DEMONSTRATORS AND INSTRUCTORS
WOODCRAFT SCHOOL
John Rhyder is a director of Woodcraft School, a professional bushcraft company based in Sussex. He is a dedicated teacher and has 20 years of experience teaching the military, schools and colleges plus many years acting as head instructor for Ray Mears. John and the team have been featured on television, radio and in the national press.
Woodcraft School is responsible for a range of new accredited courses in bushcraft including a very popular year long instructor programme run through the NCFE. We are also proud to be the first bushcraft company to deliver a GCSE equivalent in the form of our Modern Woodland Apprentice. Tied in with the John Muir Award, this course helps young people learn skills outside of the normal classroom environment.
Johns knowledge is vast and one that he will willingly share with enthusiasm so please come and meet him on our stand (Sat or Sun only) or see his talks on Plants and Tree Identification at the show.
BUSHCRAFT EXPEDITIONS
Karl Lee instructs for Bushcraft Expeditions as well as being one of the countries leading flintkappers and primitive technologists in his own right. He has been studying and practising the art for over 15 years and is well known throughout the country for his skills and demonstrations. Currently studying for a PhD in archaeology, he has featured on many TV programmes and given many lectures on the subject in places such as The Royal Academy in London and The British Museum.
FOOTSTEPS OF DISCOVERY
At footsteps of discovery we believe that learning should be an enjoyable and memorable experience for all. We run basic, advanced and families’ survival courses, along with team building and decision making events for our corporate clients. You can visit us in our 100-acre wood in Cornwall or we will travel to you anywhere in the UK.We will tailor our teaching to your needs as we appreciate that schools and youth groups may have different requirements from adult or military clients.
WOODLAND SURVIVAL CRAFTS
In 1995, following many years as a Chief Instructor in Outdoor Centres Dave Watson used his passion/knowledge of Bushcraft to set up Woodland Survival Crafts. Over the years he has trained people from all walks of life including schools, businesses, even Missionary organisations, but he is increasingly used to work with young adults especially those who struggle with conventional education. To this end Dave has created OCN level 1 and 2 courses in Woodland Survival Skills (Bushcraft) with the Open College Network East Midlands Region.
SHADOWHAWK
ShadowHawk is an organisation set up by Max to train and provide trackers for a multitude of tasks. It soon became apparent that there is a large demand for people wanting to learn more about nature and their environment and are seeking the art of tracking to be their vehicle. With this in mind it was decided to extend the tracking courses from a specialist areas to one that encompasses any person who has the desire to scratch below the surface, look to the ground and see what stories are to be told. Those that know Max will know that he has a deep respect for most things, he believes that tracking is his tool, the outdoors his office and that bushcraft and campcraft provide his home and are the bus to work. He believes that tracking and bushcraft are inextricably joined. His methods of tracking are an alloy of skills and knowledge from around the world. His methods of teaching tracking are unconventional, they will excite you and bring you and your environment closer together. Max has spent most of this year tracking rhino poachers and will be sharing his experiences in his lectures. Look out for Ian Maxwell "tracking guns and horn" on the timetable.
WHOLELAND
Chris Holland, director of Wholeland, has been teaching, instructing and mentoring in and out of schools for almost ten years. He is finding ways of educating youngsters in bushcraft and nature awareness through the national curriculum in schools. He works with Wildwise Environmental Education, was the Earthwise Education Ranger at Otterton Mill during 2002. Having been inspired by great nature educators such as Joseph Cornell, Tom Brown Jr, Jon Young and Tom Schorr-Kon of Trackways in Sussex, Chris draws on extensive worldwide travelling and natural living experience and has developed a lively style of teaching that uses drama and games, stories and practical activities to share a wide range of concepts, skills, attitudes and behavioral qualities. He is married, father to two lovely girls, has an honours degree in environmental science and can often be seen browsing in and around Otterton.
WOODLAND WAYS
Jason set up Woodland Ways in order to build on the tradition of teaching Bushcraft and Survival Skills, with an emphasis on the protection and conservation of those environments we work within.
The team at woodland Ways help people to develop an understanding of what nature can provide, in a sustainable way, to learn the skills of our ancestors. Through practical, hands on training, we teach skills including building your own shelter, collecting and purifying water, fire lighting by friction, traps and snares, game and mammal preparation, navigation and natural foods to name just a few. All our instructors come from a forestry/conservation background and so at the Wilderness Gathering this year the Woodland ways team will be using in depth knowledge of Flora to provide free tuition on tree identification skills.
Jason will also be drawing on his experience of Desert travel to discuss "Using your vehicle as your survival resource".
WILD FOOD SCHOOL
Marcus Harrison runs Wild Food School courses in Cornwall, writes about the 'edible wild', and researches and experiments the use of wild plants in mainstream food - taking mere 'survival foods' and weeds and transforming these into something palatable.
WFS day and weekend courses are adapted to the needs of participants; whether it is a survival food slant, an ethnobotanical twist, or simply identifying and using the edible wild in more traditional cooking. Distance-learning courses are also available by post.
NOMAD BUSHCRAFT
Andrew Packer and Carrie Orton of Nomad Bushcraft. Nomad Bushcraft was formed to teach and promote the science and art of survival to people of all ages. Drawing on simple proven techniques, we teach that the art of survival relies upon developing an awareness of the environment around you and using resources you find harmoniously with nature. Andrew is an Environmental Scientist with over 10 years field experience working in some of the World's most hostile environments. Over his career he has worked in the fields of conservation, environmental monitoring and emergency planning. Andrew has developed the courses run by Nomad Bushcraft from his years of study of survival skills. Andrew's specialist skills interest areas include making aboriginal tools and flint-knapping.
Carrie has worked closely with Andrew over the last 6 years helping to develop the Nomad Bushcraft courses and resources. Carrie is an assistant instructor on many of our courses and has learnt much of her Bushcraft directly from our programme.
BACKWOODS SURVIVAL SCHOOL
Patrick McGlinchey runs Backwoods Survival School, based near Glasgow, in Scotland, teaching introductory, advanced and individually tailored group and family courses in survival and wilderness living skills. Patrick's deep love for and affinity with the natural world, particularly woodland and shoreline, started in childhood, with many of his youthful activities being inspired by Larry Olsen. He studied originally as an artist at Glasgow School of Art which has helped him enhance his observations of nature. Patrick trained in survival techniques at one of the longest established survival schools in the UK, where he went on to become an instructor for several years. Further training and extensive travel have broadened his knowledge, and experience with alternative cultures has influenced his teachings. He takes great satisfaction from sharing his knowledge with others and regularly puts his wilderness living skills into practice. He has lived off the land on many occasions for periods up to 2 months and is a firm believer in ‘practice what you teach'
ISLAY BIRDING
Islay Birding is run by Jeremy Hastings, an independent ranger, offering birding safaris and bushcraft courses on the Isle of Islay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. Islay Birding is a John Muir Award provider.
STEVE YATES
Steve Yates is a registered nurse with over 20 years clinical experience in the NHS. He has acted as crew medic during major ocean racing events including the whitbread (now volvo) circumnavigation race.
He is a qualified first aid trainer working in the rescue emergency care scheme and is currently delivering first aid training at national centres such as plas-y-brenin. Steve has recently qualified as a level 2 open canoe coach & is involved in teaching at the woodmill centre on their "bushcraft for paddlers course". Needless to say steve is a practitioner and teacher of bushcraft, in his spare time he disappears into the bush either walking or paddling
FOREST KNIGHTS
Wayne Jones founded Forest Knights to teach Wilderness, Wildlife and Warrior Arts to people of all abilities. Based in Sussex we teach a range of skills to the public and corporate clients, including Bushcraft, First Aid and Martial Arts. Our instructors have a number of specialist skills; we have chosen Field Archery as our subject for the Wilderness Gathering. We will be holding sessions through the event, giving people a chance to learn some of the skills involved and learn more about the activity
CENTRE FOR CRITICAL INCIDENT RESEARCH
Dr Jon Cole is a psychologist specialising in high stakes decision making in various situations. The CCIR is an internationally recognised centre for the study of decision making when things go badly wrong.
OFFROAD ESSENTIALS
Offroad Essentials specialises in products and services for late model Land Rovers, everything from fitting OEM accessories to complete bespoke vehicle preparation to suit your individual needs. Some of our work is featured in the gallery, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your specific requirements.
We are also able to provide training specific to your vehicle, anything from a half day introduction to a full weeks intensive training, survival skills, training overseas or a combination to suit your needs - either way, you're guaranteed to both enjoy it and leave fully confident of how to get the best from your vehicle.
WILDLIFE
Wildlife passes on the knowledge and skills that our ancestors knew and lived by, but somehow we, through modern living, have mainly lost. We believe that these Native skills which include subjects like: tracking, fire by friction, primitive tool making, edible and medicinal plants and bird language still have an important part to play in the modern world. Our focus is on safe-guarding this knowledge and our environment, which we feel is of paramount importance to all of us and we hope that our courses are an inspiration to those who come. Instructors - Dave Goodworth and Alex Travers
BRUCE MACDONALD
Have you ever looked up at the stars at night and wondered where the pole star is? Or have you thought about beginning astronomy but do not know where to start? This tour of the late summer evening constellations will show you where to
look to find some of the best naked eye sights in the sky and there may be a couple of surprises along the way! No equipment required although you may want to bring a blanket to lay on and some binoculars.
SURVIVAL SCHOOL
Survival School believes that wilderness bushcraft is about - Learning to live with nature, Enjoying yourself, Respecting the environment, Pushing back the boundaries of what you are capable of, Learning new skills and meeting new people, Trying new ideas. Survival School courses are designed to be fun and safe, (we have had a recent Health and Safety Inspection) whilst passing on the knowledge you need to be able to live comfortably in the wilderness. Our instructors will spend time with each participant, ensuring that they get enough knowledge and practice on each skill to be able to master it before leaving the course. All courses are practical, hands on experiences. You will get the chance to try new skills and techniques, see the edible plants in their natural habitat, build your own shelters and have all the fun and laughs that go with wilderness bushcraft. Chief Instructor - Jonny Crockett
DRYAD BUSHCRAFT
Andrew Thomas Price first became interested in Bushcraft at a very young age. Growing up on the Gower peninsular Britain’s first designated AONB (Area of outstanding natural beauty) certainly helped to nurture his love of the great outdoors. His Father introduced him to coastal foraging as soon as he was able to walk, and a few years later he learned how to catch Sea Bass from an ancient Canvas and Wood Kayak. When he wasn’t on the coast he would spend every spare moment camping and learning Survival Skills often by trial and error. At the age of 18 he earned a place on a Raleigh International expedition to Malaysia. It was here that he learned the skills of Jungle craft and spent several weeks living with the native Hill tribes of the Cameron Highlands, the Orang Astli. Despite being increasingly exposed to the modern world, the Orang Astli still retain many aspects of their traditional way of life, such as trapping and Hunting using poison tipped Blow gun darts. Since then Andrew has travelled extensively throughout many parts of the World and has spent every spare moment learning the skills of Bushcraft and wilderness survival. In 1997 he graduated from the University of Plymouth with a Degree in Theatre and Performance studies, and has since worked as a documentary researcher for the BBC, and as an Actor, before finally growing tired of London City life and returning to his native Wales.It was while working as an outdoor pursuits instructor that he decided to start Dryad Bushcraft, mainly because he was disenchanted with the way outdoor activities were being taught. Rather than being shown how to appreciate and learn about nature, youngsters were being wrapped in Gore-tex and sent out into the outdoors much as an Astronaut is sent into space. All their Food was vacuum packed in sealed bags and everything was cooked over a Trangia. The very notion of eating wild foods or sleeping outside of a tent would be met with a look horror. Hopefully those days have now gone for good, as we are once again learning and teaching others how to live with nature rather than against it.
ROWLAND JONES
Rowland Jones trained as a teacher in woodwork & metalwork, and taught in schools for a number of years before specialising in the repair of old buildings using traditional materials. He has also worked as a shipwright. One of his most rewarding projects was helping in the repair of the Kathleen & May, a 100 year old wooden schooner berthed at Bideford. Currently, he shares his survival & bushcraft skills as an instructor with the Army Cadet Force.
TONY DEACON
Tony Deacon has been an angler and interested in the outdoors since he can remember. He has fished for a variety of fresh and salt water species in Europe , North America and Southern Africa. Tony has held the prestigious Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructor (APGAI) qualification since 1989, was sometime Director of the Game Angling Instructors' Association, Editor of the Flydresser magazine and tackle and equipment reviewer for Britain 's oldest game angling monthly magazine. Tony has a B.Sc Hons degree in metallurgy.
Organisers: Roger Harrington and Dominic Harvey
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