spitewinter - year 1

[shaggystu]

Well it’s been a little while now since the last Spitewinter meet of 2010, and it’s going to be even longer until the first one of 2011 (6th to the 8th of May TBC), so I thought I’d post up a little reminder of what we got up to this first year.

First of all can I say a massive thank you to all those who attended throughout the year. In your own way you all helped to create some great weekends. :You_Rock_

I think this is a complete list of who attended this year, really sorry if I’ve missed anyone off, just let me know and I’ll edit you in.

Shaggystu
MartinK9
TwoDogs
IntrepidStu
Cliv
Ged
TinkyPete
Addo
Elines
Ratbag + Robert
Ste Carey
Istvan
PREPER
Wayland
Hogstable

I’m fairly sure that I’m the only person who’s made it along to all the meets so I shall award myself a million points and the rest of you will have to make do with a “must try harder”. (after some consideration I think that maybe Ged’s been along to every meet too, if you did Ged then please accept my apologies and feel free help yourself to a million points!)

The first meet back in april (link to post #48 http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30879&page=2) was a great start to the year. The weather was beautiful, the food was fantastic, and a fair few of us turned up to make the most of it. The weekend was a pretty laid back social affair with plenty of good food and good company around the fire with just a little bit of “bushcraft” thrown in to keep the purists happy. All in all a good mood setter for the meets to follow.

Attendees:
Shaggystu
MartinK9
TwoDogs
IntrepidStu
Cliv
Ged

A few photo’s

The site

Cliff bought along his laavu and got to try out his new fire pit

I was under an army surplus basha

and Martin was under his huge tarp

the first of many Spitewinter brews

On to the food!
I made a chilli

Stu made bannock

Cliff put us both to shame with his tandoori chicken…..

…..and freshly made nan bread

us

We didn’t just eat, we also drank quite well too, mainly courtesy of Martins various flavoured spirits, though for some funny reason I can’t remember clearly enough to say what was in them! We also spent a day playing around with the bow drill and although no-one actually managed fire it was a great learning experience, with lots of good hints and tips shared. All in all a cracking first meet and a great introduction for us to the site, and equally for the site to us.

The rest of the photo’s can be found here

 

[shaggystu]

June saw us back at spitewinter for the second meet. We were blessed with great weather again, blue skies and sunshine all weekend with a wonderfully helpful fire-lighting breeze. Yet again we ate likes kings for the weekend, enjoyed some great fireside chats and practised a few skills.

Attendees:
Shaggystu
MartinK9
Cliv
Elines
TinkyPete
Ged
Ratbag + Robert
Addo

A few photo’s.

The trees were fully in leaf this time giving the site a different feel, it’s only when you see the trees like this that you realise how wooded the site is. Earlier in the year it had felt a bit open, but with the mature beech’s bending their bows down almost to the floor under the weight of all that spring growth it felt much cosier this time.

Clive’s set up.

Pete’s set up.

Addo turned up and brought along some bow drill sets and kindly helped out those that wanted to brush up on their friction fire lighting skills.

Courtesy of martin’s dutchie we ate rather well again.

Mountain man’s mess. This was supposed to have been a mountain man breakfast but a slight mis-calculation led to a shortage of eggs, it tasted fantastic all the same.

Roast lamb, this was absolutely superb.

Chris brought along a few of his home-made walking sticks…..

which for some reason seemed to baffle Pete and I.

Ged started a new spitewinter tradition, faffing around with his kelly kettle. We've had smiles on our faces and brews in our mugs ever since, cheers Ged.

all in all another fantastic weekend with some great company and even better food.
Thanks again to all that attended.

the rest of the photo’s can be found here and
here

 

[shaggystu]

August finally saw the weather change, with rain and cold for most of the weekend spitewinter started to live us to the promise of its name. a great weekend was still emjoyed by all those that attended though with enough dry spells for us to at least manage the occasional smile. Unfortunately no-one took a camera along to this one so there’s no proof at all of what we got up to but there was plenty of the customary chatting round the fire and a few skills practiced too. Istvan had a try at the bow drill with locally sourced materials, damp is the word that springs to mind, Ste made some natural cordage from nettles, and Ged continued his tradition of faffing around with his Kelly kettle. All in all another great weekend, sorry I don’t have photo’s to share.

attendees:
Shaggystu + Ben
Ged
Stecarey
Istvan
Preper

 

[shaggystu]

The October meet was a little longer than the other meets this year (twice as long actually), because of this we were more subject than normal to the whims of the weather. We had cold and dry, cold and wet, wet and windy, cold and windy, ground frost, glorious sunshine etc. pretty much exactly what you’d expect for the location and time of year. The weather didn’t stand a chance of ruining the long weekend though, if anything it added to it, although things might have been slightly different if it been for Wayland and his giant tarp.

Attendees:
Shaggystu
Intrepidstu
Cliv
Ged
Wayland
Elines
Preper
Hogstable

A few photo’s

I hid from the weather for this one….

…but braver souls than I stuck to their hammocks

(you can read all about Waylands Spitewinter hammocking experiment here)

The weather forced us to seek refuge in the camp fire circle….

…where the addition of a tarp and a slight bending of the “no cooking allowed in the campfire circle” rule created the cosiest communal area you could wish for.

A slight change from the norm was the arrival of 20(ish) venture scouts and leaders. I’d been roped into doing some shelter building with them and Wayland very kindly volunteered to put his teaching hat on and showed them some primitive fire lighting. Thanks again guys for the help and understanding with this, as you all know the nature of their visit came as somewhat of a surprise to me too. Photo's here

Whilst I was off playing scouts Ged treated everyone else to a knife sharpening workshop. By all accounts the depth of knowledge displayed was superb and I know that a fair few tips were picked up, so thanks for that Ged and sorry that I couldn’t be involved.

Ged’s box of sharp things

the rest of the photo's can be found here

The October long weekend was a perfect end to our first year at Spitewinter, with friends old and new relaxing around a campfire with good food, good drink, and good company as always.

Thank you all for making this first year at Spitewinter such a good one, I hope to see you all again in the new year, I can barely wait!

stuart

 

[SimonM]

Loks like a good year...I hope to join you at least once next year.

Simon

 

[Twodogs]

Crackin mate , I must get up there again soon ...................But with anchour supplies so near it may be a bad move ,

 

[nolightweight]

Good thread Stu. I'll make it up there next year.

 

[MartinK9]

Nice one Stuart.

Look forward to many more Meets there.

 

[IntrepidStu]

Excellent sum-up Stu. Hope to get back there with friends asap.

 

[Cliv]

I have Thoroughly enjoyed myself at Spitewinter, looking forward to meets in the new year

 

[jimbo75]

Got to check this out soon!

 

[ged]

What a crackin' post Stu, and yes I was at every meet but I didn't get to stay the whole time so I don't think I really deserver the whole million points. How about half a million?

I had an idea that there was going to be a December meet, but I take it that's off now, or maybe it was just one of my figment. So nothing now until May? That's a pity! Well I'll have to see if I can get to more of the North Wood meets...

Please can I have my 111B back?

 

[Elines]

Stu - Thanks for taking the time to post this reminder of events - only sorry I couldn't make them all, it's a nice little site

 

[shaggystu]

...yes I was at every meet but I didn't get to stay the whole time so I don't think I really deserver the whole million points. How about half a million?

I had an idea that there was going to be a December meet, but I take it that's off now, or maybe it was just one of my figment. So nothing now until May? That's a pity! Well I'll have to see if I can get to more of the North Wood meets...

Please can I have my 111B back?

half a million seems perfectly reasonable to me.

i guess that 111B is your stove, can't think of anything else of yours i've got anyway. should i bring it to north wood next month (assuming you'll be there of course) or are you wanting it back sooner than that?

PM sent re. december meet.

cheers

stuart

 

[shaggystu]

thanks all for you comments, makes it worth the head scratching and confusion that this caused!

to everyone who's been up tis year - glad you all enjoyed the meets, that was the idea!

to neil, simon, and jimbo, see you all in the new year, it's time we had some new faces round the fire.

cheers

stuart

 

[PREPER]

Looking forward to the next one,

PREPER...........

 

[woodspirits]

smashing round up of your meets stu

 

[shaggystu]

smashing round up of your meets stu

thanks for that mate, looking forward to seeing you up here next year.

stuart

 

[Wayland]

I only made it to one meet I'm afraid but I would certainly recommend it to those that haven't been yet.

Nice site, great company.

Hope to make it to the next one.

 

[ged]

I only made it to one meet I'm afraid...

But we were all very glad you did. :umbrella: