Today marks the 50th birthday of Woodlore’s founder, Ray Mears. In honour of this special occasion, the Woodlore team commissioned the work of a master hand engraver to produce a set of custom silver cufflinks, etched with the classic Woodlore logo.
Ray Mears opens his present from Woodlore
Happy 50th Birthday Ray!
Ray’s one-of-a-kind Woodlore cufflinks
On behalf of the entire Woodlore team, we would like to wish Ray a very happy birthday; here’s to many more years of adventures!
A new article in the Telegraph sees Ray Mears sharing his thoughts on the recent controversy over government plans to build new homes on Britain’s hallowed green belt.
In his extensive statement, Ray explains why he believes that this so-called protected land provides “a backdrop to our lives where we can maintain contact with the seasons and influences of nature.”
Ray first spoke out about the green belt during his recent appearance on BBC Radio 4’s iconic Desert Island Discs show. Speaking to presenter Kirsty Young, Ray said “We live in a time now where there’s a huge pressure to build on the green belt. Now, as I understood it, that was put aside in perpetuity by our ancestors, our elders, and I think it should still be so.”
Ray with Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young
Ray added that, while he accepts that new homes are needed, “If we don’t have green spaces, what sort of people do we become, living in those spaces?”
The issue recently gained publicity following a warning from the National Trust, that half of English councils with green-belt land are preparing to allocate some of it for development ahead of brownfield sites.
Ray went on to say that the “green belt, by its nature, is rich in hedgerows and strip woodland, which link green spaces. Such ‘wildlife corridors’ play a vital role in connecting smaller habitats, which in isolation would be far less viable.”
Read the full Telegraph article
Listen to Ray Mears on Desert Island Discs
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.
The Ray Mears & Woodlore Bushcraft Blog 