The Bushcraft Magazine Spring 2012 by Steven Kirk

plus Star Lore, Weather Lore and more

Our one-day taster courses cost:

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£35 for a single person £70 for a family of up to five. You may camp overnight at our farm in Kent if you wish, at no extra charge. We will provide tea and coffee and a hot vegetable soup as part of the day.

Saturday May 5th - Bank Holiday Monday May 7th

Bushcraft Magazine May Meet Book in for a weekend of courses and a chance for bushcrafters and adventurous families to share skills, and swap stories. Taster courses, demonstrations and mini-workshops include Animal Tracking, Atlatls, Archery, Catapults, Ferreting, Fire and Forge, Fire-by-Friction, Foraging, Green Woodworking, Spoon Carving, Star Gazing, Storytelling, Wild Cooking, and much, much more. Special guest on Saturday: Mark Dunn with his trained birds of prey. See our website for full details. Costs for the weekend, including 3 courses/ workshops/ demos per day, camping and firewood: £75 per person, £125 family of up to five. Single all-day ticket £35 per person (accompanied single child under 11 FREE); Family of up to 5, £60.

Saturday May 19th

Intermediate Leatherworking

Learn techniques to make and decorate your own personal items under the experienced guidance and tuition of our craftsman Paul Bradley at an indoor venue in Kent. There will be a small additional charge of £5 for materials.

Sunday May 20th

Fire and Forge (max. 6 people)

Try your hand at our blacksmith’s forge and make some gypsy fire-irons, tripods, pot-hangers or fire strikers under the knowledgeable guidance of Huw Woodman, the magazine’s founder, up on his farm in Kent. There will be a small additional charge of £5 for materials.

Saturday June 9th

Spoon Carving

Learn the skills and try out the tools under the guidance and tuition of our skilled craftsman Paul Bradley at our farm site in Egerton, Kent. Make and take away your own spoons.

Sunday June 10th

Saltmarsh and Rocky Shore Foraging

Visit contrasting habitats on the north Kent coast with a view to discovering the foraging possibilities. Shellfish and seaweeds at Tankerton with samphire and salt-marsh plants at Oare Marshes. Discover the habitats and identify your finds under the guidance of Steve Kirk.

Volume 8 Number 1 Spring 2012 The Bushcraft Magazine is published by:

The Bushcraft MagazineTM .

Egerton House Cottage, Egerton, Ashford, KENT TN27 9BD Founder: Huw Woodman Editor: Steve Kirk Advertising: Matthew Selfe Webmaster: Paul Bradley Soup Dragon: Cathy Hill E-mail: info@bushcraft-magazine.co.uk Advertising: mafro@bushcraft-magazine.co.uk

CONTENTS 6 GUKSI - THE SÁMI COFFEE CUP Kevin Warrington makes a proper cup for coffee. 12 GET OUT, FORAGE AND COOK Carol Hunt & Steve Kirk urge you to cook wild this Spring. 17 FELTING FOR THE FIELD Jaci Legge-Elliot is excited about getting felt outdoors. 20 GALLOWAY FOREST PARK Matt Fletcher finds himself in solitary unconfinement. 26 WALKABOUT TO WOOMERA Craig Grant goes not to the place in Australia, but to Australia in the place. 28 “MY LORDS, LADIES AND DEVIL’S GENTLEMEN” Steve Kirk introduces you to a strange plant. 30 VISION QUESTS AND MEDICINE WALKS Sarah Howcroft is your spirit guide. 35 THE LAST WORD Lloyd Hooper has it.

REGULARS 2 COURSES 4 CAMO PAGES 10 WEATHER LORE 24 STAR LORE

EDITORIAL Spring is a time of transition and change. Buds are bursting; dormice, hedgehogs, bats and bushcrafters are emerging from hibernation. The good news is that there is plenty to eat and plenty to be getting on with. The first thing is to get out, forage and cook, you won’t have to go far. There is a seasonal banquet spread out between these pages with detailed help on how to prepare it yourself using common and familiar wild plants. Then, before you take care of any thirst, you might prefer to carve yourself a cup. Our Lapland correspondent shows us the Sámi way to do just that. With hunger and thirst satisfied, time for exploration. Whether it is the wilderness outside, the inner self or the creative process, we can provide you with a guide to take you on the journey. The state of seasonal switchover also means that everything is in motion, anyway, so simply being still and watching provides a favourite travel option; we can observe some curious growing green plants, changeable atmospheric optics or wandering planets, for example. The Bushcraft Magazine takes the holistic view. As well as reading about these things, you can join us for some participation. I particularly recommend our May Bank Holiday weekend festival of bushcraft (see the courses page, left) where you can do all of the above and much more. That is when these pages really come alive. Steve Kirk. editor@bushcraft-magazine.co.uk

A fire blanket in action

My Favourite Bit of Kit The use of campfires was once a necessity for cooking and warmth and those who practice bushcraft know all about the history and tradition of fire. Some people would not think of camping without a campfire. Yet, the natural appearance of many areas has been degraded by the overuse of fires and an increasing demand for firewood. The development of light weight efficient camp stoves has encouraged a shift away from the traditional fire. Stoves have become essential equipment for minimum-impact camping. They are fast, flexible, and eliminate firewood availability as a concern in campsite selection. Stoves operate in almost any weather condition, and they leave no trace. However, I don’t think we should give up on thousands of years of depending on fires for our survival and take away that sense of well-being that a fire provides. Therefore, I was delighted when I discovered the leave-no-trace mound fire method a few years back. In order to truly leave no trace of your fire, you need my favourite bit of bushcraft kit… A fire blanket. Purposefully designed fire blankets for the bushcraft enthusiast can be ordered from America. The original “Fire Blanket” product was created by a company called 4-K Outdoor Supply. It is currently difficult to source the 4-K fire blanket, so I recommend using a standard 3 foot x 3 foot kitchen fire blanket which can be bought in any hardware or household store and do the job just as well. The blanket is lightweight and easy to carry. To use it, just collect some inorganic material such as mineral soil, sand, or gravel from an already disturbed source. The blanket can be used to transport the material. The root hole of a toppled tree is one such source for mineral soil. Lay the blanket on the fire site and then spread the soil into a circular, flat-topped mound at least 3 to 6 inches thick. The thickness of the mound is critical to insulate the ground below from the heat of the fire. The fire blanket is important in that it also insulates the ground and makes cleaning up the fire much easier. The circumference of the mound should be larger than the size of the fire to allow for the spreading of coals. As a rule of thumb, when we are collecting wood for a leave no trace fire we should only collect wood that is less than the thickness of our wrist. When wild camping, I always burn all of my firewood down to ash, so as not to leave any evidence of my fire. It takes an hour to do this normally and can be an enjoyable task before bedtime. The following morning, I return the contents of the mound fire, including the ash, to where I found them and deposit the material so that it will be camouflaged. I have tested my blanket on many occasions and regularly use it while teaching bushcraft courses. When I first heard of the method, people told me that mound fires were only suitable for having small fires and that mound fires were ineffective when it came to cooking. I have discovered some great ways of cooking with the mound fire and have actually found using a fire blanket makes us become more skilful and creative with how we cook with and manage fires.

William O Halloran of ‘Will and Away’ outdoor education company

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For further information visit www.willandaway.ie For adventure courses to France, survival in Ireland and a mountain quest to climb Ireland's highest mountain, Carrauntuathail, visit http://www.willandaway.ie/courses-and-programmes/

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The morning after our fire - no trace

Follow us on Facebook Fans of Facebook or Twitter? Well now you can follow us on both. We’ll keep you posted on the status of the magazine, our courses and what to expect from us through the seasons, as well as just popping in for a chat. Why not track the team’s activities and make friends with us and our friends?

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Mafro

Old Spring Sayings... An old Wedmore saying is : Eat leeks in March and ramesans (Ramsons) in May And then the doctor can go and play. If they would drink nettles in March, And eat mugwort in May, So many fine maidens Woaldn't go to the clay.

Ramsons - Allium ursinum

The Morel of the Story...

Not many fungi fruit in the Spring. Among those that do, morels make prized eating. There are about 7 different kinds and the good news is, they are on the increase, especially in urban areas. The proliferation of woodchip mulch to suppress weeds in municipal flower beds, supermarket car park borders, hospital grounds and the like has provided a favourite substrate for this family. Indeed, the widespread use of woodchip has increased the overall total of fungi species found in Britain and made formerly rare kinds much more common. As for morels, when they occur they can be abundant, one flowerbed potentially yielding several kilos of fruitbodies. Before you clamber all over a supermarket shrub border, always double check your identification and make sure whoever has the say is happy for you to harvest. You may find that they are only too pleased for them to disappear. Morels after all, are not the best-looking Patterns on the Ground objects to have poking up en masse Whilst in the woods or on a beach, do you ever find among your pansies. yourself picking up the natural materials to hand and re-arranging them into simple patterns, as a response Steve Kirk to your surroundings and the season you are in? Largely inspired by the artwork of Andy Goldsworthy, a growing number of people leave little "earth circles" behind them, temporary creations that may or may not be witnessed by others. In some ways it doesn’t really matter if other humans lay eyes on them or not, as they are intended as personal "thankyous" to the Earth for the richness of creation, but many are beautiful and evocative and seeing them might inspire others to do something similar. Brigit Strawbridge (It’s Not Easy Being Green) has created a Facebook group called "Nature Mandalas", for people to share photos of these evanescent arrangements. By simply re-arranging sticks, stones, buds and petals, ice, ash, leaves or fruit into a pleasing pattern that reflects time and place, some people have discovered a primal and honest way of reconnecting to the landscape, that is akin to singing Four Seasons by Cathy Hill. Clockwise from or dancing. top left: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

Morchella elata

Examples of Cathy’s art in the landscape have been published in earlier issues of the Bushcraft Magazine. Have a look at Brigit Strawbridge’s group. Go to your Facebook page and type in Nature Mandalas in the search box.

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Cathy Hill

Bushcraft Magazine

Guksi - The Sámi c

Here is an example of engraved reindeer antler, made by my friend Håkan Nilsson who has won many competitions with his work. This is the first time Håkan has allowed pictures of his work to be published.

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Guksi (pronounced gooksee) is the Sámi name for their wooden coffee cup or a scoop to drink from. In the Swedish language it is called a Kåsa and in the Finnish language it is called a Kuksa. It is made from a hollowed out birch bur; a gnarly growth on the trunk of the birch tree. A guksi has a gently rounded shape with a curved or flat bottom and is well balanced to avoid tipping when it is placed on the uneven ground or on the birch twigs covering the floor of the kåta (traditional Bushcraft Magazine

Sámi tipi). They are often decorated and the handle can have an inlay of antler that is engraved with decorative patterns. It is through generations of making handicrafts that the Sámi design patterns in reindeer & moose antler, bone and wooden items have developed. The patterns are engraved by hand using a small, sharp knife. The design and composition of the engraving give a personal touch to the item. Someone well-versed in Sámi handicraft can determine if it is of

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offee cup Sámi origin or if it is just an imitation, by looking at the pattern composition.

birch bur kuksa

It used to be that each person had his or her own guksi. They hung it from their belt or had it in their backpack. Food bowls are a similar shape, but are usually bigger and have longer handles.

Historically, the Sámi people produced the most necessary utensils demanded for survival. There was a need for many strong, long-lasting vessels, bowls and scoops. Round bowls and oblong trays were used for meat, fish, porridge, dough, etc. They were made from birch wood and three different techniques were used: 2) Hollowed out wood/bur 3) Woven birch roots Today, the making of handicrafts has become an important source of parttime employment, along with reindeer herding, for some Sámi people.

reindeer antler cup handle

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1) Moulded birch splints

Photos © Kevin Warrington

Photo © Håkan Nilsson

my own kasa

Natural Peoples

The Sámi name for their traditional crafts is “Duodji” and the duodji is an important part of the Sámi culture. The word duodji refers to the artistic handicrafts made by the Sámi, which are based on Sámi traditions, designs, patterns and colours. Nowadays duodji is also used as a “trademark” of authentic Sámi handicrafts. It relates first of all to the handicraft itself and in second place to the Sámi way of life. Every duodji item has a historic background. It might be crafted with techniques dating back to the time the utensil or functional artefacts began to be used, or it might be ornamented with ancient designs.

a traditional sami kasa

Bushcraft Magazine

cherry kuksa

design marked out, excess wood removed

the author, hard at work

Carving a cup

There are two main designs of wooden cups; the more traditional shape is shallow, but broad with rounded sides and with a broad, thin, curved handle or the more modern design, more typically used in Finland that has a deeper cup with straighter sides and a deep handle, with one or two finger holes through it. I have made both types using birch and Alder bur, as well as birch and cherry wood. The method I use for making both designs is basically the same, but I am sure there are many other methods. I start by creating a flat surface; by splitting a log in half or cutting away a piece of the bur. Then I mark out the design of the cup and handle and use a saw and axe to remove excess wood from the outside of my design.

rough shaping completed and inside work begun

Once I have roughed out the outer shape I use a gouge chisel or sometimes a crook knife to remove wood from the inside of the cup. I use a wooden batten to hit the end of the chisel to remove larger pieces of wood. I use the chisel in my hand to do the finer shaping of the inside of the cup and once I am happy with the shape, I return to shaping the outside of the cup and the handle with my knife (I also use my knife to make the holes in the Finnish style cups). On two occasions I have glued pieces of reindeer horn to the wooden cups to create a horn handle. I use the same glue traditionally used here; Cascol polyurethane wood glue. Both surfaces have to be wetted before the glue is applied.

polishing a finished cup with my shemagh

I use my fingers to feel around the cup to achieve an even thickness and also hold it up to the light to ensure the wood is not too thin. When I am happy with the cup I begin sanding using three different grades of paper; coarse P80 sandpaper, then much finer P320 wet & dry and finally P500C wet & dry paper.

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PhotosÂŠ Kevin Warrington

To achieve a really smooth finish to the cup, I use the very fine paper and between sanding I polish the wood using cotton cloth (such as a shemagh).

Bushcraft Magazine

finished kuksa and tools

Finally I soak the cup in oil for 24 hours and after removing it from the oil, remove any excess oil using a piece of cloth. The slow growing, close grained wood here in Lapland rarely splits, but the faster growing woods in the UK can split, so work the cup as quickly as possible and keep it in a sealed plastic bag when not working on it. It takes me about 8 hours to make an average sized cup.

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Bushcraft Magazine

SUN ARCS AND RINGS

Oak Bark Leather Belt Hand Made to Last 5mm Oak bark tanned Devon bridle leather hand stitched with Walsall sand cast harness buckles

www.tannerbates.co.uk Old School Farm, Dartington Hall, Devon TQ9 6EB 07738 634136

Ice crystal-laden clouds, passing between the sun and an observer will frequently split and refract the sun‟s rays into glittering optical effects. The most dazzling displays tend to be reserved for polar or mountainous regions where the cold air may manufacture a greater variety of crystal shapes that in turn generate more complex interlocking arcs and rings. Further south, in temperate latitudes, however, freezing upperatmosphere clouds can divide the sun‟s rays into a range of fascinating atmospheric optics. The most common is undoubtedly the simple ring around the sun or moon, known as a 22° halo (see Weather Lore TBM Vol. 3 No. 4 Winter 2007/08), Upper Tangent Arc

followed closely by sundogs – bright patches of rainbow coloured light on either side of the sun at 22 degrees distant, or more, that are also known as parhelia or mock suns (see Weather Lore TBM Vol. 5 No. 3. Winter 2009/10). Both these phenomena have less frequently observed, but still relatively common, companion effects that arise from the same conditions and are worth looking out for. An upper tangent arc is a graceful coloured curve of light that just touches the ring of a halo directly above the sun. The tiny, hexagonal, column-shaped crystals in the cloud must be aligned horizontally to produce one, and the more there are the crisper the arc. Conditions like that may occur around 30 times in a year.

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What you see also depends on the elevation of the sun. When the sun is low, the UTA is more or less shaped

Bushcraft Magazine

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Circumzentihal Arc

22° Halo

like a freehand inscribed V but as it climbs higher the „wings‟ of the arc spread, elongate and droop at the ends like an elegant bird drawn in light. Once the sun is above 29–32°, the upper tangent arc appears flat with downcurved tips and may join up with a lower tangent arc from the lower rim of the halo to form a circumscribed halo. This second, halo-enclosing ring may simply manifest itself as a thicker, brighter and more-colourful-than-usual halo. A circumzenithal arc, or CZA, is like a colourful smile in the sky or, at first glance, a lost piece of upside-down rainbow. It is one of the most beautiful sky arcs but is often ethereal and very difficult to photograph, so better appreciated by eye. As its name suggests, it occurs in a band centred on the zenith. The arc is always convex towards the sun with colours strongest at the point nearest the sun and with red on the sunward side. It changes shape and intensity depending on the altitude of the sun, thus when the sun is high it produces a short, broad arc and when low the resulting arc is long and narrow. It is at its most intense when the sun is 22° above the horizon (which the lower rim of any halo will be just touching). Sometimes they appear on their own on a small patch of Cirrus but CZAs frequently occur with sundogs as they are formed from the same flat hexagonal crystal plates, albeit in a different orientation. If you see a mock sun then raise your gaze and look out for a glorious curve of colour as well.

WEATHER LORE

CZA

By contrast, a parhelic circle has little or no colour. Nevertheless it is an astonishing sight – an enormous white ring circling the sky at the same height above the horizon as the sun, not surrounding the sun like a halo, but bisecting it. A complete one is too large to photograph without a fish-eye or very wide angle lens. Often, only fractions are seen. These may be on stretches of highlevel ice-laden clouds anywhere in the sky at the sun‟s elevation, where they can be hard to distinguish from bright clouds. More often they are encountered as a band of white light extending from sundogs in the directions away from the sun on either side. If you see these it is worth a check around the rest of the sky, just in case.

The genesis of a parhelic circle requires complex conditions that may only come to pass a few times each year in mid-northern Europe and similar latitudes in North America and less frequently further south. Millions of miniscule six sided ice crystals falling from a height of 10km or more must align in such a way as to bounce back the sun‟s rays from a vertical or near vertical surface, thus making a reflection, not a refraction (bending and splitting through a prism). At the same time, crystals farther away from the sun allow light through, bending it once, twice or many times until the combined scatter largely cancels out any colour gain. Even glancing directly at the sun can permanently damage the eyes so great care should be taken while observing atmospheric optical phenomena. Wear good sunglasses and shield the sun with a hand, notebook or object in the landscape. When taking photographs, use the screen on your digital camera rather than the viewfinder. Never, ever use binoculars. Although it is not easy to monitor the sky in the direction of the sun – there are many more amazing sights to be had. We live in a beautiful world and it is still possible to witness something unique. We can‟t make it happen but the more we look the more we see. Stay on the alert for both the commonplace and those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

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Parhelic Circle

Bushcraft Magazine

Get Out, Forage and Cook! Carol Hunt & Steve Kirk

Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Ramsons Cream Sauce Ramsons is a perfect colour and flavour complement to this dish

Zuppa Pavese E Aglio Selvatico

Fresh leaves of Ramsons (left) and Alexanders (right).

This is a foraged version Zuppa Pavese, a rustic Italian peasant soup that is light yet filling and very tasty.

Hen Pheasant Roadkill, clipped by the car in front. Taken home and frozen for a post-shooting season feast.

Wild Garlic Bread

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The fresh green leaves and stems of Ramsons brighten up a wild version of garlic butter. Bushcraft Magazine

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Walnuts and Hazelnuts Stored from the previous Autumn

Ramsons Tabbouleh Tabbouleh (a.k.a. Tabouleh and Tabouli) is a traditional Middle Eastern salad built around bulgur wheat, parsley, cucumber, tomato and olives.

Poached Alexanders ‘Asparagus’ The distinctively flavoured stems of Alexanders may be served as a starter or vegetable accompaniment to the Ramsons Tabbouleh.

‘Paneer’ Curd Cheese with Ramsons This is created from the curds and whey of the Little Miss Muffet nursery rhyme.

Alexanders Soup This aromatic wild cousin of celery makes a flavoursome soup.

Nettle and Dock Potato Cakes

From the previous Autumn’s apple crop and ready for drinking now!

Mashed potato can be enlivened with a variety of spring greens. A great outdoor meal with an ironical pairing.

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Cider

Bushcraft Magazine

Ramsons Tabbouleh

6oz bulgar wheat 4oz parsley ½ small onion finely chopped 8 Ramsons leaves, shredded Cucumber, finely chopped Tomatoes, finely chopped 1 tbsp lemonjuice 1 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Optional olives to garnish Prepare bulgar wheat following instructions on packet then strain to remove excess moisture and put into a bowl. Finely chop parsley and Ramsons and thoroughly mix them, along with the onion, tomatoes and cucumber into the bulgar wheat. Mix lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper and drizzle over tabbouleh. Set aside in cool place to allow flavours to blend before serving. CH (serves 4)

Nettle and Dock Potato Cakes ¼ carrier bag of young dock leaves ¼ carrier bag of Stinging Nettles handful of Ramsons approx.1 kilo potatoes. Milk Butter 2 eggs Bowl of toasted breadcrumbs Salt & Pepper Peel and chop potatoes. Boil in a pan for 20 minutes until soft. Drain and mash with a generous dollop of butter, milk and seasoning to taste. Wash dock and nettles in bag and drain. Fry in butter and steam in any water clinging to them. Cover with a lid to steam and soften, adding more butter to keep moist and cooking. When done remove from pan, chop finely and add to mashed potato. Chop up fresh Ramsons and add to mashed potato, stirring in all ingredients thoroughly. Crack one egg into a dish and beat it. Toast some bread and grate crumbs into a bowl. Take a handful of the mashed potato and hogweed mix and form it into a scone shape in your hands. Pat it flat. Dip both sides in egg, then both sides in breadcrumbs and cook slowly in a frying pan with a little oil or butter. SK

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Lots of servings

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Spring is bursting with a huge variety of leafy green flavours. To make the most of these don’t be tempted into bland salads and watery boiled vegetables; apply a little ingenuity, instead. First get to know the flavours of every edible, both cooked and raw and then look to complementary combinations. Stinging Nettle goes great with potatoes, that most versatile of tubers, while hogweed and egg love each other. Liken your leaf to something well known – the taste of nettle resembles spinach, for example – then seek out some spinach recipes, there are dozens to choose from, but substitute your wild foraged leaf. Anything that garlic, spring onion or chives can do Ramsons can match or surpass and when a recipe calls for cooked celery switch to Alexanders. You’ll be amazed. They all taste even better when you have harvested and prepared the meal yourself, in the open air. So, get out, forage and cook!

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Zuppa Pavese E Aglio Selvatico

1 large baguette 150g butter handful Ramsons leaves with stalks Finely chop Ramsons leaves and stems. Warm butter until soft enough to blend with a fork. Mix in chopped Ramsons evenly. Slice baguette almost all the way through, every 2.5 - 3cm (1 - 1 ¼ inches). Spread generous amount of Wild Garlic butter in between the slices on both faces, covering to the crust. Wrap in foil. Bake in oven at 200°C for 10 minutes. Open foil and bake for a further 5 minutes to crispen the outside of the bread. SK Serves 2-3 people.

Wipe the bread slices on both sides with a cut Ramsons bulb, then fry each side until crisp and browned. Boil the stock and add the pasta. Cook until tender (8-10 minutes). Shred 8 of the Ramsons leaves and set aside. Very finely chop the remainder and add them to the broth. In a separate pan, lightly poach the eggs in a little water until they are cooked but the yolks are still runny. Place one side of fried bread into each bowl, top with poached egg and gently ladle some broth over it until it is all but covered. Sprinkle a generous pinch of parmesan onto the egg and a generous pinch of shredded Ramsons into the broth. CH

Photos © Steve Kirk

1 Ramsons bulb 20 Ramsons leaves Parmesan cheese, freshly grated 2 pints vegetable stock 4X 1” thick slices of bread (1 per bowl) 4 eggs 4oz very fine pasta bows A little oil for frying.

Wild Garlic Bread

1 good bunch Ramsons 1lb pasta ribbons 2 tbsp olive oil ½ small onion, finely chopped 7oz smoked salmon, shredded Salt and pepper to taste 1 small carton cream Wash Ramsons and set aside to be shredded finely only when ready to be added to sauce. Bring pan of water to boil and add pasta. Cook until al dente (10 minutes or so).

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Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Ramsons Cream Sauce

Heat a little of the olive oil in a small pan and add onion. Cook until tender and transparent over a low heat. When ready add smoked salmon and shredded Ramsons and continue to stir until mixture is thoroughly warmed through. Finally, pour in cream and blend ingredients together and season to taste. Cover pan and keep sauce warm while you strain paste and pile it into a dish. Top with sauce and serve. CH

Bushcraft Magazine

Alexanders Soup

Half an onion, finely chopped 1 carrier bag of fresh young Alexanders leaves, washed and trimmed 2 medium potatoes washed and cubed (you can leave the skins on or not, it's up to you) Salt and pepper to season Water Butter A small carton of single cream Arrowroot to thicken (optional)

Put a knob of butter into a large pan and allow it to melt, but do not let it burn. Add the onion and cook till transparent. Drop the potato cubes in and let them cook a little, stirring continuously, then add just enough water to cover them. Put a lid onto your pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes or so - until they are just getting soft. In the meantime, coarse chop your Alexanders leaves. Add the Alexanders to the pan, stirring them into the potatoes. Top up the water by a morsel and put the lid back on for another 5 -10 minutes. Once everything's cooked together for a while the mixture can be mashed with a fork. This allows the potato to naturally thicken the soup and gives it a 'rustic' texture. Pour in the carton of single cream, and season to taste*. Simmer until the soup is warmed through, and serve with fresh (preferably warm!) buttered, crusty wholegrain bread. *Use a blender at this point if you want a really creamy texture and you're not out in the woods using only basic tools! Note: If the soup turns out too thin for your preference, just stir in a teaspoon or two of arrowroot mixed with a little water. CH

4 litres whole milk Juice of 1/2 lemon Fistful of Ramsons, washed and shredded Optional spices To make paneer* curd cheese slowly bring milk to the boil in a large saucepan, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the juice of half a lemon. The milk should immediately begin to curdle and separate. Stir gently and add a little more lemon juice if necessary to bring out all the solids. Pour through muslin or a large jelly bag with a large bowl beneath to catch all the whey. Hang the curds for a short while to drip. The longer they hang the drier the cheese. At lower temperatures the curds remain runny. Cube about half of what you have made. Fry gently in a little Cumin, Coriander and Turmeric for a few minutes. Steam-fry some spring leaves and add to the mix or simply stir in the uncooked Ramsons.

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*As used in Sag Paneer and other Indian dishes. SK

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Paneerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Curd Cheese with Ramsons

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Felting for the Field the fibres meshing together in an irreversible fashion. The causes can be heat and friction. Hands up who has lost a beloved jumper to the hotwash/accidental tumble-drier encounter? Congratulations, you have created felt! Now we are going to do it intentionally. Although you could recycle your beloved jumper and sew it as a fray -free fabric into gloves or hotwater bottle covers, we are going to make a 3D-shaped fabric from scratch.

Photos © the author

Felting wool happens really fast. The rolling can be a bit repetitive, but overall it still shapes up faster than spinning and knitting a bag. You can make cloth from the wool fibres layered in opposite directions to increase the opportunities for meshing. This creates a flat cloth, which can have designs made into it with different coloured fleece. Large panels of this are used for insulative covering for yurts. By the use of a resist (where the fibres can‟t touch each other) we are going to make a spring-water bottle -holder to adorn that lovely bushcrafter‟s belt or be slung around the shoulder as we stride off into the wilds.

Sturdy black plastic Wool tops/roving, in choice of colours Soap – I use olive oil soap Net curtain Large sheet of bubble wrap Rolling pin or tube. Elastic bands Towels Warm water

Draw around the water bottle. Then draw another line allowing about 2 inches extra. Felt shrinks by up to 30% depending on the type of fleece and the breed that you are using. If using fresh -from-the-sheep „foraged‟ wool you may want to wash it gently first and card it to lose the burrs and other less delightful objects from being near your water source. Cut this shape (the resist) out of the piece of plastic, in this case another sheet of bubblewrap. Lay out the bubblewrap on the towels, and put the resist in the centre of the wrap (with the bottom of the bottle end towards you.) Put a layer of fleece over the resist in one direction, overlapping the resist, then a layer in the opposite direction, and then the original direction again, so you have 3 layers in total. You can

For this project I have used a small 500ml mineral water bottle. This pouch also acts as an insulator, in that it will keep a cold bottle colder for longer. Drawing around the water bottle to create a resist, leaving extra space to allow for shrinkage.

1 Covering the resist with the first layer of fleece. The resist is made more visible by a sheet of brown paper beneath it.

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Materials

DO - IT - YOURSELF

Jaci Legge-Elliot

One of the exciting things about felting is the possibility of shaping something without the need for sewing. Felting is caused by the plates on

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Laying net over to gently rub the fibres

First layer with net curtain laid over, wetted with warm, soapy water and being gently rubbed by hand.

First layer ready to be turned over and edges folded around resist. Brown paper used to highlight resist.

do just 2 layers if you want but be careful not to leave any gaps. Equally, you can have 4 layers for a thicker felt, but it is more unwieldy.

Once you have done both sides, if putting a design on, do this now. Lay the stripes around the circumference, ensuring that they match on both sides. Lay net curtain carefully over the fleece. Gently wet Cover with net again, soap and rub until there is no with warm soapy water, taking care not to disturb the movement of the fibres when you brush your hand fibres too much. over the design. Remove the net. Gently rub your hand over the net, adding more soap if needed, until the fibres are slightly locked together. Remove the net. (Do this as well during the rubbing process, periodically, to ensure it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x;t become part of the design!) Turn the whole thing over, fold in the edges and repeat the process. Layer on the fleece, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x;t overlap quite so much or you will end up with a lump of uneven felt. Cover with net and wet, soap and rub gently.

Third layer, final side.

Stripes. Why not?

The

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Folding the bubble wrap over the resist so that it totally encompasses the piece, wrap it around the rolling pin and attach with the elastic bands. Roll, roll, roll, applying even pressure all along the roll. Remove the piece and roll it up again at 90 degrees to the initial roll. Once again, roll, baby, roll.

Checking on the state of the rolled felt and turning the orientation.

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Cutting through the felt to make the opening where the bottle will be inserted.

6 First layer turned over, ready to be folded into place. Brown paper only to show the outline of the bubblewrap resist.

Second layer going on. I used green so it would show up in the pictures.

Gently pulling net off before the fibres felt into it. Then laid back down to continue rubbing fibres together.

The felt should start shrinking up at this point. Measure it against the bottle. If it has shrunk sufficiently it is time to cut it open!

Rinse the soap thoroughly out of the felt. Let it dry naturally, ideally on the bottle to keep its shape.

Carefully cut the TOP of the resist open. Pull out the black plastic and feel how felted the fibres are. If needs be, gently rub the inside fibres until fully meshed.

Once dry, you can make small cuts to allow for belt loops or to add a strap for carrying. Perhaps using that natural cordage…

Put the cover on the bottle and keep rolling and rubbing it until it gives in to your masterly skill and becomes a fitted cover for the bottle. Pay attention to the „corners‟ so that they also give up and become smooth and round. If all else fails, try alternating very hot water and then cold water to shrink it. Or hurling it hard at the draining board!

Another layer of white fleece applied, edges wrapped and then the whole thing turned over.

If you too become addicted to making felt, check out the international feltmakers website www.feltmakers.com or a growing number of books. Gillian Harris‟s Complete Felt Making covers wet, dry and knit felting.

Rolling the felt with the bottle inside.

Allowing the felt to dry naturally on the bottle.

Removing the resist

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The

Bushcraft Magazine

Galloway Forest Matt Fletcher finds himself in solitary unconfinement

obvious reasons. The park is more than large At 300 square miles (483 kmÂ˛) enough for this not to be a problem. Galloway Forest Park is the largest forest in the UK. It is a collection of large The Land Reform Act (Scotland) 2003 is

The

pine forests punctuated by moorland, lochs, rivers and the occasional bothy. Located just north of the border in Dumfries, it is a forgotten part of the country, tucked away in its own little corner. There are very few roads running through the park and those that are there are not well travelled. The park is managed by the Forestry Commission Scotland and thanks to the Land Reform Act (Scotland) 2003; all of it is open to the public provided that the Scottish Outdoor Code of Conduct is followed. The forest has a few active logging operations within its boundaries and these must be avoided for

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almost as though it has bushcraft in mind; it allows you to go virtually anywhere on both public and private land; you can camp, light fires and do pretty much anything else that you can think of, provided you do it in a responsible manner. Lighting a fire in a dense pine forest in the height of summer, for example would be something that is highly frowned upon and considered dangerous, due to the high risk of forest fires. That said, while I was there in February the most overriding feature of the place was that everything was saturated, soaking, dripping

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Park

wet. Lighting a fire was a challenge even for the seasoned woods person! Based in Newton Stewart on the western edge of the forest, you can take on supplies in the local shops and prepare to go into the woods. It is ideally located to provide a launch pad for day trips into the forest. The more adventurous among you can head straight in, the more wary can head to the visitor centre located in Stronord just a mile down the road.

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The

Photos ÂŠ Matt Fletcher

wilderness

WILDERNESSBRITAIN

I strongly suggest taking a wary approach to the forest at first. It is a huge, wild and potentially dangerous place to be. You can be up to ten miles from the nearest road, mobile reception is a rarity and passers-by are even scarcer. What makes this place special is the same thing that makes it dangerous and unforgiving â&#x20AC;&#x201C; isolation. There are marked trails to follow if you choose to. These are marked to a degree, but it is not immediately clear what they are telling you to do, as the trails merge and cross and the signs are few and far between. There are more junctions than there are signs, so a good OS map (Explorer 319) and compass are essential. Off the beaten track you will find a more natural and more untouched feeling landscape. Thickly planted spruce and pine of various species mixed among more naturally spaced trees make for a challenging and sometimes rewarding bushwhacking exercise as you come across beautiful clearings that, surely, nobody else has ever been in. The ground is interspersed with burns, streams and drainage channels. These are

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The

sorely needed to allow the water to run off the hills needle tea is plentiful, as is Old Manâ&#x20AC;&#x;s Beard, and mountains; there was a serious amount of water Usnea, an abundant lichen, that can be boiled and rinsed to make it edible, if the worst came to the there in February. worst. Old Manâ&#x20AC;&#x;s Beard is high in Vitamin C and is known for its medicinal properties (Usnic Acid is The forest floor consists mainly of a deep and an antibiotic) and it also makes good tinder when abundant covering of sphagnum moss; useful for filtering water, dressing wounds and other tasks that dried. require something absorbent. It is like walking on a giant, water-soaked sponge and takes some getting In terms of hunting for food, local laws apply. used to. In other parts of the forest, mercifully, Check with the Forestry Commission for more there are areas of traditional pine needle debris on information. In a hypothetical survival situation and the ground, which allows for better drainage and the this is one of the few place in the UK where you possibility of somewhere dry to sleep. could find yourself in one, your priorities will be shelter (it is Scotland, after all, and the weather can and does change rapidly and sphagnum moss with little warning), fire (a challenging prospect in a sodden land), food and rescue. Water will not be a problem; you will not be more than a few paces from drinkable water. There are rivers and lakes that hold fish. This is your best chance of finding food in the winter months in a place like this. There are Deer but you will need a lot of skill to track them and even more to get close to them. Once you have managed that you will need a way of taking one down, which if you are a law abiding citizen (no rifle) is going to be a challenge! Your best bet is to Camping in the park is allowed, finding the ideal ensure that you have enough food with you for your campsite however is a challenge! I suggest hamstay, this is not the place to be trying to live off the mocks and tarps to get you up off of the ground. If land. you have to sleep on the ground then your options are few and far between, at least they were in Feb- There are very few people managing to coax a ruary! living from farming here, there are more abandoned and crumbling bothies and farms out here than there Several interesting animal species can be found are working farms which speaks volumes about here. Red Deer are common and widespread. There how difficult it really is. are Otters, Red Squirrel, Wild Goats, Nightjars and Black Grouse, to name a few. I saw the occasional The weather up here is really something, In the rabbit dropping and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x;m told there are some foxes space of one hour I experienced, hail, rain, snow, there but I saw no sign of them. This is a testament sleet, high wind and then sunshine. Dress approprito how hard it can be to survive in a large pine ately and wear sturdy boots. forest in winter. There are very few wild edibles to be found, your best options are meat and fish. I saw The park was awarded Dark Sky status a few years just two fungi for the entire two week trip, a lone ago, there is very little light pollution which makes Death Cap Amanita phalloides (as the name sugfor a spectacular night sky. Equally, seeing your gests, not edible!) and some Birch Polypore hand in front of your face can be an issue, so it is Piptoporus betulinus (also not edible). In terms of not recommended to leave the trails at night! plant life there is little there that you can eat, spruce

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There is a real feel of wild isolation in Galloway Forest Park. Although it is managed, the balance is just right. Forestry Commission Scotland have worked hard to open up some of the park to the less adventurous members of the public, as well as mountain bikers, anglers, canoeists, walkers and bushcrafters. There is more than enough open wilderness for us all and you can spend days there without seeing another soul.

tumbledown bothy

There are a handful of bothies in the park, open to anyone who wants to use them year round. Not all of these are in a good state of repair and sadly some have been rendered uninhabitable by careless and undesirable people. Eventually, they will be restored by volunteers, so it is vital that, if you use the bothies you leave them as you would like to find them. If you can spare it, leave some long lasting food, firewood and matches; you may save someone‟s life one day if you do. Pack up your rubbish and take any that you find with you and you will help to maintain an extremely useful and free resource for us all. You are free to practice bushcraft here, as there are plenty of resources for a wide range of projects, all of which can be found without damaging the forest. This is one of the last of the UK‟s large forests, it is vital that we go the extra mile to ensure that it is still there for our children and our children‟s children to enjoy.

isolation

stunning views

Galloway Forest Park is a wonderful, wild and beautiful place. On the trails it will soothe and calm even the most tense city dweller, off the beaten path it will test your bushcraft and navigation skills and will reward your efforts with stunning views, total peace and quiet away from barking dogs and a list of rules as long as your arm. I love it here and I think that you will too.

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Venus

TRANSIT OF VENUS was far beyond the orbits of both, and out the other side. Inferior planet simply means orbiting between the Earth and the Sun (i.e. Venus and Mercury are the inferior planets). Being closer than Earth, Venus moves around the Sun more quickly, completing a full rotation (a Venusian year) in 224.7 (Earth) days. However, because Earth is constantly pursuing and then being overtaken by the planet in a different part of its orbit the phases of Venus take longer to complete than its rotational year (584 days). The orbital periods of Venus and the Earth coincide every 8 Earth years, during which The whole planetary dance illustrates the time 13 Venusian years will have passed. illusory nature of the arrangements of heavenly bodies in the night sky. In reality (13 x 224.7 days = 2921 days) are the meeting between the old man and the approximately equal to (8 x 365.25 days = 2922 days). As a consequence, when seen young beauty was caused by a visual from the Earth, Venus appears in almost alignment of unequal sized bodies seen in the same position in the sky at any given 8 perspective, the dimmer actually the -year interval. Thus, if you are having déjà larger; the brighter, smaller but closer. vu you may be remembering the night sky Venus being an inferior planet, was between planet Earth and the Sun (though of 2004. During that cycle it will be a not directly), and Jupiter, a superior planet morning star 5 times and an evening star 5 The fascinating and beautiful conjunction between Venus and Jupiter, the third and fourth brightest sky objects in the sky, in March 2012 will not have escaped your notice. The two planets blazed together through the deep blue of twilight and were twice joined by the crescent Moon (the second brightest object) to form a celestial triangle. In the days and weeks following they went their separate ways, Venus continuing to climb up the heavens before starting to fall back and Jupiter moving ever closer to the sunset horizon.

Jupiter

times. In 2012 we are in the process of completing the 8 year synodic cycle.

The

The conjunction of Jupiter (L) and Venus (R)

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Venus becomes brighter the less you can see of it. How can that be so? Venus has phases like our moon but on an entirely different timescale relating both to its position relative to the sun but also relative to Earth. As a consequence a left facing crescent phase of Venus is a late waning stage (whereas with the Moon it is a waxing stage). For Venus to show a fully lit disc it would have to be nearly on the other side of the sun from us, putting the greatest distance between the two planets and thus making it seem smaller. As it swings round closer to us it first moves away from the sun (greatest elongation) when it shows half lit and then the distance decreases as it swings back between us and the sun so that most of the sunlit face is away from Earth and we see just a crescent. At the same time it becomes apparently larger and the visible reflective area is more luminous than when it is distantly ‘full’. The irony is that when that happens it will also be descending back into the sun’s glare and will set increasingly soon after the sun. However, it is actually easier to see the phases

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Jupiter

Mars

Venus Mercury

Earth Sun

Diagrammatic representation of how the planets were arranged at the time of closest conjunction

Shortly after Venus reaches its thinnest crescent, in early June, the planet will disappear from sight. It will be neither evening star or morning star but will have moved into the sort of position directly between the Earth and the Sun that the new Moon also takes up when hidden. It is known as inferior conjunction. This is also the point at which solar eclipses can happen when the alignment is just right. This is also true for Venus – except that Venus is too distant from Earth and proportionately small to blot out the Sun. Seen from the Earth, the planet usually passes slightly to the North or South

of the Sun. This time, however, for short a while in an incredibly rare astronomical event, on June 6th 2012, it will become a daytime planet, visible from Earth as it crosses the sun’s disc as a circular spot rather like a large sunspot. Alas, from Britain the transit will be nearing its conclusion as the sun rises and we will have less than an hour in which to observe this twice in a lifetime event. Yes, twice in a lifetime. It happens in pairs. A transit of Venus last occurred on June 8th 2004, when I was lucky enough to witness the event by projecting the sun’s disc through binoculars onto white card. This is easy to do. Cut a hole in a piece of card so that only one of your binoculars’ large lenses pokes through. This will allow light to pass through the binoculars and create a contrasting area of shadow around the sun’s image. Tilt the binoculars in the approximate direction of the sun and catch the bright disc on card – takes a bit of practice but do not, under any circumstances look through them at the Sun. Use the focus wheel to focus the Sun’s image. It’s an early start but miss this one and you will have to wait over a century, until December 11th 2117.

STAR LORE

against a bright sky than against a dark one when the contrasting glare from the planet’s highly reflective surface overwhelms the eyes and optical instruments. It is even possible to see the crescent phase with the naked eye (I have done so).

Having crossed the Sun’s disc, Venus will need to move a further 15 degrees or so away from the sun to shine once again, this time as the Morning Star in the East where it will remain until February 2013. Lumbering Jupiter will vanish in the sun’s glare in late April as it enters superior conjunction behind the Sun, not because the planet is going backwards, but because its huge orbit ( one trip round the Sun every 11.8 years) the Earth is catching up, causing the Sun to pass between us. When Jupiter emerges, it too, will be a morning object.

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The transit of Venus, June 8th 2004

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Walkabout Craig Grant

During a spell in Australia, some years ago, I was privileged to examine a number of aboriginal spear throwers or “Woomera”. The range in shapes and styles and multiple uses of them fascinated me and I wanted to make one. Aboriginal Woomera were used as digging sticks, as dishes, and for making fire as well. In some examples, blades fitted to the handle make a cutting tool. So many uses! You could say they were one of the first multi tools. Some of the designs on the throwers represented maps of areas where they came from, featuring water holes, rivers and rock outcrops, together with other symbols special to its owner. Similar throwers were used by our ancestors before the bow. The surviving European examples were often decorated with animals local to them at that time, such as reindeer, birds and fish. I removed a splint from a tree. The splint had a natural curve and was shaped like a surf board, the basic characteristics of spear throwers I‟d seen and made before. The wider end of the piece would make the handle. My thrower would have a flint blade fitted into the handle, forming a chisel shaped cutting edge. The flint piece comes from other walkabouts and originated in Wiltshire. I always have some to hand, stored away at the bottom of a bag.

The

On my route to the wood I had found a decent length of Lime bark, fairly undamaged and suitable to make into cordage or be used as tinder. As a rule of thumb in bushcraft you “never pass up an opportunity”. I had processed the bark on my journey to the wood, splitting and separating the

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The

strength and reduces splitting fibres as I walked. This new cordage was already in 7 my pocket! It is good to keep the hands busy on colder when in use. The dart was left without fletchings, Aboriginal days. I call this “walking work”. style, and the point end of the dart rounded and blunt. I began shaping the spear-thrower by removing the bark from the wood splint. The wood was seasoned, Simple spear throwers can be dry, but not brittle, and „spalted‟ by fungus. This made from the limbs of trees; they staining gives an attractive appearance and natural are quick to make but have limited camouflage, or can be used simply as decoration. life due to the forces that are applied to them. During the time I I commenced carving at the tapered end, where the 8 peg was to be fitted. Axe first, slowly, then moving to was making this one, the very the knife. Once this was even, I cut small nocks in the same herd of deer that the leg bone had come from were often end of the thrower to take the cordage [1]. I shaped less than 50 m away from me and the thrower oval in cross section, and rounder in the well within range of the hunting handle, the edges were rounded off and scraped. equipment I‟d made. They were relaxed in my presence and two The handle end was tapered into an hour glass shape young males even practiced with enough wood left to receive the flint blade. sparring for the rut. They made pleasant sound in the wood during Using pine resin and lime bark, the blade was first 9 gummed into place with resin then tightly bound with those days. As I departed, I walked with the tools in a carrying the cordage. The binding was then sealed with more position and thanked the woods resin [2,3,4]. for the day. I had taken modern hand tools with me but used Some time before, whilst tracking the herd, I had found the skeleton of a female Sika Deer. I took a few techniques thousands of years old. bones that time and used them for awls, needles, and Making things is as much about barbs for hooks. The rest I left as they were. I revisited the journey as the end product. the site and collected another leg bone to use as the peg for the thrower. Using natural materials allows us 10 to experience the sounds and I removed a section of bone and carved it into a peg, smells of our ancestors and using a knife, then smoothed and ground it down usre-connect with old traditions. ing a nearby stone. The peg was then fitted and bound Sometimes, bushcraft is about to the live end of the thrower[5]. It is very important translating material to methods to get the angle of the peg correct before sealing with and about adapting methods to suit pine resin and I made small adjustments as I bound it our own environment. tightly [6, 7]. My spear thrower represents the For the spear or dart I coppiced a piece of Hazel wood itself. It is made entirely from the materials in 5’ (1.6m) long. The thicker end was form the point. I that valley, the wood, bark, resin from the trees, bones of the deer living in that place that could be hunted removed the bark and any knots, smoothing off the there. It represents the landscape from where it came. dart. As it was cut green, I straightened it, and left it From this it has a deeper meaning to me as its maker. stored away horizontally in a nearby tree to season. On my return, naturally enough, I had to re-straighten This thrower will be used in my teaching. When it is old and worn I may take it on another use – as a fire before I began the next process. board for friction fire lighting. So it will begin a new part of its life… At the back of the spear I cut and drilled a small depression to receive the peg at the end of the thrower. After testing it for a fit [8], I charred both ends of the spear to harden them. I then bound the dimpled end with the cordage [9] and sealed it with a small amount of resin. [10] This gives the end of the spear more

TRADITIONAL SKILLS

to Woomera

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“My Lords, Ladies and Devil‟s in use, which, over time, has come to be erroneously pronounced Cuckoo Pint, as in a pint of milk – when it should be rhymed with mint, for it is actually short for pintle. If you don‟t know what that is, look it up. As a consequence it was formerly termed Cuckoo Pintle, Wake Pintle, Priest’s Pintle and Pintelwort. But what about the „cuckoo‟ bit and the „wake‟ bit that recurs in the name Wake Robin? Well both are derived from the Anglo-Saxon cwic, cucu, and Low. Germ, quek, meaning „alive‟, or „lively‟– owing to its upright state. You get the idea. Other names show how observant the country people were, too: Dog-bobbins, Dog-spear, Dog’s Dibble, Dog’s-tausle. Perhaps good Christian folk applied the names Priest-in-thePulpit, Parson-in-the-Pulpit and Preacher-in-the-Pulpit, while ruder minds celebrate the plant‟s contradictory nature with the enduring Jack-in-thePulpit; Jack being an alternative name for the Devil. Wild Arum contains high levels of calcium oxalate crystals, a volatile, acrid poison, (see Death By Leaf TBM Vol. 6, No. 1 Spring 2010) but, nevertheless, has been used historically as both food and medicine and had a somewhat surprising role in Elizabethan society. The acrid principle is greatly reduced upon drying and so the powdered tuber and the fresh, was sometimes used, in desperate circumstances, as an antidote to poison and the plague; in sheep‟s milk to treat ulcerous intestines, while the bruised leaves were used externally to treat plague sores and other festering ulcers. The pigeon egg-sized brown tubers, when properly processed, are capable of producing an edible starch. For a time, it was manufactured, on a small scale, on the Isle of Portland and around Weymouth, whence it became known as Arrowroot and Portland Sago. This product was popular for feeding to invalids as gruel, it seems, and was highly sought after in the London markets. On the island, it was customary to crop the lands every other year, leaving them those appellations must have been uttered with a snigger as fallow in between, at which time the locals would seek they refer to the suggestive shapes of the spadix and the permission from the landowners to dig up the arum roots. spathe, the curious spike and its embracing sheath-like These would be taken, crushed in a mortar, then the starchy wrapping, that have a distinct male and female sexual sediment (known as fecula) was stirred in water, before symbolism. Hence Stallions and Mares, Bulls and Cows, being strained off and again washed and dried. A peck Adam and Eve, Lords and Ladies, Kings and Queens, Ladies (approximately 9 litres volume) of tubers was said to yield and Gentlemen and even Devils’s Ladies and Gentlemen. about four pounds weight of starch. The industry gradually dwindled, until by 1853 a solitary old woman was the sole The impudent purple spike attracted a lot of attention on its surviving producer. own and is responsible for one of the common names widely

The

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That a plant should have as many local names as Lords and Ladies does, (over one hundred), is a sure sign that it has been noticed, is easily identifiable and has a long history of human interaction. Many of

Gentlemen…”

Steve Kirk introduces you to a plant of many guises means completely), and as well as formerly being used as a country antidote when children mistakenly sampled it, the plant was distilled with cow‟s milk to remove freckles and cleanse scurfy skin, especially among fashionable ladies in Italy.

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The

A final curiosity is that the spadix (the central purple poker) generates a detectable degree of heat – up to 15 degrees higher than the ambient temperature! This serves to attract small flying insects which, upon attempting to land, fall from the slippery hood, down the narrow neck, where they become trapped beneath hairlike projections on the stalk below. During their imprisonment they transfer pollen from the male flowers that are arranged around the upper stalk to the female ones below. Once fertilised, the multiple stigmas slowly transform into a spike of first the green, then scarlet, poison berries that is revealed as the surrounding sheath The root, tamed by being dried and powdered was at one withers and the insects are finally freed. Amazing! time used by the French as a cosmetic, known as Cyprus or Cypress Powder, popular in the early 19th century . Roasting, baking or boiling is said to render the tuber edible – but take care if you try this, as there is no guide to the degree of cooking required. Milk, it seems, mitigates the prickling effect somewhat (though by no

PLANT LORE

Nigh on three hundred years earlier, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the starch from the arum root had been in use for a very different purpose – stiffening ruffs. Yes, without it, those extraordinary neck adornments, some of which were over a foot (30cm) wide, would have been floppy and lax. Sadly, Starchwort, was not kind to hands and the laundresses of the day suffered for their labours. Gerarde in The Herball of 1597, remarks; 'The most pure and white starch is made of the rootes of the Cuckoo-pint, but most hurtful for the hands of the laundresse that have the handling of it, for it chappeth, blistereth, and maketh the hands rough and rugged and withall smarting.' By the time Nicholas Culpeper published his Complete Herbal in 1653, however, the practice was a thing of the past. He comments; „The root thereof was anciently used instead of starch to starch linen with.‟

Bushcraft Magazine

Vision Quests and Medicine Walks Sarah Howcroft

In every earth based culture, humans have always had special ways, rituals and rites for connecting more deeply with the nature all around them, and for drawing upon their own inner wisdom, gaining vision, clarity and healing. Often they involve some kind of extreme physical hardship, asceticism, severance from the community, and trials of courage and perseverance. These are used to mark and go through a transition in a person‟s life - from child to adult, beginner to initiate, old life to new life. Once outdoors, we are never far from the world of our ancestors. The Picts and Celts walked the hills of ancient Britain, Australian aborigines go walkabout, Indian saddhus and Buddhist monks retreat alone to caves in the mountains, and Native Americans fast on Vision Quests. Jesus spent forty days and nights in the wilderness, and Mohammed spent much of his time alone in the desert in meditation. The human quest for spiritual meaning is enacted constantly in religious pilgrimages and mythological tales. Go outside and close the door, leaving technology and easy comfort behind you, and walk away from the roads, into the forest, along the beach, or onto the hills. Look, listen and ask. The sound of the river, the call of the raven, the seagull, the wind in the trees, the rhythmic thrash of waves on the beach, will speak to you.

The

'To go on a vision quest is to go into the presence of the Great Mystery'. Lakota proverb

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“Vision quest” was a term first used by 19th-century anthropologists to describe the rite-of-passage ceremonies of certain Native American cultures, but these are not unique - there are similar rites to be found in African, Tibetan, Celtic, Scandinavian, and many other societies throughout the world. In traditional Lakota Sioux culture the word for the Vision Quest is Hanblecheyapi which translates as “crying for a vision”. Traditionally, the seeker would be overseen by an elder or Medicine person, and go to find their own sacred place, where they would sit for the duration of the quest in a 10 foot circle, bringing nothing but water in from outside. In Australia, the Walkabout refers to a quest during which adolescent male Aborigines would journey and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months, wandering and tracing the mystical songlines that their ceremonial ancestors knew, and being guided in their survival by the spirits, leaving as boys and returning as men.

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“Severance” is the process of preparation to leave everything behind, to die to the old life, and move forward with trepidation and trust into the unknown. It starts the moment a person feels the inner call to quest (so may go on for a long time) and begins formally in the first days of the quest. It is a time of gathering and preparing the practicalities, as well as the body and soul, for the journey ahead.

the seeker leaves the place of vision and returns to their community. Several days may be spent recounting the experiences of the Vision Quest to the elder or medicine person who has guided it and held the space. The insight, new knowledge, and vision that have been found need, somehow, to be manifested in everyday life – and this can be the toughest and most courageous part of the quest! A person‟s Vision Quest is a gift for their community too. "A very good vision is needed for life, and the man who has it must follow it -- as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky." Chief Crazy Horse, 1850 Many people from all walks of life now undertake vision quests, with the intention of healing of emotional and physical disease, to commune with nature, connect with spirit guides, power animals and ancestors, to bring clarity about their purpose here on Earth, to mark important times of change in their lives, and to metaphorically die to their old ways and be reborn into the new. If you like the idea, but feel unnerved by it, or do not have the time or resources for a full scale vision quest, a Medicine Walk is a simple way to seek insight and guidance from nature. It‟s an interesting way to spend time outdoors and will give you a good introduction to the concepts involved.

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“Incorporation” - or embodiment - takes place as

In Native American tradition every being - human or otherwise – has its own Medicine, meaning its own essence and purpose. Medicine is also anything that will help you feel more connected with your true soul and in harmony with nature and other life-forms. Anything that is healing to the body, mind or spirit is “Threshold” is the time Medicine. Traditionally, the Medicine Walk might last a when the seeker moves whole day, and include fasting which helps to increase into that liminal place of clarity, but it‟s possible to take a much shorter time and Spirit, between the worlds get satisfying results. It is often easier to find food of old and new, and plants and track animals when you have an empty belly, between the worlds of and this may be down to the altered state of mind ordinary and non-ordinary reality. The old has been released and rebirth is in the future. This is a period of simple existence in nature, fasting, exposure to the elements, and solitude. Physical hardships and asceticism serve to break down the ego, which opens the person both to the processes within themselves, and to a deeper connection to nature and their spirit allies. They encounter both fear and boredom as they move deeper into themselves with the help of the spirits of nature all around. During a quest, the rhythms and ways of nature - animals, birds, plants, insects, trees, the elements and the weather, may all play their part in teachings which come to the seeker. Old emotions and unresolved personal issues are likely to emerge and clear, this is part of the healing. When the person finally surrenders to themselves and to nature, the mind chatter ceases, and they become more fully present. At this time visions, inspirations, and clarity will come to them naturally.

NATURAL SPIRIT

These traditions are very varied but have been found to inevitably follow three stages, arising from the natural processes inherent in human nature. They are described as severance, threshold and incorporation. Typically a Vision Quest would go through the three stages over 11 days, but the length of time spent varies greatly from a medicine walk of a few hours, to much longer.

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brought about by emptiness, as well as hunger! You can do your Medicine Walk almost anywhere, depending on how much time you have and your proximity to wild places. It can be a whole day in a national park or a forest, or half an hour in a city park. Obviously you will need to be adequately prepared on the physical plane before you go, with suitable clothing, and water. Choose somewhere that you feel strongly drawn to, preferably away from human activity and traffic - but if you‟re using a city park, that may not be the case - and the sounds and other people around will become part of your experience. Go there and begin by closing your eyes, breathing deeply and centering yourself, and put out the thought to respectfully ask the place if it would be willing to help you. If you feel a positive response this is your guidance to continue.

"True," a very soft voice said. "Look and you will see the Centre of the Universe. Look at every created thing." As I looked around I saw that every created thing had a thread of smoke or light going from it. The voice whispered, "This cord that every created thing has is what connects it to the Creator. Without this cord it would not exist." As I watched I saw that all these threads, coming from everything, went to the centre of the circle where the four directions were one place (the centre of the cross). I saw that all these threads were tied together or joined here at this spot.

Set a clear intention - think of a question or situation which you need insight into, this can relate to any area of your life. Intention is the most important part of any shamanic work, and the more specific you are, the clearer your guidance will be. Turn your attention back to nature, and ask your question to the place and the creatures within it. It‟s good to do this aloud. When you‟re ready start to walk, staying silent, taking your time, emptying your mind of chatter, and letting go of any expectations about what you should find. Follow your impulses and walk wherever you feel drawn, observing as you go, and when something attracts your attention, stay with it for a while. You‟ll find it helpful to walk with your eyes adjusted to peripheral vision, this is relaxing and lowers the brain waves into a meditative alpha state which quiets the mind and allows you to perceive more. Notice how it makes you feel, and what insights come to you - the medicine walk uses your imaginative and intuitive abilities, and your answers may not be verbal or literal. Move on as you feel ready, and walk for as long as you like or as long as you have!

The voice spoke again, "This is the Centre of the Universe.

When you feel you have completed the medicine walk, take a moment to thank the place for the guidance you‟ve received, and maybe leave an offering of some kind. Then you can return to your everyday life - but remember to stay open to further developments - nature can be a very revealing mirror and sometimes dramatic insights come to people later, often in dreams.

I pray to the South which gives us discipline and direction.

The place where all things join together and all things become one. The place where everything begins and ends. The place inside everything created." That's when I understood that all of creation, the seen and the unseen, was all related. The voice spoke one last time, "Yes, now you know the Centre of the Universe." I pray to the four directions.....hear me. I pray to the West which gives us rest and reflection. I thank you for these gifts for without them we could not live. I pray to the North which gives us patience and purity. I thank you for these gifts for without them we could not live. I pray to the East which gives us energy and emotions. I thank you for these gifts for without them we could not live. I thank you for these gifts for without them we could not live. Grandmother, share with me your wisdom, and I thank you for this gift. Grandfather, share with me your strength, and I thank you for this gift.

Vision Quest From Wallace Black Elk, Oglala Sioux holy man This is part of a Vision Quest I was told to share with all who may be interested. Once, I went to pray at the top of the sacred mountain of my ancestors. As I climbed to the top I heard voices singing as the wind blew the leaves. At the top I saw, made from many stones, a large circle with a cross inside. I knew from my teachings that this represented the circle of life and the four directions. I sat down by the edge of this circle to pray.

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I thought “This is only a symbol of the universe.”

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Simple things

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This Spring‟s Contributors Matt Fletcher is both a student of and a teacher of Bushcraft and other outdoor pursuits. He is based in the South East of England but also teaches in North Wales and Scotland. His preferred environment is the jungle, which developed after a four month stay in Central America. His alltime favourite thing to do is a spring time canoe expedition in the West Highlands of Scotland. Matt operates his own bushcraft training school as well as working for other schools and centres on a freelance basis.

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Jaci Legge-Elliot Like many readers of and contributors to the Bushcraft Magazine, Jaci has always enjoyed outdoor adventures and loves being in nature. She grew up in a playground of 2 acres, developing an obsession for making dens and campfires and quickly learning the safest distance between them. She started her own herb garden in her teens and continues this interest to date, enjoying making cosmetics and other potions. A member of the Guides and Scouts, her first bushcraft book was 'How to Survive' (Brian Hildreth), which to her father's ironic amusement got left outside in the rain, doubled in size and fell apart. Happily she has recently been reunited with a copy. She lives in Dorset with her tolerant husband and their three children.

In February 2010 I left the UK to begin a new life with my girlfriend, Teres, and her children, 100km inside the Arctic Circle. We live in a small village called Nattavaara By (By meaning village in Swedish), where we now offer activities and accommodation.” Contact Kevin at the Arthur Leidgren Nature Center, Dokkas, Swedish Lapland www.alnc.se arthurleidgren.naturecenter@gmail.com Carol Hunt “I guess you could say I've been bushcrafting and foraging for as long as I can remember, but as a child two very fortunate things happened to me. First, I found an old book of my father's called The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore, by Ernest Thompson Seaton. A book I devoured avidly and still treasure to this day. Secondly, my father - to his eternal credit - trusted me well enough at the age of seven or eight to wander freely and explore the nearby wilds and woodlands entirely on my own. No child could have had a better introduction to the natural world. Thank you Dad.” Cook Wild with Carol Hunt is a regular feature of the magazine.

Craig Grant

Craig was born in Plymouth, Devon. He spent the majority of his youth in the woodlands in and around Dartmoor National Park. This is where he began to learn his bushcraft skills and his passion for Native American cultures began. Craig works freelance providing bushcraft sessions and demonstrations, for all ages and backgrounds.

Sarah Howcroft is a shamanic healer and teacher who runs her company, Wilderness Spirit, in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Her teachings include courses in Shamanism, Vision Quests, and ceremonial craftwork. Sarah qualified as a bushcraft instructor in 2008 with Woodcraft School, and her biggest passion is to travel the world. She creates bespoke ceremonies including handfastings, and makes beautiful painted deerskin drums, beadwork, and other craftwork.

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Sarah can be contacted through her website: www.shamanism-wales.co.uk

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SHARING KNOWLEDGE

Kevin Warrington “Prior to leaving the UK I managed three National Nature Reserves for Natural England and ran my own company called Natural Lore teaching and demonstrating traditional skills & crafts and nature awareness.

The Last Word Lloyd Hooper

What a Crackling Weekend!

I often reflect after a weekend in the woods and ask myself: Did I learn or try something new, practice a forgotten skill or have a go at something I always fancied trying? Well, on a weekend in March there was an abundance of them all. Our little Bushcraft group had invited Karl Lee along for the weekend, to teach us flint knapping skills and Mark Oriel of Forge Fieldcraft to teach us butchery skills, but as it happened we combined the two and after Karl had done a demo and produced a hand axe, Mark used it to butcher a young pig carcass. Mark‟s first impression on using the flint tool was; “This is seriously sharp!” and sliced through the carcass as easily as any knife. A few of us tried and were all impressed. After the butchery it was our turn for the flint knapping, all making a scraper to get used to the techniques. Then after the daylight had gone, we took the pork out of the “Hangi” and finished it off on the grill over the fire, to get the crackling just right, then a feast was had.

On reflection, I learned loads, ate some seriously good pork and practiced ancient skills I had always fancied trying. But to really reflect, you see a group of friends of all ages, learning together skills from ancient times, all enjoying sharp things, fire and good food; like an old mate used to say, “You couldn‟t beat it with a stick”.

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The following morning we made arrow heads and was shown how to make a complete arrow, using a flint head, natural cordage and pine resin glue. It was fletched and, a rather fitting end to the day, a young lad who had brought his bow along sent the arrow across the field.

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