As promised in my last post below (Back from the Bushmoot), I’ll begin a day by day account of the Bushmoot in log form as captured in my hard copy journal. I can’t promise to get all the instructional details in. It was just too much. My aim on this excursion was primarily to learn, but also to try out wild camping techniques and kit for the full 5 days. My travelling colleague is Paul who I’ve known for years. He’s a tent camper and this is his first bushcraft outing.

6am – It was an early start as we left for South Wales. We wanted to beat the traffic on the M25. Coffee stop , breakfast stop and a quick trip to the local supermarket to stock up on fresh rations. For me that was a pack of cigars(!) and some fruit. All rations had already been bought.

1200 – Arrived at Merthyr Mawr (MM) and immediately recce’d the area. Met Tony and Shel from BCUK who kindly outlined where things were. Seemed like very nice people. Camp looked well laid out with clean toilets, showers, wash up area and a covered workshop area. A walk through the area saw some good hammock/tarp and tent setups already in place. Very sandy soil; mixed, managed woodland. There were lots of cut timber and fallen branches. No need for felling here. I elected for an area about 200 yds away from the main area. Just right for peace if I wanted but in sight of what was going on. My new poncho covered my ration bag on the tree. The bark from the conifer is a bit sappy and sticky. I might regret this later as it will get on the cordage and tarps.

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1430 – After a brew we explored the sand dune area of MM. A huge dune complex and hard work getting to the top. Great views though. Didn’t go too far on this occasion. Weather hot and sunny (28 degrees C).

1530 – Walking back through the site, we bumped into Mors Kochanski already talking to a group of people about knots. I’ve heard he starts teaching from the time he gets off the plane, but this is ridiculous! I’m enthralled by his style. Very amusing and anecdotal. I can’t follow the knots he’s doing. He’s demonstrating a pully system tied between two struts of a small purpose built covered area (with a fire in the centre). He says the pully is extremely effective. As he pulls, the large struts visibly move to the shouts of “Watch it, Mors!” “Well, that proves it works,” says he.

Mors then talks about lashings and skilfully moves on to shelter building. He demonstrates building a loose log structure with raised bed. This aspect is pretty technical. He describes the “inverse cube” theory and the surprising benefits of using black polythene even in hot weather. This guy is amazing. I’ve been sitting here for about 3 hours enthralled, and he’s still going.

1830 – At last I make dinner. MRE chicken stew (not bad but needs more seasoning) cereal bar.

1945 – A camp triangle sounds. Uhh??! Are we scouting or is there a fire? No, its Tony gathering the clans. He welcomes those who are here (about 45 people at the moment) and explains the site, health and safety and a few rules and regulations. The workshops will be detailed on a white board daily. Excellent. I really didn’t expect this degree of organisation.

2030 – 2200 – Rest and checked Paul’s site. He looks settles in. Couple of beers then a walk to the main congregation area. This is covered by a large parachute and has a large fire in the middle. Guess who’s looking after the fire? I manage to grab him for a photo. We start chatting to people. It’s a great atmosphere. Beer gets the better of us and we wander back. A couple of glasses of the obligatory port, and it’s time for bed. Hammock and reindeer skin very comfortable. Glad I tested it out before I came. I’m now used to it. I drop off to sleep, grinning like an idiot! What a great first day. No problems sleeping, apart from releasing the beer twice during the night!

More next time…

0730 – Up, washed and dressed. Slightly overcast to start with, but there’s a promise of sunny intervals as the sun streams through the tree canopy on occasions. I’m not using the washing facilities on site apart from a shower tonight. The collapsible bowl is put to good use. Breakfast on porridge and a cereal bar. Many have fires going. I wander across to a neighbour who describes his Kelly kettle. Looks good bit of kit, but a bit fiddly.

1000 – Muster at the covered lecture area where Tony describes the main events. Flint knapping, bow making, tracking, leather work, the list goes on and on. I quickly realise that if I am to get everything in, I can’t spend all day on one subject. I’ll have to restrict my attendance to the shorter workshops and unfortunately forgoe the longer, practical “making something” elements. I elect to do the tracking, shelter building and hand drill workshops today. Before we start, an instructor gives everyone a 10 minute talk on knife safety. Great idea.

1045 – We start the tracking workshop. Rod is standing in for Rhoda from Shadowhawk as she can’t make it. He sends us into the wood for 20 minutes to sit quietly and see and hear what comes back when the wildlife gets used to us. Unfortunately, a lady has brought a couple of kids and they quickly become bored and start running about. I get the picture though. When we return, Rod explains about the tracking stick and a few anecdotes about his tracking experiences. I like the tracking stick and agree that it “can’t lie” when you arc the stick to find a missing print. He explains the use of mirrors and green light. I can understand Rod’s description of the more spiritual aspects of tracking. I have done tracking in the past and you really have to understand the subject of the track: what they do, where they would go and what would they avoid. It’s very similar to finding a missing person or child. You almost have to construct a psychological profile. We wander into the woods to find tracks and signs. Unfortunately the paths are well used by the site users and the soil is very sandy. We explore a kill site and the usual squirrel and rabbit feeding signs.

I certainly picked up a couple of tips and this has spurred me on to looking much deeper into the subject when I return. Thanks Rod.

1200 – Quick lunch of a cuppa soup, apple and banana. I’m using my Swedish Army trangia all the time. It’s quicker than building a fire as I need to cram in as many demos in as possible. I also want to see how long a litre of Meths lasts.

1300 – We start a shelter building workshop with Andy from Dryad bushcraft. It’s going to be an ‘A’ frame type shelter and not the semi-permanent shelter Mors built yesterday. In fact a Y-shaped log and longish pole starts off the process. Smaller branches provide the rest of the super-structure and the weather proofing is provided by us collecting and using the abundant Himalayan balsam. The end result is a very pleasant pink and purple looking shelter. This is all standard stuff, but it was good to get involved in the process. It starts to rain. What I did learn in both shelter demos was the need for the bed area to be as high as possible off the ground. In Mors’ shelter, this was a raised platform. In the Y-shelter, this was ample soft cushioning from available material.

1500 – I start a new spoon during a quick rest between workshops.

1600 – Hand drill workshop with Rich. He explains and describes the technique needed. Spit on hand (essential), 8lbs downward pressure, 4 passes per second. Wait til smoking. Cut notch, maintain smoke again then go for the coal. About half of us get smoke and half again turn the coal into fire. I get the smallest of wisps before my soft hands succumb to the drill. I’m so determined to succeed that my hand becomes raw. I decide that if I continue, it might jeapordise other workshops if not the moot by my hand possibly becoming infected. It’s raining hard now and the tinder is becoming damp. I fail along with some others, but Rich kindly says he’ll be back on Monday for those who want anther shot.

1845 – Dinner of pasta and Wayfarer beef stroganoff. This MRE is good if a bit bland but pepper makes it tastier. Raining very hard now and the site is strangely quiet. I wander to the main parachute covered area, but there’s no-one there. Even Mors has succumbed to the rain and gone to ground it seems. I carry on with my spoon. The tarp is holding up to the rain so far and everything appears dry. As darkness falls, I climb wearily into my sleeping bag. The rain is constant but surprisingly soothing. I start to fall asleep…

0230 – What the ****!! I can’t believe it’s a car alarm. Of course I can believe it. Instead of just turning it off, the owner tries to find out why it went off. This results in another 15 minutes of ear screeching sound. I take the opportunity to check on the kit. All is still dry. The tree canopy is taking a lot of the downpour. Eventually, I drift off again to the background of the continuing rain.

More next time…