Woodland Cook up.

Ray Mears once said ‘that every person should learn some survival skills, you never know what might happen’, or something like that.  You never know what might happen…Pandemic for instance. When Covid happened, myself and my son took ourselves to the woods and I passed on some basic bushcraft skills.  When I previously delivered empowerment programmes to long term unemployed and veterans, I met some amazing woodland instructors and as they taught our participants, I also picked up the basics along the way, from knife handling, fire lighting, whittling and shelter building. During lockdown we worked on these, built our own little ‘Covid-Free’ den, cooked campfire doughnuts and quietly developed our knowledge a little further. Though still a rank amateur, bushcraft is such an enjoyable way to spend a day in the woods, it’s pretty good for gaining those all important mindfulness points too and a perfect way to get your kids outdoors and breathing fresh air. 

Last weekend we stayed local, within a five mile radius and went to our local Woods of St Loy, where we have a particular spot that is just perfect to set up camp. 

As part of my sons Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Bronze Award he has decided to concentrate on the Skills element of the award progressing his bushcraft. We packed our kit that included the trusty Kelly Kettle, our freshly sharpened knives, tarp, some dry ingredients for Bannock, water, tea bags, a little sugar,  and some dry kindling, because the day before we had a pretty bad storm pass through the Wild West and finding dry wood would be an all day affair, so we cheated on this one. 

You might have guessed already but the activities I pursue take me outdoors, and although woodland is a place I love to spend time, here in West Cornwall it’s pretty scarce. There are a couple of beauties like Trevaylor Woods, near Penzance,  but on the whole we live in a pretty baron, but striking landscape, surrounded mostly by ocean and agricultural farmland. St Loy is our go to spot for a regular dog walk during a gale as it’s so sheltered, and the trail is a great walk or run down to the water's edge, and it's stunning at any time of the year, especially when the bluebells are out. If you do visit, please leave it as you find it, this place is precious to everyone living here. 

All woodland has that special energy, maybe a little different to that monoculture type of forestry, although still enjoyable, yet that feeling of being in a true native woodland, is much like the ocean both feel,and are more powerful than our tiny selves, and both always lead to a high level of stoke,  and I'm always keen to return to both. 

Part of developing my son's skills involves sharp knives and yes, kids and knives are always a hot topic in today's climate, but the two worlds of knife crime and bushcraft are so far apart.  All kids want a penknife after all. This need leads to wanting a sheath knife, and I reckon it’s a rite of passage for any young lad who uses them for the right reason. When it was my lads to time he chose a Gerber, because it was a more military and tactical looking, and he is a teenager after all. My knife was a little gift to myself. The handle is shaped from 5000 year old Peat Oak, by Dartmoor Wild Crafts, and the blade altered to my requirements. A thing of beauty, and jealousy where my son is concerned.  I only mention knives as whilst chatting to my good friend Alex Woodhouse, a Bushcraft Instructor and owner of ‘Wild About Cornwall’, he was talking of dexterity, and motor skills, often missing or becoming scarce in today's school curriculum and we often have the discusscion about the stigma attached to knives, and yet once you find yourself entangled in woodcraft, a fine knife is like going down a rabbit hole, the choices, the uses, and varieties endless.  Alex is going to assess my son's skills as they develop, from cutting fine kindling and making feather sticks, tent pegs and whittling, so please keep an eye on here as we’ll be spending some time with Alex this Spring . 

The Kelly Kettle was one of those purchases that just makes sense. You wouldnt want to take it backpacking or bikepacking, it’s a pretty big piece of kit, but for a day out in the woods or a full on camping trip, they're fun and provide that opportunity to use your fire lighting skills, other than a box of matches or a lighter. I was pretty stoked to get this going using my steel and striker, some ‘Fat Wood’ (which is resin laden wood, commonly found in Evergreen trees like Pine), some well prepared fine kindling from Jago and one large King Alfred Cake. These are the black fungus that can be found growing on Beech or Ash, or decaying wood, and look like lumps of charcoal stuck to a tree. By getting a good spark onto the Cake, they are great fire starters when combined with your fine kindling and a few good lungs of air, no lighter needed. I always carry a good supply of these and take a mental note of where a good crop can be gathered and then dried. 
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The origins of the  King Alfred Cake is better explained by the Woodland Trust…
King Alfred lived in the 9th century when parts of Britain had been overrun by Vikings. Trying to escape them, he took refuge in the home of a peasant woman who asked him to watch over her cakes, baking by the fire. He let them burn and was scolded by the woman for his negligence. It is said that embarrassed and ashamed, he scattered the cakes to get rid of the evidence. As the fungus looks like small, burnt cakes, especially as they get older, the name King Alfred’s cakes went into common use.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/king-alfreds-cakes/
So after patting myself on the back for getting the Kelly Kettle all fired up we then sat back and enjoyed our first cup of tea and prepared some Bannock which is a type of Flat Bread or Scone, a process passed onto me by Alex Woodhouse, and recommended adding sugar and fruit to make them a little sweeter. They apparently date way back to the 8th Century with origins in the North of England, Scotland and Ireland. Cooked over a medium heat, (not a raging fire), they cook well and when covered in honey, will keep a teenage son happy and full for hours. 
Washed down with a sweet black tea, full on Bannock, with our backs up against our favorite tree, in our favorite spot next to a running stream, I would suggest that learning a few bushcraft skills, whittling some wood, lighting a fire, and enjoying the sounds of the woodland, ranks highly on my list of favorite pastimes and dare I say would yours too.  In terms of health and well-being I've seen the positive results of days like this on people with low self-esteem, confidence issues, and can say that the outcome of a day in the woodland, doing exactly what we did last weekend is only ever positive. 
If you’d like to find out more about woodland days out in Cornwall and learning some Bushcraft skills then please drop me a line and I can arrange for Alex to give you a great introduction to the Great Outdoors and Survivalism.