Author Archives: Woodlore Team

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About Woodlore Team

Woodlore, The School of Wilderness Bushcraft, was founded in 1983 by the British Bushcraft expert Ray Mears.

Three of the Best: Thermal Mid Layers

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When it comes to cold weather clothing, we’ve always been firm believers in the layering system; opting for a separate base layer, mid layer and outer jacket offers far more flexibility than your all-in-one padded coat and, of course, means that you can use the garments individually at different times of the year. There are plenty of options when it comes to mid layers, but these are the three you’ll find on the Woodlore Team the most:

1. Swanndri Ranger Bushshirt

The Swanndri Ranger Shirt belongs to a very special group of garments which Ray Mears and the Woodlore Team rarely leave home without. Despite retaining the same, simple design as the 1913 original, the Ranger Shirt is as relevant to today’s outdoorsmen as it was a century ago. Made from 100% New Zealand wool, it provides excellent warmth as well as protection from wind and rain. And, while perfect as a mid layer, its rugged build means that you will use it just as much as your top layer when the winter chill begins to relent. Look no further than the front cover of the Ray Mears Outdoor Survival Handbook to see that Ray has been putting Swanndri shirts to the test for over 20 years.

The Swanndri Ranger Shirt

The Swanndri Ranger Shirt

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Tracking in Namibia with Ray Mears

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The following post was written by Woodlore’s Fundamental Instructor and Head of Operations, Dan Hume.

Following the success and popularity of our 2012 expedition, in October 2014 we will be returning to the African bush to run our Tracking in Namibia Expedition with Ray Mears once more.

We will base ourselves in the Erindi Private Game Reserve; a beautiful and unique area ten times the size of Manhattan, located in central Namibia. The reserve boasts a staggering and truly exceptional variety of African species. As just one example to give you some idea, we frequently saw black and white rhino in the same morning which, as you will probably know, is almost unheard of throughout the rest of Africa.

Please have a look at the photographs below, taken during our last trip:

The early morning and late evenings are the best time for tracking

This is the focus of our time spent in Africa; out on the ground, tracking in the bush. The students in the picture above have just picked up the trail of an Aardwolf that passed by the night before.

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Meddling with Medlars

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The following post was written by Woodlore Aspirant Instructor Sarah Day:

Fruit from the medlar tree (Mespilus germanica)

Fruit from the medlar tree (Mespilus germanica)

This year has been a good one for many fruits (and fungi) – bumper crops of blackberries, apples and wild plums have been gathered in profusion by all who keep a keen eye on the hedgerows. I have recently tried parasol mushrooms (pictured below). Again, it seems to have been a bumper year for these, and I’ve cooked them up with wild sweet chestnuts and rice. Rice cooked with a little prepared acorn meal is another wild food recipe I can heartily recommend.

But this year has brought me a new opportunity: the opportunity to try possibly one of the un-loveliest fruits found growing wild in the UK – the humble medlar (pictured above). The fruit of the medlar tree (Mespilus germanica) is a peculiar thing, looking something like a huge brown ‘rosa rugosa’ rosehip, or a very deformed and rotten apple. They bear the distinction of being one of few fruits that must be bletted, i.e. hit by a frost so that they are really on their way to being rotten before they can be counted as ‘ripe’ (or stored for long enough so that bletting takes place naturally). Shakespeare and various other writers clearly didn’t think much of them, the ‘rotten before they’re ripe’ quality put in an appearance in several plays as a metaphor for moral rottenness. Continue reading →

Woodlore Review – Swazi Nahanni Shirt

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Here at Woodlore HQ, we’ve asked the members of our full-time team to pick their favourite courses and kit from our range, to find out just what it is that makes them so good. Team member Keith Whitehead picked his Swazi Nahanni Shirt:

Swazi Nahanni Shirt - Tussock Green

Keith modelling the Swazi Nahanni Shirt

I’m going to admit that I was a bit sceptical about the Nahanni Shirt when I first saw it. For a long time, I have been a huge fan of wool, especially for working in the conditions that we do for a large part of the year. My concern was that fleece would not be able to match my traditional choice in terms of hard wear or general practicality. I’m glad to say that I was wrong. Continue reading →

End of Season Event 2013

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In celebration of a very successful and exciting 30th Anniversary course season at Woodlore we invited the field team to join the office staff for a venison feast at one of our beautiful course sites in East Sussex.

The event took place on Saturday and we were overwhelmed to see so many of the team and their families who had made long journeys to join us in the celebration.

Collecting firewood and starting the fire to heat the rocks

Collecting firewood and starting the fire to heat the rocks

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A Reflection of the Season

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After an exciting 30th Anniversary course season, Woodlore’s Head of Operations Dan Hume reflects on the year that has passed;

As the days start to become noticeably short and the pavements fade from grey to their rusty splendour, so too is our 30th anniversary year drawing to a close. This year’s course season has been jam packed with excitement, adventure and growth. The arrival of the first few weeks in February set the stage for our Arctic courses in Lapland, marking the beginning of a very special year. We continued through the early part of the year with our seventieth anniversary Heroes of Telemark expedition and our Boreal adventure, where we travelled 250km through the arctic forest on snow mobiles. Mid season, we ran a selection of British Bushcraft courses, from tracking to flint knapping and of course July was a very special month as we spent six days building a Birch bark canoe in the Algonquin way.

Birch Bark Canoe Building with Ray Mears and Pinock Smith - Day 5

Birch Bark Canoe Building with Ray Mears and Pinock Smith – Day 5

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Looking to the Future

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Woodlore’s Head of Operations, Dan Hume, has returned to the office after his time on the awe inspiring Canadian Wilderness Canoeing Expedition that took place in Ontario last month.

Dan has passed on these amazing photographs and some of his thoughts:

As I sat warming my hands by the campfire on one of the first cold mornings it struck me how suddenly the seasons can change. We had been paddling on our recent Canadian canoe expedition and were enjoying the warm weather. That morning however was different, for the first time, as I crawled out of my tent I saw mist rising from the lake beside our camp, I donned an extra layer, and my morning cup of hot chocolate was even more welcome than before.

A misty morning in the Caribou Provincial Park

A misty morning view from a campsite on the trail

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The Path of the Paddle

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This week sees the return of our team who have been Canoeing in the Ardeche, France.  Aspirant Instructors Keith Whitehead and Brian Fox were joined by canoeing experts Tony Pape (Blue) and his wife Caroline to run this unique course designed to equip you with the necessary skills to make the most of this most beautiful mode of travel.

Pont d'Arc

Pont d’Arc view from the campsite

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Weasel Watching

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Woodlore’s Director, Steve Gurney, made a surprise spotting when visiting one of our East Sussex course sites earlier this year:

It was a lovely sunny August afternoon and I was walking back to my car during a visit to one of Woodlore’s course sites. Suddenly, a small creature ran straight out in front of me. I immediately stopped in my tracks; the creature also stopped and then made a u-turn and sped back from where it came from.

I slowly crept towards and looked into the bushes where the creature entered and to my astonishment a little weasel was staring right back at me. “Who’s looking at who here?” I thought, and then “Quick, take a photo”.

Weasel Watching

Weasel Watching

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Woodlore Review – Buffalo Systems Womens Active Lite Shirt

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Here at Woodlore HQ, we asked the members of our full-time team to pick their favourite courses and kit from our range, to find out just what it is that makes them so good. Head of Merchandise Jane Mitchell chose her Buffalo Systems Womens Active Lite Shirt:

Jane with her Buffalo Active Lite Shirt on Vancouver Island

Jane with her Buffalo Active Lite Shirt on Vancouver Island

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