British bushcraft - a dying art?

[Wolfie]

A while ago I heard someone ask a well travelled professional bushcraft instructor which was his favourite country / tribe. His reply was surprising in that he said the UK and the British people. I never thought of ourselves being a tribe before and this got me thinking...

With so many people interested in the bushcraft of other tribes and cultures are traditional British bushcraft skills, crafts, tools, clothing etc being overlooked?. I am unlikely to travel to many of the places I see on TV and I would like to learn and keep alive the skills of my own tribe to use in this country.

Many will be familiar with the discussions about the merit of the billhook vs axes & machetes but how about considering the merits of the coracle vs the canoe for example.

Does anybody have other suggestions for traditional bushcraft skills, tools recipes, clothing, folklore, festivals etc. that could be regarded as particularly British ?

 

[Toadflax]

No suggestions, but I saw a repeat last night of RM's Bushcraft programme on bushcraft in Britain, and it was good to hear how much he extolled the virtues of, and opportunities for, bushcraft in Britain (provided of course you can get permission to do it!).


Geoff

 

[British Red]

A while ago I heard someone ask a well travelled professional bushcraft instructor which was his favourite country / tribe. His reply was surprising in that he said the UK and the British people. I never thought of ourselves being a tribe before and this got me thinking...

With so many people interested in the bushcraft of other tribes and cultures are traditional British bushcraft skills, crafts, tools, clothing etc being overlooked?. I am unlikely to travel to many of the places I see on TV and I would like to learn and keep alive the skills of my own tribe to use in this country.

Many will be familiar with the discussions about the merit of the billhook vs axes & machetes but how about considering the merits of the coracle vs the canoe for example.

Does anybody have other suggestions for traditional bushcraft skills, tools recipes, clothing, folklore, festivals etc. that could be regarded as particularly British ?

Hundreds - fox hunting, "one for the pot", Stone Henge being able to be touched by the public, every countryman being able to own a shotgun, kids learning to hunt with airguns

Shall I go on?

Red

 

[Seagull]

If you get right down to it, then, my lot is the Parisi; and I reckon that their traditional stuff consisted of fabbing-up log boats to be sunk in esturine mud( for us lot to find) and fighting a guerrilla action against Romans.

Happy slapping had'nt yet been invented, so I'l stick with the boats and Romans.

Ceeg

 

[Bernie Garland]

Knowing your shrooms and where to find them,using a dobber or catapult,having a good dog to catch you rabbits and squirrels,knowing how to ferret, snare and longnet,being able to tickle a trout,knowing what food is for free.

Bernie

 

[Toddy]

Good topic

Sounding a bit like an advert for NRA there though, Red and the reason Stone Henge isn't wide open to the public is a bit like the Egyptian tombs, too many people = too much damage

How about Longbow archery? What woods, feathers, glues and cordages? Roving is not only a great way to practice it's a good way to spend time outdoors.
Slingshots using the stones not ball bearings, what kind of stones, where's best to fetch them from ?
Seashore harvesting, seaweeds and seasons and moons and tides.

Coppicing and hedging and their traditional uses, nuts and buds and barks and roots. How to make a plant take the shape you want; when to gather.

Drove roads and rights of way need to be used to keep them open, old trackways are well worth having a wander along.

There's an awful lot more to the archaeology of these Isles than just Stonehenge.....there are thousands of hillforts and brochs and duns to see. DMV's (Deserted Medieval Villages) can be fascinating to research.

Follow a Roman road, just because........natural springs are all over our lands, some of the water is rich in minerals, there's a whole set of interests right there
River systems, follow a burn both up and down it's course.

Woodlands...follow the herds for a season......where do the deer forage and why? Instead of hunting the fox with hounds, can you follow four feet on two? That's an exhausting evernings work
Do you know what a blackbirds nest actually looks like ? What about the butterflies? How do they overwinter?

Can you hear the sap rise in a tree? and when's the most useful time to take bark?....and which bark for which task?

Seasonal festivals, maybe a bit too religiously associated for some, but the celebrations of Solstice and Equinox predate any of the religions now practiced. Fire and Harvest and Water Celebrations. There are so many local customs, it's never boring.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Bernie Garland]

Good topic

Sounding a bit like an advert for NRA there though, Red and the reason Stone Henge isn't wide open to the public is a bit like the Egyptian tombs, too many people = too much damage

How about Longbow archery? What woods, feathers, glues and cordages? Roving is not only a great way to practice it's a good way to spend time outdoors.
Slingshots using the stones not ball bearings, what kind of stones, where's best to fetch them from ?
Seashore harvesting, seaweeds and seasons and moons and tides.

Coppicing and hedging and their traditional uses, nuts and buds and barks and roots. How to make a plant take the shape you want; when to gather.

Drove roads and rights of way need to be used to keep them open, old trackways are well worth having a wander along.

There's an awful lot more to the archaeology of these Isles than just Stonehenge.....there are thousands of hillforts and brochs and duns to see. DMV's (Deserted Medieval Villages) can be fascinating to research.

Follow a Roman road, just because........natural springs are all over our lands, some of the water is rich in minerals, there's a whole set of interests right there
River systems, follow a burn both up and down it's course.

Woodlands...follow the herds for a season......where do the deer forage and why? Instead of hunting the fox with hounds, can you follow four feet on two? That's an exhausting evernings work
Do you know what a blackbirds nest actually looks like ? What about the butterflies? How do they overwinter?

Can you hear the sap rise in a tree? and when's the most useful time to take bark?....and which bark for which task?

Seasonal festivals, maybe a bit too religiously associated for some, but the celebrations of Solstice and Equinox predate any of the religions now practiced. Fire and Harvest and Water Celebrations. There are so many local customs, it's never boring.

cheers,
Toddy

Very well said Toddy, we have got a lot to offer in all aspects if its thought about.

Bernie

 

[British Red]

Well thank you Mary for your inflammatory comments and sneering emoticon - I thought better of you than that.

Perhaps you might like to consider that the request was for "traditional bushcraft skills". Shotguns and air guns are the more recent equivalent of the bow and slingshot you yourself discuss. The only difference being that they they may still be used legally for their designed purpose - one may still rough and walk up shoot with a gun, rather than playing "lets pretend" with a bow. Bushcraft is about surviving and feeding yourself - not playing with a bow and eating a ration pack.

Do I think that preserving "bushcraft" is about not living in an oversanitised, urban, silly happy clappy world where nothing is done "for real"? Absolutely. You might notice that RM himself took a deer with a rifle in his wild food series. As has HFW etc. Preserving such pursuits and the ability to understand that meat comes from animals is absolutley and irrevocably central to keeping us in touch with the circle of life. Do I believe that its an integral part of Bushcraft? Yes, I do. Sneer at me all you will but those are my beliefs.

Red

 

[Toddy]

Inflammatory ? Nah, just guns seemed so limiting.

I know you hunt, and that's very relevant to your life style, but it's not to the vast majority of people on these Isles.
If Bushcraft is anything it's being aware of the whole vast wonderous nature that surrounds us, and being able to relate to it, and use it too.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Bernie Garland]

Well thank you Mary for your inflammatory comments - I will not rise to your bait however.

Perhaps you might like to consider that the request was for "traditional bushcraft skills". Shotguns and air guns are the more recent equivalent of the bow and slingshot you yourself discuss. The only difference being that they they may still be used legally for their designed purpose - one may still rough and walk up shoot with a gun, rather than playing "lets pretend" with a bow.

Red

Agree with you on the bowhunting Red, but unfortunately that law will remain for ever, and serious skilled bowmen, will never be able to practice there art on live quarry,but it can still be practised,in the states and some European countries.

Bernie

 

[h2o]

We can all 'irrelavent of hunting or not enjoy the woods hills lakes and rivers.Making shelters and spending the night in them or trying to catch a fish for the pot cant be beat whether your british or from some far off corner of the planet.

 

[British Red]

Inflammatory ? Nah, just guns seemed so limiting.

I know you hunt, and that's very relevant to your life style, but it's not to the vast majority of people on these Isles.
If Bushcraft is anything it's being aware of the whole vast wonderous nature that surrounds us, and being able to relate to it, and use it too.

cheers,
Toddy

Really - why then was the largest demonstration ever witnessed in the UK in support of country sports? You don't speak for the majority Toddy, so please, don't assume that you do.

I am very angered here Toddy - please remeber that you started the sneering and insults here

Red

 

[illumeo]

I think some people would like us to stop doing all of these thing (both the stuff Red and Toddy said) and just experience life through our TV's, other than going to work and paying taxes and getting our national ID cards but if you do really have to go outside then use the National trust and stick to the path! It's a kind of pasteurised health and safety world. I am just glad we are all not stuck in it yet!

 

[British Red]

Thank you illumeo, that was exactly the point I was trying to make

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

As people into outdoor pursuits, we can try to preserve the little that is left, even if they aren't things we are into. This is a fact that others would do well to grasp lest out freedoms be whittled away.

Red

 

[Bernie Garland]

Thank you illumeo, that was exactly the point I was trying to make



As people into outdoor pursuits, we can try to preserve the little that is left, even if they aren't things we are into. This is a fact that others would do well to grasp lest out freedoms be whittled away.

Red

I for one am 100% behind your sentiments Red. and did attend the rally in London, and am a member of the countryside alliance,i hope the act will eventually be abolished,but sadly i don't think it will,but at least forums like these and members can remember the good old days,
and pass on the old traditional ways of doing things in my case to my grand kids.

Bernie

 

[Toddy]

It wasn't sneering Red, it was an opinion.
Country life does not revolve solely around Foxhunting, shotguns and airguns
And the biggest political rally in my country was anti war.
Angry or not, this is not the place for it.

Political discussion is a no go on the forum, and was not the question this thread sought to answer.


Back to the Bushcraft

Toddy

 

[Wayland]

Really - why then was the largest demonstration ever witnessed in the UK in support of country sports? You don't speak for the majority Toddy, so please, don't assume that you do.

I am very angered here Toddy - please remeber that you started the sneering and insults here

Red

The countryside alliance were quick to ask for my support when it suited them but I don't recall them doing much to help when I lost my right to hunt with a bow.

Bow hunting rights went back way beyond the Magna Carta but they were wiped out without a thought by the people that are supposed to represent us but really just line their pockets from our sweat and labour.

I think your poem is a classic case of "after the horse has bolted."

 

[British Red]

I agree Wayland - and I would actively support its re-introduction (even though its not a sport I participate in). The poem was indeed a case of after the horse has bolted - by a man who knew it at first hand over more serious matters - it was his plea for other people not to only care about themselves but to protect the rights of others.

And Toddy, I agree - politics wasn't what the thread, or my answer, was about - you are the person who brought it to that with your "opinion" - so don't make me out to be the bad guy here - you started knocking other peoples posts, not the other way around - so I tell you what - you drop it, and so will I.

Red

 

[Wayland]

I have to say Red, I think you are over reacting.

Toddy is one of the good guys (err girls) around here and I didn't detect any sneer in her post.

Have you had a bad day or something???

 

[Wolfie]

Thanks for the replies. Archery is something that I am glad to see being practiced and the skills in making a bow being kept alive. The legalities on using it for hunting are for another thread I think.

The drove roads is something I hadn't considered. I may look into drove roads in my locality for a wander sometime. As for archaeology there are loads of sites nearby which I'll take a look at when I get chance.

Local festivals are always interesting if somewhat strange at times.

Any local recipies of a bushcraft theme would be much appreciated.

Other things I'm looking for are any local ways of manufacturing something. On a course recently an example of an eel trap from a specific region of France was shown.

Finally, please guys and gals don't fall out over this. I'm just looking for opinions as to what can be seen as British bushcraft.