A weekend in the woods

The boy and I have just come back from a three day family bush crafting course. I know it’s not geocaching but it has very similar goals and I think it belongs in the blog. Both activities encourage the kids (and adults) to discover the great outdoors and be comfortable in natural surroundings. I expect most geocachers will love bush craft stuff as well, if you have not tried it I enthusiastically recommend you do! We booked this course though BCUK  www.bushcraftuk.com with a company called Bushcraft expeditions www.bushcraftexpeditions.com. We started on Friday evening and ran through to Sunday afternoon. It is very possible to do this on a weekend but thankfully we had more time to recover as the course fell on the June bank holiday and the extra jubilee bank holiday.

We met at Beaminster in Dorset, pronounced Bemster (Presumably to spot the grokels more easily). We had over prepared as per usual turning up much earlier than we needed to giving a wide margin of error for the traffic on the three and a half hour journey which turned out to be trouble free. We scoped out the village, grabbed an ice cream and a flag and waited around kicking a football around and having a burping competition with the lashings of ginger beer we had brought with us. Sadly there were no geocaches in the immediate vicinity. Soon enough a Landrover turned up and a guy jumped out wearing camo gear he came over and introduced himself as Adam. I instantly liked him, he had a way with the boy, I later found he had experience with young offenders which I’m sure is good experience for keeping young kids in line! Soon we were chatting about the boys aspirations of being a ninja / Jedi in later life. Adam was certain the course would offer some assistance on that front. We were introduced to another instructor Ross who was more serious than Adam but was equally personable and approachable. These two together formed a really great team and made for a fun time with a dash of learning that just felt natural, absolutely perfect for families with young kids.

The other families turned up and all eighteen of us set off in a convoy following the instructors to nearby Hooke Park. Once there we moved all of our kit to the land rover which delivered it to the campsite with us following on foot. I had packed way too much, if I learned anything on this course it’s that if you can’t carry it on your back it probably doesn’t belong on a bush craft course. After being introduced to the third and last instructor the camp chef Shane (aka Welshy), we were given an amusing safety briefing that the kids actually listened to because it was funny and had a get to know each other session where we had to say what out right hand would be if it could be anything. Adam chose a gorilla hand to give us an idea of the level of silliness that was expected. The kids loved it, I chose a GPS hand and the boy chose a hand that shoots fire, ice and poison… hmm.

Next there came a guided tour of the camp site. It was all pretty amazing the main focal point was a huge parachute canopy which housed a fire that kept a big cauldron supported by a steel tripod warm at all times, this was our main hot water supply. There were stumps to sit on in a circle as well as drink making facilities and a white board for instruction this was a really cosy area. We were shown the boys “Pee Tree” and the toilets that were built around natural growing willow. The shower block wasn’t quite what expected being a temporary tent like structure with a bag on a rope and a shower head that was turn off and on able very clever. We were given a rough idea of our boundaries and told that we needed to stay within that area but feel free to explore. Our camping site was under a grove of cedar trees downhill from the canopy. We went off and pitched the tent and grabbed all of the stuff from the Landrover, again I regretted packing so much!

We had some vegetable soup and a bread roll and I realised that despite bringing enough kit to last a week I had left the bug spray in the car along with some other bits and bobs that I would no doubt need before the night was through. After checking it was okay with the instructors I walked back the 800m or so through the woods back to the car. The instructors were sweet in offering to drive me back but I wanted to do it myself and play with my new torch. After doing the 11 mile walk in the middle of the night in the woods to do the Legend of the Lost Cachers http://coord.info/GC1PAWM recently this was no problem at all. I had placed a GPS waypoint at the car park but I didn’t need it. There was a big commotion on the way and I saw a small deer running away from the area. The torch was splendid and did an excellent job. When I got back I stumbled into the middle of a game of  one to three who can I see which consisted of Adam standing by a tree and spinning around to see which of the kids had not hidden themselves well enough as they crept towards him. This was a game we did quite a few times, I got spotted easily every time we played, curse my inadequate ninja skills! Lumbering fool.

After that we settled in for the night and I had one of the most uncomfortable night’s sleep in a tent I can ever remember. I had pitched it on a slight incline and we ended up rolling to the end of the tent and ending up in a big heap. It was a bit like trying to sleep halfway down a slide in a play park. The next morning the first thing I did was re-pitch the tent on a flatter bit of land ready for that night. Straight after doing that we were thrown into our first real bush craft tuition session, Adam took the kids away up a hill and the adults had a bit of peace to be taught the basics of building a shelter by Ross over a nice cup of tea. We discussed getting a site near materials and somewhere that provides natural shelter away from areas likely to flood that sort of thing. One thing that really stuck in my head was the idea of choosing a type of tree to sleep under that wouldn’t drop branches on you in the middle of the night. Sadly I can’t remember what type of trees are the most likely to do that, but I do remember that it’s a good idea to look up to see if there are any branches without leaves. From not very far up even a pretty small branch can do some nasty damage to you and your tent.

After that we walked up to meet the kids and found that while we had been discussing the theory the kids had been very much hands on. They had created scale models of a nearby shelter with sticks and leaves. We regrouped and built a basic lean to shelter with the help of the whole group. Even with eighteen of us working on it the basic shelter still took the best part of an hour. It was basically a strong beam between two trees wedged in with a Y branch several million smaller branches leaning up against it and then covered in leaves to about an arms depth. On longer courses they make proper shelters like the one the kids had made models of using the same principles. Even in heavy rain for months the insides remain dry to the point that there is not enough moisture in the air. It was very satisfying to build something like that; I did not appreciate how much time and effort it would take to build a semi-permanent shelter in the wild I hope I never have to do it to survive for real.

After a break we split up again, the adults went off with Ross to learn about some edibles and things to watch out for in the woods. One of the edibles we tried was wood sorrel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_wood_sorrel which is good for flavouring other more nourishing foods. Another was wild garlic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsons I was aware of this one already but didn’t know you could eat the flowers (very tasty!). We collected some hazel for tent pegs and headed back to camp. The kids were wandering around with bare muddy feet having apparently been doing some ninja training! We left them to it, whatever it was there was no doubt they were having fun. We each grabbed a tarp (Basically a waterproof sheet with six guy ropes on it) and headed back to a place nearby our tents where we were shown how to set up the tarps using three knots. Firstly the evenk knot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEQFg6LhFAA then the tensioning knot and then a guy Line knot on each of the guy ropes anchored by out hazel tent pegs. By the way mine were massive and took forever to drive in! When Ross said the width of your thumb he really meant it.

Next we went out as a big group to pick up tinder for some fires we would be making later. While we were out we learned some additional info on local flora and fauna including a story about the poisonous foxgloves and a demonstration that deer hairs are hollow (Like a polar bears). We got back to camp with pockets full of dried ferns, twigs, saw mill wood shavings and some clematis vine bark to find out how we were going to light fires. The kids were led by Adam again to learn how to scrape a piece of bark with a flint can create a useful tinder. They worked together to all light a fire and then bring them together for one big fire up near the shelter we built earlier in the day. They then ate marshmallows toasted on the fire they had made lucky little scamps.

The adults had a tougher time of it using wooden drills and bows to create an ember that would ignite a bundle of tinder when it was blown on. Anyone that has ever tried this knows what an absolute nightmare it is. The trick we found was a straight arm with the bow pointed slightly down seemed to do the trick. Soon we had all done it and I have to say it was hugely satisfying and one of those must do this before you die moments. Ross kindly gave me a fire lighting kit made from willow before we left so I can practice this skill. I would also like to make my own set, which is apparently done on the longer bush craft courses. I managed to burn the middle of my forehead with an ember while doing it which will hopefully turn into a cool scar!

Later that day we spent some time whittling sticks, following Adams simple instructions there was none of the normal carnage and loss of blood that this sort of activity normally provides. With elbows on knees and everyone clear of his blood bubble the boy managed to put in around four hours of whittling over the weekend without so much as a scratch. Before turning in for the night we were given the option of where to sleep, the tents the tarps or the big shelter built by a previous group. Several people chose the shelter which was a good option as the kids had built a roaring fire next to it which was still burning. We chose to sleep under the tarps (I had moved the tent for nothing!) we set up a load of glow sticks that would lead us back to the tents if necessary they added a magical glow to the forest, very Harry Potter esque. In one of the many wonderful moments of this weekend I watched the boy sleeping all tucked up in his bivvy bag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivvy_bag and sleeping bag.

The next morning was a horribly early start before 5am as the sun was up and the birds were in full song. Somehow the others under their tarps managed to stay asleep but the boy was talking loudly and I decided to break camp rather than wake up the others. We went up to the canopy and got the fire going again, the boy spotted a deer in the woods that was checking us out. We had heard them grunting away all night so we knew they were around. We packed away the tent ready for leaving later in the day. We also emptied our tuck box into the general camp tea and coffee box and made a start toasting our supply of mashmallows soon the others were awake and sharing the sweet tooth breakfast. Adam knocked up some tasty pancakes to add a bit of substance to the sweets and biscuits in possibly the biggest frying pan I’ve ever seen. Adam thanked me for giving the kids loads of sugar before they did their games tee hee.

Once everyone was all full up we made a start on collecting bark from a nearby cedar tree to weave into bracelets. It sounds like a daft thing to do but being able to make natural string is really useful for making fire (with a bow), building shelters, and even providing a means to hunt with snares and a bow and arrow. I was really good at it and surprisingly so was the boy, who wouldn’t let me help at all. He made a great bracelet which he finished off with a piece of elder carved as a bead. To finish off a great course we were shown the stealth games the kids had been playing a fair bit of. Firstly was ninja tag where you are all blind folded and the instructors shout freeze when someone is tagged. It was a great game that I jointly won with a little girl by crouching around at the edge of the ring and making a noise nearby to attract potential targets. Most of the others apparently just wandered around with their arms out I saw this in the second round where I got tagged out almost immediately by a kid behind me grabbing my bum hilarious! The best part of it for me was Adam totally losing it and having to walk away to stop distracting the players with his giggling. The last game only one person was blindfolded but they were in the middle of the ring guarding sweets on noisy objects. The objective of the game was to sneak in and sneak out grabbing an object and sweet without getting squirted by the massive super soaker they were wielding. The boy got a direct squirt in the face twice much to everyone’s amusement, mostly because he could not stop giggling while trying to be stealthy… brilliant.

In summary this was a life changing holiday, I would recommend to anyone with a sense of adventure. I’m certainly never going to forget it and hope to put some of the new found knowledge into practice as soon as possible.