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©
2004 - 2010 Woodcraft School Ltd. All rights reserved
Tel: +44 (0)1730 816299 |
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The Bushcraft Team |
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| John is both Founder and Head Instructor at Woodcraft School.
He has an
impressive pedigree in all aspects of outdoor life including being appointed as chief instructor for Ray
Mears, receiving his antler handled instructor knife unusually after only one season. He
has worked as a professional woodsman heavily involved in conservation
management, traditional skills and management practices. He holds formal teaching qualifications and has been instructing regularly since 1994. John has been featured on television, national
and local newspapers and many programmes on radio. Much of his time in recent years has been spent pioneering accredited courses in bushcraft and related skills, several of which have been written by him. He has gained his Accredited Practitioner through the Institute of Outdoor Learning - APIOL. In addition he has written a Bushcraft Award for a leading youth organisation Woodcraft Folk and sits on the executive committee of the IOL Bushcraft Special Interest group where he has been very involved in writing the new assessment criteria for bushcraft practitioners. He also writes a regular column for the country's leading Bushcraft magazine and has been really enjoying the experience deciding to explore this avenue more deeply. |
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| Nick assists and leads on our NCFE Advanced and Instructor courses and his talent as a teacher is derived from his humerous and light hearted touch. He completed the instructor course with distinction and has been working with us since 2002. Exceptionally experienced in the outdoors, Nick has an ND in Arboriculture and runs his own company specialising in environmentally sensitive habitat enhancement. He also creates “green spaces” for schools and parks where children can learn through nature, which is very close to his heart.
From being involved in wildlife management he is a keen deer stalker as well as a wildlife photographer and other interests include canoeing, hill walking, climbing and primitive technologies. He has a fascination with botany and experiments regularly with wild food devising recipes and wonderful wines and beers. |
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Nick
completed his Instructor programme in 2006 and now
leads younger students with their learning on our NCFE
courses for 14 to 19 year olds. He is patient and skillful teacher and is always
ready to lend a hand. Nick has a history of delivering
bushcraft and nature based skills to youngsters as part of
a Youth Work initiative which he started 4 years ago
in Surrey. His basket work and weaving is just superb and has grown out of passion for the subject. Nick is also really keen on bow making and has just finished a rather stunning recreation of the Holm Gaard bow with which he intends to challenge John (so far unbeaten) at the annual archery competition. Nick is a gifted, trained artist and always has sell out success at his exhibitions of giant natural history drawings. |
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| Phil joins us from our 2008 instructor course where he showed exceptional talent with people and bushcraft skills in general. His professional attitude comes from a directors role in property and retail, running several large companies before changing his life and coming back to what he loves most - teaching & bushcraft. His passion for nature goes back a very long way to his country life as a child, something he has never let go of and has not stopped studying and testing. His family agree he is a bit of a 'nature nut' and is never happier than when passing on his skills to his young son and to our young people on their year long woodland skills and bushcraft courses. Very hands on, practical and ameniable, he brings a good few laughs to the campfire! |
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Dom grew up on a rural estate in Hampshire and from a young age he was involved in the hands-on management where he learned a great deal about the natural world and rural skills. Now throughout his life he has always been involved in farming and estate maintenance with a particular interest in forestry and woodland management. In 2006 Dom completed his Degree in Rural Land Management, during which time he also qualified as a tree surgeon. In 2007 he completed the instructor programme at Woodcraft School and soon after started assisting on our courses. Dom has been teaching bushcraft and skills such as coppicing, blacksmithing and hedge-laying to teenagers in schools for several years and now assists us with our educational programmes. |
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George qualified as a teacher in Outdoor Education 30 years ago and holds a number of NGB awards in outdoor pursuits. He also holds a B.A. Open University Degree in Curriculum Development and Environmental Sciences and spent 15 years as a primary teacher finishing with the position of Headship. He is a qualified Summer, Winter and International Mountain Leader and has served on a Scottish Mountain Rescue Team for the past 14 years. George completed the Woodcraft School Instructor programme with distinction in 2006. Since then he has been delivering Bushcraft and woodland skills courses as part of his own outdoor business to a variety of activity providers, including the Mountain Leader Training Association and British Association of International Mountain Leaders. He is under licence to Woodcraft School to deliver the Intermediate and Advanced Bushcraft Awards and acts as our assessor for the North. He is also a Trainer and Assessor for the IOL's new Foundational Bushcraft Competency Certificate and he is currently completing the Level 3 Forest School Leaders Award. |
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| Nigel
has worked as Senior Outdoor Education Youthworker for
the past 19 years specialising in Outdoor Education and
Therapeutic Counselling. He holds a post grad diploma
in youthwork and has an advanced diploma in Therapeutic
Psychotherapy in working with adolescents. Nigel has led
many expeditions around the world and holds advanced qualifications in a variety of activities
including Caving, PowerBoating, Rock Climbing, Mountaineering, Kayaking and recently achieved his Open
Canoeing Level 5* as well as his raft guide and swift water rescue. He is in to cave research,
surfing and playing the guitar (badly!). Nigel assists on our Wild Food course and on the Travelling Naturalist, both on the River Dart. |
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A
professional youth worker, Charlie is a specialist
in setting up accredited projects
for young people. She holds a number of qualifications,
including Open Canoe, Mountain Leader, Rock Climbing,
Caving and Power boating. A special area of interest
for her is open canoeing and expeditions. As part of
a team she broke, and still holds a world record for
the fastest decent of the longest river in the British
Isles. She covered 200 miles in 3 days, 15 hours and
6 minutes, from source to sea, on the river Shannon
in Ireland. She has set up her own company having just returned from OZ and has wilderness 1st aid, swiftwater rescue and Level 1 raft guide. Charlie assists on our Wild Food course and on the Travelling Naturalist, both on the River Dart. |
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A respected member of Medical Lifesigns since 2003, Kevin will be teaching Advanced Explorer HSE First Aid to our Instructor course in 2009/10. He has completed 23 years service with the Regular Army where he was a military team medic and holds the EMT qualification. Kevin holds a variety of quals including BCU L4 inland & sea and L3 surf. He has a great deal of experience teaching both military and civilian subjects such as first aid, navigation, vehicle recovery and outdoor education. He holds other qualifications such as C&Gs 7303, Single Pitch Award, Mountain Leader, Mountain Bike Leader. Kevin has led expeditions in Africa, Canada, Alaska and Pakistan dealing with all types of medical emergencies which gives him a great pedigree and lots of relevant skills to pass on to our instructors. |
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| Stephen attended our 2008 instructor course and has exceptional talent in the preparation of skins for clothing and drums. He only sources animals that have died of natural causes, from roadkill or those that are culled for purposes of animal management or food. He lives in a tepee all year round and is heavily involved in Native American folklore and is dedicated to keeping these traditions alive. He has Crow 'family' in the states and makes annual pilgrimages to Sun Dance celebrations in Montana. His skills have led him to assisting on our Primitive Technology course where you will find he is a wealth of information on practical skills and preparation. He will demonstrate through experience and through his amassed collection of skins and artifacts. |
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| John and Val are arguably the finest practitioners of their flint knapping craft currently operating in the UK. They have been teaching this subject now for nearly 20 years and are regularly patronised by well known schools across the country. Val and John Lord began their prehistoric technology research projects in 1975, when they were engaged by the Department of the Environment, (now English Heritage), to take custody of Grimes Graves, the Neolithic flint mining site at Lynford, Norfolk. John left English Heritage in 1987, in order to lead life as a professional flint knapper. Val is also a cordage and textile specialist in using natural fibres. Together they make a fine pair that compliment each other and have a relaxed and harmonious teaching style. |
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| Tim assists on our instructor course bringing a new perspective to outdoor first aid with his expertise on plants and herbal medicine. He is trained in mainstream medical diagnostic techniques as well as the use of herbs at a more vitalistic level. He grows his own organic plants and uses wild herbs for manufacturing an increasing number of his own medicines. He has his own private practice, is a mentor to newly trained herbalists and a supervisor at various festivals offering acute and first aid herbal medicine treatment. He is into re-discovering our own traditional system of medicine and in researching and utilising the works of Nicholas Culpeper.Tim has various environmental projects on the go from manufacturing bio-diesel to devising new heating/solar water systems from salvage. He has started a herbal blog site with a few like minded colleagues. |
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| Caron is a director and the course co-ordinator at Woodcraft School responsible for the day to day operations and planning. Coming from a background as a qualified architect and project manager she ensures the smooth running of events from all angles. She worked in a large architectural practice in Cape Town for 2 years which gave her access to the bush through her love of climbing and walking. After returning to act as a project manager she met John 10 years ago on one of Ray's courses. Aside from running a very busy office, Caron is training to become a Forest School Leader, is undertaking a furniture making course and is mum to a very bouncy 7 year old! She is a keen naturalist and photographer, green woodworker, wild forager and loves everything our hedgerows have to offer for free. |
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Clare has recently joined the team to aid with the growing demand for courses and events and especially the licencing of our Awards. She has a history of adventure as part of the management team at Raleigh International venturing to Mongolia, Zimbabwe and Malaysia. Following on from there she worked as a Tournament Director for the Lawn Tennis Association and then as an Event Manager for an independent school in Surrey. More recently she has worked as a Marketing Director for a school and is currently studying upholstery to develop a new business initiative. Capable, enthusiastic and lots of fun, she has a love of travel and the outdoors and regularly helps out on our bushcraft courses. She also joins Caron as a director of our new Woodcraft Foundation Community Interest company. |
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