Fire Lighting: even these days of matches and lighters there is an everlasting appeal to lighting fires. During this session you will look at the different ways of making a spark to light a fire – safely. We shall look at natural and artificial tinders as well as the different techniques for getting a fire going including flint and steel and the bowdrill

Cooking on an open fire: whether its just marshmallows or the whole hog, cooking on a supermarket barbecue tray cannot match the fun of an open fire. This session looks as safe fire preparation, some simple fire lays for cooking on, and some bannock cooking, and planking bacon

Helter Shelter: using natural materials we shall look at the best places to build a shelter, what hazards to look out for, shelter design and construction. As well as being a lot of fun this activity is also good practice for working together in small groups. During the session we aim to build two or three designs of shelter. Sometimes natural materials are not always plentiful or the impact on the natural environment when using them is too great, so the second stage looks at putting up a simple shelter using man made materials

Stalking: If there’s time we shall have some practice with the atl-atl, an ancient hunting tool, still used by some aboriginal groups in Australia

Course leader: Tim Hutton has worked with wood and in the natural environment for over twelve years. In 2008 he qualified as a Bushcraft and Nature Awareness instructor from Woodcraft School, under the guidance of John Rhyder, a former colleague of Ray Mears

Cost: £40/£60/£80/£100 for a family of 2/3/4/5 with no additional materials costs
50% is payable at time of booking with the balance due one month before the course starts
Minimum age 8. All children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult

For 2010 the courses will run on the following days;
27th July, 2nd August, 9th August, 16th August, 24th August

To book, please download and print a booking form
and return with your deposit of 50% of total cost

Booking Form (PDF) ~ right click and select "Save Target As..."