day they had to set up camp and cook a meal from the food they had brought and present it for inspections. Paul Townsend and Graham Brockwell volunteered for this duty – brave men 🙂
Did not get to try out the delights myself however they did manage to stagger away from the tasting session and live to tell the tale.
The cadets thought that was it for the night but they were told to strike camp in the pitch black and pouring rain, then given some co-ordinates to head for (with all their kit). Thus involved having to scramble down a steep slope using descending gear and navigating from point to point in the darkness and rain.
This did not take long and after a debriefing they soon had their tents up and got their heads down ready for a busy Sunday the next day.
Cheers
George
Hard to believe that just a couple of days ago we had a good covering of snow (nothing like in the North & West of the UK though) and then in a flash it was gone.
We have an informal and relaxed service at 9am in our Church – St James in Bramley that I attend when I can (other conflicts being Finlay’s Footie or Cadet weekends). After the service I left Jerry and Finlay to clean the hall and had a stroll around the cemetery to see what I could find.
I spotted a lovely dew covered Daffodil and a grave marker for one of The Old Contemptibles – James Johnson – I will have to try and find out a bit more about James and his time in the army. The term Old Contemptibles is supposed have come from from an order from the Kaiser at the beginning (as known then) of the Great War when he reputedly ordered his army to “exterminate … the treacherous English and walk over General French’s contemptible little army”.
The Vyne
After dropping Finlay off at a friends house Catherine Alison and myself all headed over to The Vyne National Trust property that is near Bramley. The Vyne had been shut during the cold snap and just re-opened again.
My first spot was some Lungwort near the main house however as usual it was the sight of the 100 Guinea Oak that got my attention. This grand 600 year old oak (Quercus robur) is propped up by a couple of poles because of damage caused by the main road to its roots (the oak was there before the road) but it is still a magnificent sight to look at. For scale you can just see Catherine in the bottom right corner of the picture.
Old & New
I was not expecting to see too much but I was pleasantly surprised to see plenty of late winter/early spring plants such as the Primrose, Winter Aconites, Snowdrops and one or two Cowslips. All these dainty little flowers were popping up near the sight of a rather rough and silvery dead conifer trunk – quite a contrast.
On the Water
I spent a lot of time watching life go by on the water. There was one lovely spot where the Snowdrops drooped over a stream, a Swan cruised by a wood carving of itself and the Ducks were happy to get some ice free water to feed under.
Amongst the Trees
There are a wide range of trees at the Vyne however the Cedar of Lebanon does produce a rather grand seed that sits upright. There were also plenty of nodules sticking out of the ground under some conifers on the bank of the lake – no idea what causes this but will check it out.
After a lovely coffee and cake it was time to pick the boy up from his friends and head home.
A Happy Spring Sunday.
Cheers
George
The final part of our Welsh Weekend with the Grumpy Chums (Rick, Gordon, myself and Stu – the order of grumpiness) last year brought us down to the Brecon Beacons and Pen y Fan. The drive from Cadair Idris was a long one due to an accident ahead of us but we got there eventually and soon had a fire on.
We stayed at the Pentwyn Farm campsite (I can thoroughly recommend it) which is 7 miles from Brecon Town and within easy reach of Pen y Fan.
We headed off from the car park at Cwm Gwdi (old soldiers may remember this as an army camp) and headed SSE up the track on Cefn Cwm Llwch ridge.
We had very little in terms of wind so the walk was pleasant enough as we ascended the ridge however we were soon in the clouds with very little visibility (I like this route as it is usually quiet).
A young couple did overtake us on the way up (sprightly things) but after about half an hour they appeared out of the clouds heading down hill. We congratulated them on getting to the summit so fast but they quickly admitted that they had not gone too far ahead and had kept us in sight as we ascended. They lost us at one stage (probably when we stopped for a break) and so got a bit concerned for themselves in the thick clouds – turns out they had no map and compass. Thankfully they carried on back down the ridge.
We soon topped out and joined the masses coming up from the Storey Arms, had a dram and got a quick piccie of Flossie Ann before heading off down to Cribben. Along the way I did ‘splash about’ a bit – Rick had a few choice words for me 🙂
Once over Cribben (finally got a view) we were off down the Old Military Road back to Cwm Gwdi car park. Everyone had achy limbs by this stage and if you know this old road then you will know how we felt 🙂
As it was our last night we had a night out in Brecon Town where we downed one or two sherberts to toast our 3 days on the hills.
I had a great weekend with the Grumpy Chums heading over Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pen y Fan and would thoroughly recommend this gentler 3 Peaks Challenge.
Snowdon with the Grumpy Chums – A Welsh Weekend – Part 1
Cadair Idris with the Grumpy Chums – A Welsh Weekend – Part 2Â
Cheers
George
Today has been one of working at home as our trains decided the weather was not for them.
As I had been stuck at home all day but without the daily commute into London I decided to take a Bimble around our local woods – The Frith – here in Bramley.
The snow was falling gently and the light was fading slowly. Not having the kids with me I could walk slowly and quietly. I came across a forlorn looking nest, a fresh Pheasant track (could hear him but not make him out), spotted a Hare and saw plenty of Deer in the gloom. There was one Muntjac and a herd of Roe Deer.
I shot the pictures and video using my phone so the quality in the low light is not the greatest.
Altogether an excellent evening bimble.
Cheers
George
A brilliant playground – Cadair Idris
Day 2 of our Grumpy Chums adventure brought us to the beautiful Cadair Idris range. These mountains are stunning to look at and a joy to walk.
The walk starts steeply, up through beautiful woods, with raging waterfalls and great views back down into the valley.
Our route was in a clockwise direction up to Llyn Cau, following the Minffordd path, over Craig Cau, Penygadair, Mynydd Moel before returning to the car park at Dol y cae.
There was a good covering of clouds over the mountains however the views over Llyn Cau were stunning. Once we got up onto the Minffordd path we soon lost the views, except every now and then when a window in the clouds opened up to reveal Llyn Cau below. We stood and watched a helicopter buzzing over the water below us and I spotted a strange shaped rock on a cairn that reminded me of the ‘Sorting Hat’ from Harry Potter – someone had carved a Grumpy Face at its top for some reason (you can see this more clearly in the video below)
We finally reached the summit of Penygadair however the visibility was as usual zero. We had a quick break in the bothy there and were soon heading over to Mynnd Moel and down.
Half way down the clouds lifted and we were treated to a breathtaking view of the whole horseshoe.
Once we got down it was time for the long trip down to the Brecon Beacons.
Enjoy the video below of what I think is a brilliant playground – Cadair Idris.
Part one of the Grumpy Chums Welsh adventure –Â Snowdon with the Grumpy Chums
Cheers
George
‘We need a new challenge’ – from a conversation one night in the pub with the rest of the Grumpy Chums.
The guys were looking for something a bit more challenging this time and I remembered seeing a picture on Facebook by my friend Shelly Bristow of her completing the Welsh 3 Peaks Challenge – Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pen y Fan – so I put this to the guys and we were soon on our way.
Unlike Shelly though we opted for the more sedate challenge of one mountain a day and to make a long weekend of the trip. We headed (last September) for North Wales to tackle Snowdon first. As the weather was expected to be very bad with high winds and driving rain I opted to keep the group to the main tracks. We started from Pen y Pass car park, followed the Pyg track to the summit and descended on the Miners track.
Starting off we were in the shelter of Llanberis Pass however as soon as we crossed over the pass below Crib Goch the wind really picked up. There was no rain but we could see the heavily water laden clouds above us – we made best of the views of Llyn Llydaw and cracked on up.
We soon entered the clouds and the rain soon got into every nook and cranny. On the way up I chanced upon two friends Jacques and Deano coming down from the summit (Deano had been getting his nav tested by Jacques in readiness for his Mountain Leaders assessment).
I spotted quite a few people ascending Snowdon in trainers, jeans and cotton jackets – it makes me wonder sometimes what people think mountains are all about!!!!
Topping out on Snowdon was great as the wind and rain really tested everyones spirits. We did not hang around long but did chat for a while with a radio ham who had hauled all his kit to the top of the mountain.
On the way down I bumped into a young couple (a young lady and man) struggling to ascend in the wind and rain and after having a chat with them they decided best to try the mountain again the next day. The young man eventually agreed with me that a waterproof would be a better option the next day rather than the trendy leather jacket he was wearing – his young lady friend backed me up all the way 🙂
We all came off the mountain soaking wet but in good spirits. I put together a short video of what was a very drafty and damp day on Snowdon.
Parts 2 & 3 will cover our days in the Cadair Idris range and around Pen y Fan.
Cheers
George
Last September I came back from France straight out onto Hankley Common in Surrey. I joined Sea and Royal Marine Cadets from our Southern District in London.
The weekend was about training and testing teams in Adventure Training. Hankley Common is a training area I have been going to since the late eighties. It is predominantly sandy and as it was used as a testing area in World War II there is a lot to explore.
Saturday
I brought my mountain bike along with me as the sand makes it impossible to drive around the area. The Saturday was a day of cycling, observing the groups moving around the area, watching nature and eating ‘Rat Pack’ delectables 🙂
One of the stances had a lift and shift across a hillside – the cadets had to devise their own stretcher from what was in their packs. I also explored one of the old bunkers that were used to test out artillery shells. The slit showed damage from direct hits and if you shone your torch inside you could see the impact points from shells that had gone right through.
Another job I got was to set up the Night Navigation exercise. The cadets had to navigate without torches (thankfully the moon came out later) around the common to different locations using only bearings and pacings. The bunker you saw in the previous picture was the final destination – hard to find navigating over the featureless moor and dark woods.
Sunday Stances
After an excellent night in my hammock it was time to run the stances. I ran the Atlatl stance so I did not get a great deal of time to see what the others were up to.
I did though spot that there was a First Aid stance and the cadets were put through their paces on a ‘Rigging Rescue’ 🙂 There were other stances such as navigation, basha building and ropework.
I am afraid I cannot remember all the units that attended the weekend but I do remember I had a great time. Hankley is a place I remember well from my younger years and I do love coming back every now and then to make more memories
Thank you Ben and the rest of the Southern District staff and Cadets who made my weekend so enjoyable.
Cheers
George
Over the last few years along with my family I have had some fantastic trips to France. Last August found us in Brittany once again spending some quality time with our friend Rick.
On the ferry out I caught my first glimpse of the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth – no planes as yet but a sight to behold none the less.
I have known Rick for over 20 years now and he is always happy for us to visit him in this lovely part of France – I think the kids treat him kind of like a Grandad as he spoils them, then hands them back to us to calm them down 🙂
We have a few holidays throughout the year but not often are we all away together as a family. As there is so much to do in Brittany it is the ideal location for us to spend a lovely two weeks.
I kicked the holiday off with a bit of Bushcraft. We had a barbeque on the first night and Rick invited the neighbours round. The kids heard that I teach Bushcraft so we soon had the bowdrill out and in action.
I must say that this was the first time that a Princess assisted me with this particular skill 🙂
Up to now I have been creating videos and hosting them on YouTube – Alison introduced me to Vimeo. I find that this is an excellent platform for these family type videos.
The nearest town to us was La Roche Bernard and there is a profusion of artwork on display around the town. I even managed my own piece in the top picture below. It is the shadow of a yacht with a background of oily water – kinda cool I thought.
No trip to Brittany is complete until you visit Escapades Verticales. When we first went Finlay could not do all the routes due to his age and height – this year there was no stopping him.
Alison and Catherine were also in action on the routes and I tentatively filmed some of the action with my phone (paranoid I would drop it) – I now have a Go Pro but alas, not at the time we were there.
Some evenings we would stroll off down to the river and some days around the town. If you kept your eyes open, though, there was always something interesting to see from Mother Nature – I think the mole passed away from heat exhaustion as the cats were too lazy to do much.
Beaches are not usually my thing but I do make an exception on the Brittany coastline. I can usually find a cliff to scramble or a couple of convenient trees to put up my hammock.
The heat may well have gotten to me on this trip (raising my grumpiness levels above their norm) but I really enjoyed my time in Brittany last year. This year we are off up to Scotland to visit the family so Brittany will have to wait till next year for another visit.
A final few shots of our ‘Lazy Days’.
Cheers
George
“dedicated to my wife Alison”
For the last few years my wife Alison has compiled a calendar from my photography to give out as presents to our close family. Alison is both a Publisher and an author and she inspires me each year to get out there and photograph life around me – so this blog post is dedicated to my wife Alison .
Looking at the pictures in the calendar they have brought back some great memories of the last year.
January 18
We spent a day visiting our friend Molly from the Field Farm Project earlier this year where I spotted Henrietta the Hen (no idea if this is her name) wandering amongst the Daffodils.
February 18
Anther trip was to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove (went twice in 2017). As the sea was so calm on the first trip I had to get really down low to get any sort of wave action in Lulworth Cove.
March 18
I took lots of wild flower pictures this year however I decided to see what the underside of a Snowdrop looked like – I was pleasantly surprised at the green stripes and the shear number of petals.
April 18
On a trip to Chesil Beach to meet my friends Fraser (Coastal Survival) and Dougie (an ex army buddy of mine) we spent time as a family building a Beach Henge. We came across one of these structures years ago on Chesil so decided to build our own.
May 18
This year I got myself a new phone – a Samsung S7 and I decided to test out its zoom abilities. The Stitchwort flower below was probably only a centimetre in diameter so you could say I was happy with the phone.
June 18
Throughout the year we take time to head out into the woods as a family. This shot was in our local woods at Pamber Forest – I must admit to emphasising the blues a bit but I did like the effect this had on the trees.
July 18
July found me in Ashdown Forest with the Sea Cadets. In between classes I found time to stalk a herd of wild ponies, Using my phone I managed to get this cracker of a skyline as the sun was setting.
August 18
August was holiday time and every couple of years we spend time in Brittany with our friend Rick. There are great beaches on the Breton coastline however we did find time to do a bit scrambling at Pénestin.
September 18
September is a busy time for me with the Cadets and although this picture was not taken in that month it does epitomise to me the adventures we have. I was working as a Mountain Leader Safety Officer with the Royal Marines Cadets on the Brecon Beacons earlier in the year doing a mountain night nav when I managed to snap this shot as the sun was setting. It was a long night on the mountains but everyone came off safely and had a great time.
October 18
My son Finlay is 9 years old now and had expressed interest in getting out into the hills a bit more. In October I took him along with me on a Gold DofE Expedition in the Peak District. Needless to say Finlay showed no fear of heights while exploring Kinder Scout.
November 18
My daughter Catherine has not expressed that same wish for roaming the hills however she is extremely happy roaming the woods. I loved the colours of this winter shot in our local woods near The Vyne National Trust property.
December is winter time and although I was wishing for snow in Southern England there was not much to be had. This shot was taken earlier in the year on the side of Pen Y Fan in the Brecon Beacons. We were there to celebrate the Dining Out Weekend for our friends Perry and Graham.
Cover Picture
This was a tough one for me but Alison decided on this shot of a Swan taking off from the River Thames. I was delivering a course at my friend John Kelly’s Sea Cadet Unit – TS Black Swan and decided to spend a half hour seeing what life was going on on the Thames – a good half hour I think.
Thanks Alison for taking the time to putting this Calendar together – without you I know it would never happen.
Cheers
George
Ever lose the urge to do something? – well I did a couple of months ago and that was to whether or not carry on with writing up my little adventures.
I thought at first it was I because I needed to do something different but on reflection (over the Christmas period) I now know it was to do with stresses at work (Adventure Training is not my full time job).
Looking back on my pictures and videos of the year I realised how far behind I have gotten in updating this blog and – what I now refer to as my ‘Digital Diary’. Parts of this diary are instructional (The How To….. section) but the majority is a digital diary of what I get up to in my spare time.
So to catch up…………….
Last July (Yup I am that far behind) it was time to help out with our District Sea Cadet Adventure Training Competition. My good friend Dave Lewis set up the weekend on Pippingford Park in the Ashdown Forest and we were joined by a number of District staff. As you can see when it comes to these weekends we do not rough it – It takes years of training to remember to bring all these comforts 🙂
Saturday
First thing Saturday morning the teams were up and away navigating their way around Ashdown Forest. We only had 3 teams enter this year due to a Sailing Regatta being run that weekend but they were still tested to the same high levels.
The cadets had to carry all their equipment for the whole weekend and as well as testing their navigation they had a number of leadership tasks to undertake as well.
As I said at the beginning it takes years of training to remember to bring along the right ‘comforts’ 😉 and this includes food. Alan, Dave and Charlie prepared some great food over the weekend for the staff – that roast was brilliant and I got a cracker of a Fire Face.
Sunday
It was great wakening up in the morning in my hammock but it was soon time to crack on with the Sunday Stances. I had brought along some Atlatl’s and Dave brought along some Darts. These are great for testing out your marksmanship and easy to teach.
Other stances (in between the herds of wild horses) were the stalking game and the Seamanship stance. Both stances require high levels of team work in order to be completed successfully.
The weekend was soon over – City of London came 3rd, Haringey 2nd and the winners were Enfield unit – well done to everyone who took part.
It has been good re-starting my Digital Diary and I hope to get back in to making my videos some time soon.
Cheers
George
This August I went to the Wilderness Gathering to help out my friend Fraser Christian of Coastal Survival with the running of his stand. It was a busy stand however from time to time I ventured out around the show and spotted some real gems.
Starting at the end of the Wilderness Gathering I got tipped off that JP from Woodlife Trails was going to get ambushed by the Coyote Kids – Needless to say the tip off was spot on 🙂
Just off to the main area of the Wilderness Gathering is the pond. In here the canoeists have fun, we soak our willow for our fishtraps and I like to sit here watching nature go by. This year my friend Jason Sears decided to use it as a platform to light his tinder bundles – more of this in the last video in this post.
The Coastal Survival stand was busier than any time I can remember. The crowds gathered outside the stand when Fraser was demonstrating food prep and his hot smoker were fantastic.
Obviously Danny and myself were very professional and serious at all times:-)
I shot quite a bit of video this year and made a video of some of the activities we at Coastal Survival got up too – including the ancient and near forgotten art of Basketeering!!!!
One thing I love to look out for at the Wilderness Gathering is all the art – I use the term art here to describe the beautiful work that is always on display.
Below are the stunningly sculpted Kuksas from Jon Mac, the intricately carved spoons by Giles Newman and the finely twisted bottle opener by Dave Budd.
The bottle opener I spotted being made by Dave Budd as I strolled by. Dave was making one as part of a one2one training session and it did not take him long to craft it.
The bottle opener now lives in France with a friend of mine.
Still on the lookout for art I was taken by these three scenes. The first was a basket of beautifully coloured mushrooms on the Bushcraft Magazines stand. The second was spotting this Roman Centurions profile in the flames of our fire (it is something I do looking for fire faces). The last one was all the colours in the flint arrow heads I spotted on the Bushcraft Journal stand.
Further on on my strolls I came across loads of other sites where learning was going on. This was in the form of demonstrations, one2one’s or class work. I could only spend only a short time away from the stand but my time strolling always threw up little gems of learning.
A particular favourite subject of mine is building Log Rocket Stoves and my friend Des Cattys shares this passion. I spotted him one day starting a demonstration and decided to hang around to see how the class went (always looking for new ways of building these stoves)
In the evenings the music got better and better each night. There was a wide variety of artists and a particular favourite of mine was Vojta. Bushcrafters are not normally known for their dancing abilities but the front of the Bushcraft Magazine stand was buzzing each night with revellers.
After listening to a couple of Vojta’s songs I decided to record his last one of the night and I am glad I went with that gut feeling – a great session.
If you are patient while out and about at the Wilderness Gathering you can usually get a treat or two. The wild food tasting at the Bushcraft Magazine stand kept me hanging around for ages, Fraser’s great smoked sea foods were as usual highly sought after and I got to observe Roli Jones in action baking large loaves in his oven.
In amongst all this learning and art you will come across the odd and the unexpected. The Scout instructors were the ‘Bog Squad’ and worked hard to keep our loos in clean and working order – I take my hat of to you guys. As they walked by in formation I had to get this shot.
My friend Danny got a soaking while canoeing one day and decided to show off his fine ‘manly’ form to us all – I will leave it to you to judge this 🙂
The final unexpected moment relates back to my first video of JP being ambushed – I captured the moment he was turfed into the pond by the Coyote Kids and is one of my favourite pictures of the whole event.
My final video was put together to try and capture the essence of the Wilderness Gathering.
Maybe see you all there next year.
Cheers
George
Last August I had a fantastic 5 days helping my friend Fraser Christian of Coastal Survival at the 2017 Wilderness Gathering. I did a heck of a lot of video this year so here is a short film of some of our antics 🙂
I still have another video to put together of the Wilderness Gathering as a whole so will be back with some more soon.
Cheers
George
Sorting some Adventure Training kit in my garden this afternoon I heard a buzzing sound to my side. Looking down I spotted this little scene being played out.
All I had to film this was my Samsung 7 Edge phone. I was not disappointed with the results though.
I was enthralled at how quickly the fly was wrapped up and happy to see the amount of detail my phone camera picked up.
Cheers
George
a magical two weeks
A ‘Brilliant Moot’ is how I would summarise this year’s Bushcraft UK Bushmoot. It was action packed from start to finish for me as I juggled my time between looking after my kids, running workshops and doing a lot of filming.
I will let the pictures and video do most of the talking so will keep the text to a minimum.
The first few days for us ‘Mods’ (forum moderators) were all about setting up the Bushmoot so that everything was in place for everyone arriving later in the week. We did not rush things as it was a holiday for us as well but over a few days the Bushmoot was soon set up.
There are some great places to camp at the Bushmoot which makes for stunning photography. The Mods’ corner is great to photograph on a sunny morning.
I have used the same camping spot for a number of years now and even though a year passes between each visit it feels as if I have never been away when I return.
Early Workshops
There were a couple of early workshops this year – Open Fire Cooking with Neil and a 48hr Survival Course with Fraser from Coastal Survival. Both courses covered a lot of different areas so my photos are just a snapshot of their content – needless to say on both courses all the students eat well.
Videos
I put a short video together of this early part of the Bushmoot – including a scenario where my son pretends to chop my head off with an Ivy sword 🙂
Also a short video on the Lolli Stick Fire on Fraser’s course.
In amongst all these workshops and general setting up my kids took themselves off exploring. I went with them on one jaunt and they took me to the ‘House of Doom’ (as they referred to it). I think film companies use the site and they had left this massive Gothic barn – quite beautiful but eerie at the same time (the axe was for posing with only by the way).
The Bushmoot is all about ‘Family’ as far as I am concerned – this family extends out to all my Bushmoot friends I see time and time again as I return each year.
Getting out of the woods one day with my friends Ian, Catherine and Liz (and assorted kids) we went Dune Diving. Merthyr Mawr sand dunes are the second highest dunes in Europe, apparently, and there is one dune in particular that the kids love.
Needless to say I joined the kids as they threw themselves down the dune – great fun even for a 50-year-old kid like me.
Core Day Workshops
I have no idea how many different workshops we ran this year and I only photographed or filmed a small number of them. We always start with a tool safety presentation (normally three different groups) before starting the main workshops.
Fire lighting in its many different forms is a staple of the Bushmoot and this year was no different – below are pictures from the bowdrill, the damp tinder and the flint and steel workshops.
Other workshops included Baking, Pottery, Rocket Stoves, the Starter Course, Basketry and Wood Spirits (to name just a few).
Watch the video to get a feel of the subjects we cover at the Bushmoot.
Bushmoot Life
Outside of all these workshops and background work life goes on at the Bushmoot – food I can tell you forms a big part of that life 🙂
I am no great chef (tend to prefer building Campfire Cooking Constructions) but can when needed put something together – thankfully though there are plenty of people around like my wife Alison willing to put together a good spread for the kids and myself. Highlights of the Bushmoot are the Group Meal and the Hot Chocolate evening.
A favourite of mine has always been the archery range. We had another great competition this year. The winners from last year (Marek and Louey) were also presented their made-to-measure bows from Wayne Jones of Forest Knights.
This year we also had a catapult competition run by Steve (Mesquite) Harral and a workshop from David Colter on the Pellet Bow. Around the site we had various smaller ranges for axe, spade and pin throwing.
The Naughty Corner
No Bushmoot would be complete without the Naughty Corner and I try to get up to it for an hour or two each evening. This year my friend from the Sea Cadets Alan Lewis joined me at the Bushmoot for the first time and as he is a chef found himself drawn to the pizza oven.
Phil and Magda as usual kept us well fed each evening and Cap’n Badger made sure we were all not too naughty 😉
The Sand Pit
The evening socialising is not restricted to the Naughty Corner – usually for a couple of evenings lots of folk congregate under the big chute by the kids sandpit for a bit of a shindig.
We were supposed to have a band along one evening but for some reason they failed to show up – thankfully Marek and Gemma with some others started their own musical session that lasted well into the evening.
The Main Chute
This is where we meet each day, talk about what will be happening, answer questions and celebrate people.
The Bushmoot is run by Tony and Shelly Bristow (along with us volunteer Mods) and as often happens the Bushmoot coincided with Tony’s birthday. We also remembered our dear friend Drew who passed away so tragically at a young age in 2013. We do this by giving each year an engraved Swiss Army Knife to the person we feel has contributed most to the Moot.
Our good friends John Fenna and Steve Harral raise money each year for Cancer charities. Steve gets John to dress up in a different pink outfit each year and we make lots of donations in various ways. Also John has an award he gives out called the John Fenna Award (a Teddy Bear with lots of bushcraft kit) and this year it went to Cap’n Badger for dedicated service to running the Naughty Corner – or undetected crime as I hear 😉
Kids’ Fun
All this talk of fun would not be complete without mention to what we organise for the kids (I mean the young ones here). We are not against technology and I am happy to let my kids watch a movie in the evening by the fire (gives me a breathing space to get on with camp chores).
The Bushmoot is a family friendly place and there are always workshops and games planned in for the kids. When there are no planned activities the whole estate is their playground and it’s great to see my kids roam free as I once did as a kid growing up in the Western Isles.
My last video on the Bushmoot looks at this ‘Bushmoot Life’.
A Celebration
When I popped up to the Naughty Corner one night I got chatting to our chefs Phil and Magda and found out that they had just got engaged – Phil had popped the question to Magda that day down on the beach and she had said yes.
The next day we got Phil and Magda to announce the engagement to everyone under the Main Chute – congratulations guys.
Me
I am mostly to be found behind the camera lens so you do not see many pictures of my silver mop at the Bushmoot. Over the last 10 years I have really embraced photography and am always on the look out for something unusual to snap.
Fire Faces are a favourite of mine – spotted the BFG in one snap I took this year – but there is always something interesting to photograph at the Bushmoot.
A bit of Magic
This year at the Naughty Corner it was hard to miss the fact that the fire was making a good impression of a Rainbow. It turns out that Cap’n Badger had acquired some Mystical Fire and popped it into the fire. I took a few snaps of the flames and caught a lovely shot that I call ‘The Dancer’.
My kids loved the stuff and so we popped a couple of sachets on our campfire one evening while they watched a movie.
Alison
My wife Alison did not attend the whole of the Bushmoot (she pops back and forth from home over the fortnight) as she runs her own publishing company and this year was focused on finishing the first draft of her own book while we were at the Bushmoot.
Needless to say when Alison returned at the end of the Bushmoot she did so with a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the fact that she had finished her first draft – well done darling 🙂
That is it from me on the subject of the 2017 Bushmoot. Thank you to Tony, Shelly, all the Mods and all the other helpers who organised everything and helped make it such a magical two weeks.
Cheers
George
There is no rocket science here or fancy skill to learn – just down right common sense.
When you have limited resources and the elements may be against you, then you may wish to consider the ‘Lolli Stick Fire’.
At the 2017 BCUK Bushmoot my good friend Fraser Christian from Coastal Survival was running a 48hr workshop on Coastal Survival. One of the classes was on lighting a fire on the beach in windy conditions with very limited resources – he called this the ‘Lolli Stick Fire’.
There is no rocket science here or fancy skill to learn – just down right common sense.
Fraser built using sand a little reflector wall in a horse shoe shape and within it he laid a platform of dry dead twigs. On the surface of this platform he laid three loose piles of twigs in a ‘U’ shape. On top of this ‘U’ shape he laid a further pile of loose twigs making a roof. This shape left a hole in the side to add a firelighter.
Rather than using a whole firelighter Fraser cut a firelighter into 8 pieces and stuck one of these small pieces onto a thin sharp twig (and here likened it to a ‘Lolli Stick’). He lit this in the shelter of his tarp and easily popped it into the middle of his twigs.
The flames spread through the twigs very easily as they were loosely laid and Fraser topped them off with further twigs to get the fire going really well. This process only took around a minute and he soon had a cup of water pushed up against the side of the fire.
The small reflector wall helped bounce the heat back onto the cup and so boil the water quite quickly.
You can see it in action in the short video below.
Fraser uses this technique on the coast as the reflector wall protects the fire from the fierce winds and because of the minimal resources needed to light and maintain it. I incorporated this technique into our Starter Course at the Bushmoot and everyone easily got there fires going with it with very limited resources.
The ‘Lolli Stick’ is safe to handle, requires only an eighth of a firelighter and is easy to light – as I said before ‘down right common sense’.
Cheers
George
Over the last few years as I have made videos of the BCUK Bushmoot I have noticed I tend to video the workshops. Looking at the footage I shot this year I saw that I had captured so much more.
This is the 3rd and final video in my Bushmoot 17 trilogy focusing on ‘Bushmoot Life’ outside of the workshops and is dedicated to my wife Alison as she completed the first draft of her latest book during the Bushmoot – Congratulations Alison and look forward to reading it.
The other videos in the trilogy are:
Cheers
George
