Hi everyone, hope you enjoyed the weekend!
We have just finished the first ever East Anglia Meet-up, it went really well!
Those present were:
Myself RAPPLEBY2000,
Fenlander
R-Bowskill
Tess friend of R-bowskill
Ranger Bob
and we had a fleeting meet up with Desperate Dan though he was ill!
We didn't exactly have nice weather, Saturday bashas and Bivis were flapping everywhere, and hammocks / tarps (Bashas) were shelter of choice.
Saturday was spent trying out new kit, putting up shelters and hammocks collecting wood and generally getting used to the site. Later Fenlander gave us several good demos on how to start a friction fire with a bow drill, R-Bowskill made hunting darts and R-Bowskill and I made weird whizzing humming things as seen on Crocodile Dundee.
Bannock breads of various types were made and some cleaves were found by Tess and boiled up (she also found several guy lines!), spoons were carved; personal Bow drill sets were found made and tried.
All day it was very windy in the Thetford area, not a Bush hat day or it was if you used staples, as the night drew closer small branches were falling from nearby healthy poplar trees and twigs were falling on us from the pine area we were in.
After burning Bannock and fingers we all headed for the warmth of our shelters only to find the wind getting much worse along with a heavy rain storm, swaying hammocks was one problem!
In the morning, Ranger Bob assembled a truly inspirational wood-burning stove made from cut metal sheet from an old filing cabinet, after burning more Bannock and witnessing a snow shower, we all went for a forage in the local woods and marsh area. Pickings were, as youd expect a little sparse this time of year but food found and tried were:
Burdock root, Cleaves, and nettle.
Ranger bob also showed us a wooden bowl he had carved from birch, and due to the earlier finger burning incident R-Bowskill set about making a Bushcraft wooden pan holder and succeeded!
The hinged pan holder inspired a masterclass of engineering that involved a DIY furnace to heat a nail to burn a pivot hole, using a nearby copper pipe and some hosepipe.
R-Bowskill suggested we try forging some copper and emptied a small bag of minerals into the furnace we worked for some time taking it in turns to get dizzy from breathing into the fire, a copper pipe placed in the fire did melt, unfortunately we never found the result of the minerals but we did melt copper (900 degrees Celsius so Im told) pretty hot in camp fire terms!
Before returning to came we Found a willow with nice branches and took them back to create a Bow (with re-curve) and a stave (which is still in my car). Ranger Bob showed us a bowl he was making.
We all had a Great Time and are eagerly looking forward to the next Meet-up, which we are starting to plan for April.
Im afraid the picture I took were ruined and consequently there are none to show what we got up to but there were other pictures taken so they will get here eventually.
:You_Rock_