I wanted to put out some feelers about the possibility of meetups in or near Oxford, given that there are quite a few members registered for Oxford /Oxfordshire and we have some pretty good countryside around here. I enjoy teaching myself to do things but sometimes it is good to learn from an expert.
I'm always wary of internet groups as you don't really know who is on the other end of the line, so don't forget to have a look at this thread http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=897. Any thoughts are welcome on how to get something going, but maybe there could be a meetup on neutral ground (e.g. a drink at some Oxford pub), perhaps a stroll at one of the local woods /nature reserves...maybe people could meet up at the Spring Bushmoot, seeing it's nearby, though I'm not sure that I am going to be able to get there.
The Bucks group seem pretty active (and have offered invitations), but it would be good to have something very local. And from their latest thread, they seem to be becoming a victim of their own popularity so I'm not sure they could cope with a big influx from Oxford
. I have also had PM from someone in Oxford offering me bowdrill tuition, but in the nicest possible way, I wanted to have another go myself just to see if I could do it without help.
Being fairly new to this game in practical terms (though my interest started about 30 years ago before the term bushcraft was coined - I called it 'living off the land'), although well read on the subject, I'm not sure what can offer at the moment, but once I know how to do something I'm reasonably good at teaching people how to do it.
Obviously it depends on what skills and resources people have in this area, and what people want to do, but some of my thoughts (for what they are worth) are:
Anyway, this list could go on forever, so I'd better stop and see what everyone else has to say on this.
Geoff
I'm always wary of internet groups as you don't really know who is on the other end of the line, so don't forget to have a look at this thread http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=897. Any thoughts are welcome on how to get something going, but maybe there could be a meetup on neutral ground (e.g. a drink at some Oxford pub), perhaps a stroll at one of the local woods /nature reserves...maybe people could meet up at the Spring Bushmoot, seeing it's nearby, though I'm not sure that I am going to be able to get there.
The Bucks group seem pretty active (and have offered invitations), but it would be good to have something very local. And from their latest thread, they seem to be becoming a victim of their own popularity so I'm not sure they could cope with a big influx from Oxford
. I have also had PM from someone in Oxford offering me bowdrill tuition, but in the nicest possible way, I wanted to have another go myself just to see if I could do it without help.Being fairly new to this game in practical terms (though my interest started about 30 years ago before the term bushcraft was coined - I called it 'living off the land'), although well read on the subject, I'm not sure what can offer at the moment, but once I know how to do something I'm reasonably good at teaching people how to do it.
Obviously it depends on what skills and resources people have in this area, and what people want to do, but some of my thoughts (for what they are worth) are:
- Could you lead a walk and identify edible plants /fungi and other useful flora?
- Do you have access to land where bushcraft activities could take place. The Oxford Preservation Trust has a lot of sites which are all very good for wildlife observation, plant identification, etc, but you are pretty restricted in what you can do (e.g. can't pick plants)?
- Do you do any jobs that you could involve others in at evenings /weekends, e.g. gamekeeping, woodmanship?
- Do you have access to any bushcraft 'resources', e.g. rabbits, willow /lime bark, that others could buy /swap /have?
- Could you take someone out rabbit shooting or fishing?
- Can you teach bushcraft skills (e.g. how to do bowdrill, campfire cooking, carving)? Obviously some of these things depend on having a suitable location where these things can be practised.
- Do you have any Scouting links? Youlbury Scout camp looks a good place (I have camped there when my son was in Beavers and Cubs) but I'm not sure if it is open to non Scouters. Then again, maybe if some of us got 'trained up' on things like bowdrill maybe they would do a deal in return for teaching Scouts how to do this.
Anyway, this list could go on forever, so I'd better stop and see what everyone else has to say on this.
Geoff
