Winter is a time when many people semi-hibernate, spending much less time outdoors than in the summer. I’m not sure why, as I love experiencing all the seasons. I know many readers of this blog feel the same way. There’s nothing quite like a walk in the woods or across the fields on a…
In this episode of my podcast I talk with Canadian outdoorsman, speaker and author of 15 books, Kevin Callan. He’s won awards for his writing as well as his film-making, including the the “Best of” category at the prestigious Waterwalker Film Festival. Kevin is a regular on Canadian TV and radio. He’s a great guy and fantastic advocate for the vast benefits of getting outdoors. The conversation we have on this podcast is wide-ranging and a lot of fun too…
Mastery is a strong concept. Yet, many times I’ve heard people use mastery in a sloppy fashion to mean something along the lines of “I’ve pretty much got the hang of the basics”. Getting something right once or twice doesn’t mean you’ve mastered it, particularly when it comes to bushcraft. Nature presents many different…
In this episode, I chat with my good friend and colleague British canoeing maestro, Ray Goodwin. We discuss wilderness expeditioning in canoe. Specifically we talk about the mindset and attitude you need in order to make the right decisions, particularly while you are in wild and remote settings. But we also talk about…
In this episode I talk with Dr Sarita Robison, Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at The University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN). Dr Robinson studies human behaviour in response to life-threatening situations and has been involved with research into survival psychology since 1999. We discuss…
“You never stop learning”, is a phrase you may well have heard in relation to bushcraft. In fact, it’s become a little bit of a cliché. To me it’s unfortunate that this phrase runs off people’s tongues a little too easily; because wrapped up inside it, is a real nodule of truth that we…
The English Canoe Symposium happens once every three years as part of a tri-annual rotation with the Scottish and Welsh canoe symposia. It is held at the YMCA Lakeside, on the shores of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District. In the past I’ve run camp craft sessions at the Welsh Canoe Symposium and…
The wild carrot, Daucus carota, is a widespread and relatively common species, native to Europe and Asia. It has been introduced and naturalised in Australia and North America, where it is often referred to as Queen Anne’s Lace. This species also lends its common name to what is often referred to as the carrot family, […]
To me, the attraction of going further afield boils down to the differences that other geographies offer that the UK might not. On the face of it, this is an obvious statement. But before you just stick a pin the map at random, I think it’s important to be clear…
We were sitting high up in a mountain valley overlooking trees and surrounded by peaks. We’d set up our tents on a small, relatively flat, grassy area. The nearby stream provided us with water and we had collected up some firewood. As our small campfire became established, it didn’t seem particularly important. It had been a hot day, we had sweated our way up and out of the main valley in the afternoon sun and in the evening it was still pleasantly warm…