Hello

[lightfoot]

Hi, I'm David and I live in Chester. Throughout my life (41 now) I've spent a lot of time in the great outdoors; travelling, camping, make shift shelters, hill walking and the like but don't have a great range of skills so I went on a buscraft course with John Rhyder earlier in the summer which was great. I managed to get my fire going using the bow drill on the very last possible attempt before the course ended - and using a previously discarded drill! Great feeling. The drill now sits in pride of place on my chest of drawers along with a deer antler I found in Scotland a few years ago.

Anyway, I want to learn more about nature and bushcraft skills so I've been going on free courses organised by the local councils around here - funhgi walks, tree identification, food for free and the like and I'm planning to go on a longbow making course in January too. I've told the family that next year they're getting longbows for Christmas!

I'm hoping to make it to the moot this coming weekend and get together with my son. He lives in London so it'll be our Christmas get together. Look forward to meeting you all then.

Best
Lightfoot

 

[beowolf762]

Howdy and welcome David, fire away with any questions or tell us of some of your adventures.

 

[lightfoot]

Hi Harold and thanks for the welcome. Your username and home have reminded me of something that might interest you. My sister was out walking with our nextdoor neighbour, just coming back from the local park, when they saw a woman with a dog coming toward them. Their attention was immediately captured by the dog, particularly the markings on its face, so they asked the lady what it was. "A wolf" she said. True, true. A woman walking a wolf in lil old Chester!!

She'd just moved here from the States which is where she'd acquired it. They lived out in the wilds somewhere and when the wolf was a pup it came on to their land to play with their normal dog who was also a pup at the time. It didn't seem to have any family so the woman would feed it though it wouldn't come anywhere near her or any other human. It was two years before it came close enough to touch. By the time they came to leave for the UK it was part of their family so they had to bring it with them. Our neighbour asked how she got it through customs and she said, 'Oh, we just told them it was a dog.'

Got lots of questions to ask and lots of adventures to recount but they'll have to wait as it's time for bed. G'night.

 

[John Fenna]

Hello and welcome!
It sounds like you have had apretty good intro to bushcraft - and so much for free!
I wish our council did free stuff like that - tho the Nat Park does do a little of this kind of thing - but I have not yet been on one of their walks....
Lazy I guess!
Enjoy the site.
John

 

[Ogri the trog]

Welcome aboard Dave,
I hope you get as much out of this forum as I have, its a great place to while away the hours learning new skills.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Goose]

Hi David, I am just up the road from you, welcome to Bcuk. Let me know where and when the next council course is, I will try and make it. We hear of the occasional one here in Widnes, but sods law means I am working or away when they are on!

 

[beowolf762]

Very intersting about the "wolf-dog", I would have thought the English authorities would have a fit if they found out they let a wolf in the U.K.
About 2 weeks ago I was deer hunting in the Hiawatha National Forrest, walking along an old railroad grade that had been convetred to a snowmobile-ORV trail and found wolf tracks and scat right on the trail. I did not see any wolves but at sunset I could here the "call of the wild" every night I was there.

 

[Goose]

Very intersting about the "wolf-dog", I would have thought the English authorities would have a fit if they found out they let a wolf in the U.K.
About 2 weeks ago I was deer hunting in the Hiawatha National Forrest, walking along an old railroad grade that had been convetred to a snowmobile-ORV trail and found wolf tracks and scat right on the trail. I did not see any wolves but at sunset I could here the "call of the wild" every night I was there.

They probably would, I think wolves come in under the dangerous dogs act, but it is such a badly thought out law it is almost impossible to enforce!
The act bans a list of "dangerous" dogs, mainly fighting type dogs(some pitbulls and the like), but apparently cross breeds don't count and it leaves no way of proving the breed of dog! Stupidly thought out knee jerk law that was brought in because newspapers had a spell of showing kids that had been bitten by dogs . Must be a lovely dog but I would still be wary of it, as you should be with any dog really.

Edit: Just checked, a wolf comes under the dangerous wild animals act,not the dangerous dogs act and would require a licence, the same as a Lion or Tiger! This also applies to wolf hybrids, but apparently most "wolf hybrids" turn out not to be .
http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/gwd/wildact.htm#wolfdog

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

Hi lightfoot,

Hope to see you at the moot

Phil.

 

[bushyboo]

HI Lightfoot
hope you like it here

 

[lightfoot]

Hi all and thank you for the warm welcome. Maybe I should be welcoming John, Too Much Kit to Carry and Bushyboo as I joined in July - taken me this long to think of something to say! and as Ogri pointed out it's very easy to spend hours just reading. There's so much here.

Given the status of the wolf as a dangerous wild animal I'd better not broadcst the story too much or else we'll have hunting parties up and down the street. Both my sister and neighbour admitted that it did have a feral look in its eyes. Hope I get to see it sometime though if I had a choice I'd much rather hear a pack of them in the wild like beowolf.

Hi Goose, I've just come back from a council walk. Nothing particular but the ranger knew a good few trees and found some King Alfred's cakes which are now drying on my windowsill. Cheshire are due to publish a guide to activities for the New Year but haven't done so yet.

I've just emailed countryside@cheshire.gov.uk to ask them to send the information when they have it. There's also Wrexham and Flintshire (Lancashire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire might be worth checking too) so I'll let you know of any bushcrafty acitivites and I'll post on the 'Out and About' Forum.

Hope to meet you all at moots to come. All the best, David.

 

[Wayland]

Hi Lightfoot,

There are quite a few of us in this area now and we have meet ups quite regularly.

Hope to meet you at one soon.

 

[leon-b]

hello and welcome to bcuk lightfoot
leon

 

[fred gordon]

Hi lightfoot and welcome. I'm sure you'll have great fun here.

 

[British Red]

Hi Lightfoot,

There are quite a few of us in this area now and we have meet ups quite regularly.

Hope to meet you at one soon.

But Wayland...how could he recognise you (sorry mate)

Welcome lightfoot - nice to see you here

Red

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Hi and welcome

 

[Ed]

Hiya and welcome..... good to have you here


Ed

 

[moduser]

Hi David and welocome to BCUK.

David (yes another one)

 

[bartjen 2]

a big welcome if you have questions schoot

 

[lightfoot]

Hi Wayland, leon, fred, Red, Spikey, Ed, moduser and last but not least, bartjen. Thanks for the welcome . I should be at the moot now but I'm not. Oh well, another time.

Be good to meet up with you guys in Lancashire sometime Wayland. Let me know what's happening or which forums to keep an eye on. Did you guys have a meeting in Bowland in the summer?

Spikey DaPikey, love the avatar and posting style. Makes me smile every time. Pixies Rock!

Cheers