The outskirts of the wood show small areas of Sweet violet and scattered patches of Red dead nettle.

I also took the opportunity to try out a bushcraft experiment. I’d been reading about the properties of some trees and discovered that the birch was one of the best trees for the British Bushcrafter. I had to put this to the test by trying to use a firesteel for the first time to create fire. My ultimate aim is to create fire by friction, but like many things in bushcraft, I’ve discovered that you can very quickly get demoralised if you initially aim too high too quickly. I’ve tried a couple of times to get tinder alight by firesteel with absolutely no luck.

Finding the one silver birch on the outskirts of the wood (within my self imposed rules for resources) I carefully stripped a few small pieces of bark off the tree and put it in my pouch. I wanted to initially try this in a controlled environment, so off I went…home.

Once at home, using only the firesteel and and the birch tinder I created my first fire without use of matches, accelerant or a lighter. I was elated!! It works…I had created fire! This might seem a bit of an over the top reaction, but after so many failures prior to starting this journal, I just felt as though I had created something quite fundamental just using the most simplistic resources. I don’t know what I will be like when I create fire by friction! Thus I am calling this post “Fire – part one”. I am confident that I will be able to replicate this success in the woods as long as I have some birch bark. This will always be in my pouch from now on.

The fire lighting with fire steel and birch bark as tinder was a success and soon I had a good lunch on the go.

I used my small folding sit mat (a new purchase and pictured in the photo) for the first time. This is a good cheap addition to my kit. So often I’ve sat down on damp ground and regretted it. This sit mat is light and folds up quite small.

After lunch, I decided to make a few simple tools including a tri-pod stand for the rucksack, and another rough spoon. The tri-pod reminded me to practice my lashings as this attempt wasn’t too successful. It did the trick for this occasion though. I realised on the bushmoot that you don’t always need expensive paracord for everything and most of the instructors had balls of cheap nylon string or ordinary twine. Great for small jobs where strength isn’t a necessity.

I walked to the outskirts of the woods a watched the dragonflies again. I realised that, like the strong sun, there wouldn’t be many more occasions this season when I would be able to view them. I spotted a couple of the large Emperors (again, too swift for a photo) and a pair of Large Reds coupling and ovipositing on the wing. Apparently, this is the only species of dragonfly in the UK that do this, and I was pleased to get a picture. The warm sun brought out a few butterflies and I spotted a Red Admiral amongst the blackberries on the wood edge.

A great day for wildlife finished with a low swooping fly-past of firstly a Sparrowhawk and then a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, with a Kestrel hovering in the distance

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All seemed peaceful with the world as I laid out in the sun and soaked up the warmth of the late summer. I felt I had to go back into the wood and do something else, but it was just too nice and I drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of the insects.