Heyho Patrick
Grant here.
I had the pleasure of also being on this course with Outdoorpaddy.
This was my first course, indeed my first camping experience in over a decade and a half so this was my entry back into this world.
I do not know if its usually this way but I felt we got quite lucky with the group. There were only 8 of us but everyone got on really well and as often seems to be the case there were 3 non brits among us who flew in from abroad for the course.
Being a complete beginner I appreciated the slower pace of the course and reduced intensity. OP and others of the group had already done the fundamental course and remarked on the difference.
The latter few days are almost entirely craft/carving. I wont post pictures of my lumpy blobs
, I lack the raw talent and to lesser extent experience of carving that Patrick and a few other attendees had but I learned some basics when before I knew nothing.
If you have an interest in carving I can see this course being very appealing to you. To actually go from a free standing tree in the wild, to felling, limbing, sectioning and splitting it into slabs that you then turn into a bowl or cup etc gives you the full experience and a complete backstory to your finished product.
If you have the room you can also take as much wood in blocks home with you as you wish to craft many more works.
The course leader Tom is a multi talented individual to say the least but I got the vibe that the Camp Craft course, working with wood, in the woods, trees and carving etc was his primary calling. His enthusiasm for everything we did was clear, on top of the knowledge you would expect by default. Beyond doing many of the activities of course, on the course, he also does much of the same and more outside of Woodlore, either as part time work or personal past time, living the skills he teaches so to speak.
The assistants Keith and Sarah also deserve a nod, both very helpful and informative.
All in all I enjoyed my time on the course and hope I can carry the experience and knowledge gained onto further things.
Sadly my wallet is living in fear of the list of items I now want that I saw other people using at the camp and the idea of more courses.
*Edit - Yeh would of been nice to meet Ray but I wasnt disappointed either way. His Namibia tracking course is in a few days isnt it?, I was wondering at the time if he was even in the country let alone close enough to drop by.
