Ever since my debris shelter had to be dismantled I have been thinking of making a new shelter in the woods. As I teach a bit of Bushcraft to the guys at the Carefarm where I work - and also have my basecamp - I proposed building a large lean-to shelter. The landowner was fine with this and not only gave the OK but also had poles cut and delivered to the site 
I went up to the woods on Friday after work and started pitching camp as per usual at about 10am. Although I was expecting to be solo this time, I set the big tarp as the forcast was not great and indeed we did get a brief shower.
I then made sure that the area we had chosen for the lean-to was OK...
And then the fun began!
I started with the rear load bearing beam, which I lashed between two trees with a forked pole acting as a central support (this is going to take some serious weight!) and all the lashings were made from old climbing rope (donated by Red Kite) and wedged tight after lashing - just to take up any stretch in the rope.
To get the pole in place I used temp loops from rope and hoisted the pole on my shoulder to get them into the loops which held the pole while I lashed it.
The much higher front pole was hoisted into position on ropes and lashed into position and three forked poles acted as supports (the front trees are further apart than the back ones) and a lower front pole was added and lashed to both the trees and the forked poles to further accept some of the weight...
A side roof pole (also to be weight bearing by supporting a central cross beam) was lashed to front and back trees and beams ... and I ran out of rope!
Still to be added are the weight bearing side pole on the other side, the central support beam and the roofing poles.
After that we can lay on the tarp roof and the outer roof poles then build the back (and side?) wall, table, benches etc
Lots of work to come!
I finished all this by mid day on Saturday - with a glorious 10 hours kip in between - and enjoyed the sounds of foxes, badgers owls etc during the dark after work and before sleep.
I had two visitors on Sat afternoon - Roly and my wife both of whom dropped in for a natter ... but missed any of the work. We all went to look at the wildlife signs.
After they left it was all quiet again and I bimbled around soaking up the peace and sounds of the woods.
Another early night and long sleep to awake on Sunday with rain pattering on the tarp and another cold turning my nose into a running tap!
Breakfast, tidy up, pack up and away home to do the normal weekend chores...
I went up to the woods on Friday after work and started pitching camp as per usual at about 10am. Although I was expecting to be solo this time, I set the big tarp as the forcast was not great and indeed we did get a brief shower.
I then made sure that the area we had chosen for the lean-to was OK...
And then the fun began!
I started with the rear load bearing beam, which I lashed between two trees with a forked pole acting as a central support (this is going to take some serious weight!) and all the lashings were made from old climbing rope (donated by Red Kite) and wedged tight after lashing - just to take up any stretch in the rope.
To get the pole in place I used temp loops from rope and hoisted the pole on my shoulder to get them into the loops which held the pole while I lashed it.
The much higher front pole was hoisted into position on ropes and lashed into position and three forked poles acted as supports (the front trees are further apart than the back ones) and a lower front pole was added and lashed to both the trees and the forked poles to further accept some of the weight...
A side roof pole (also to be weight bearing by supporting a central cross beam) was lashed to front and back trees and beams ... and I ran out of rope!
Still to be added are the weight bearing side pole on the other side, the central support beam and the roofing poles.
After that we can lay on the tarp roof and the outer roof poles then build the back (and side?) wall, table, benches etc
Lots of work to come!
I finished all this by mid day on Saturday - with a glorious 10 hours kip in between - and enjoyed the sounds of foxes, badgers owls etc during the dark after work and before sleep.
I had two visitors on Sat afternoon - Roly and my wife both of whom dropped in for a natter ... but missed any of the work. We all went to look at the wildlife signs.
After they left it was all quiet again and I bimbled around soaking up the peace and sounds of the woods.
Another early night and long sleep to awake on Sunday with rain pattering on the tarp and another cold turning my nose into a running tap!
Breakfast, tidy up, pack up and away home to do the normal weekend chores...
