Pablo’s Woodlife: Wildlife, Tracking and Bushcraft

I wrapped the plaster in a polythene bag, put on some waterproof trousers, and pulled a boot onto my good foot. I packed a flask of tea and few bits in my day sack and wrapped up against the cold.

I bribed Mrs P to take me to the edge of the most accessible woods and, after a few minutes under her watchful eye to see if I could negotiate the initial muddy ruts, I was into the woods. I’d escaped!

I hobbled in about 100 yards and sat down on a log. The first thing that struck me was that all the leaves had gone. I had trouble comprehending that it was at the end of October when I was last here. The sun was shining through the bare branches and I soaked it up as though I’d never seen it before.

I knew I’d get cold if I didn’t move around, so I set about erecting the tipi I’d recently bought from Dawn. I’ve always wanted one even though I prefer tarps, but I couldn’t help being impressed by this ultra-light Titanium Goat (the makers) Vertex tipi. It took a while, but I managed to set it up although obviously it wasn’t as elegant or as taut as it could have been. I’ll certainly make use of it and I’ll talk about it more at a later date.

It was too nice to sit in it and so I went back to the log and had a cup of tea and watched the wood. There didn’t seem to be a lot of activity although I did notice a pheasant, the odd squirrel and the usual noisy rooks. Although the sun was bright, there was a a cold north-westerly wind. I was glad I had my swaani underneath my old wax jacket and the shemagh wrapped around my neck.

I was conscious that my allotted two hours would soon be up, so I packed away the tipi and proceeded to go on a hobble-about. The good thing about travelling this slowly is that you don’t miss much and perhaps a lesson even for me who walks slowly anyway. The slower you go, the more you see. I picked up some old mutjac tracks and some smaller rodents, probably rat and squirrel tracks. I had to concentrate hard to make sure I didn’t slip but even so, after 20 minutes, I was surprised to see that I had actually come so far.

I spent the last quarter of an hour sitting down with my back to a tree as the light started to fade in the hope I would see some muntjac; but nothing emerged. I was duly collected and returned to base feeling elated. It was so great to be out in the woods again, albeit for a short time, and I’d actually achieved something by setting up the tipi. One small step… and all that.

Thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

Who are we, or more pertinently, who do we think we are? The major invasions of Britain came from the Romans, Vikings, Anglo Saxons and Normans, so you can really take your pick from that little lot. But who were the original Britons and more to the point, were they Britons at all?

It has been suggested there was no such thing until the 17th century, when James I of England and VI of Scotland sought to establish a pan-British monarchy. Until then Britain was just a geographical entity and the people of Britain were just a constantly shifting base of multi-cultural groups that had migrated to the Isles over a period of several thousand years with little single identity.

There is evidence of migration into Britain as long as 700,000 years ago although it’s thought that the changing climate of retreating and advancing ice and intermittent  land access from the continent assisted in the many failed colonisation attempts. The last attempts 12,000 years ago were more successful.

Around 6000 BCE the British Isles was finally and permanently separated from the continent. Until about 4000 BCE it was covered by woodland and the inhabitants were hunter gatherers who lived in small family groups. At around this time the hunter-gatherers started to clear the woodland which was helped by a huge outbreak of Dutch elm disease and methods of using fire to hunt. It was thought that communities had to emerge and enlarge to assist in the vast undertaking of creating clearings. Agricultural practices had started, which originated from what we now know as the middle-eastern countries. It took thousands of years to reach Britain and thousands more to become fully established.

Although these early people left no account of themselves, it is suggested that they were mainly caucasoid as were the tribal groups of Europe. Perhaps regional environments or tasks changed their features over generations, and it is certainly true that there was much regional diversity in terms of appearance, biology and customs by the time the Roman first invaded as reported by the Romans themselves.

Between 3000 BCE and 1500 BCE the communities continued to swell and monuments, burial sites and pottery were developed at least leaving a visible legacy. Farming and domestication of animals were the main source of food and it’s suspected that many settlements or tribes immerged, merged, split or simply phased out. Conflicts and contact was made with more distant groups.

By 700 BCE it was suspected that there were a number of large tribal areas made up of increasingly bigger settlements. The land had been divided up with banks, and track ways were used to move animals. The first eye-witness accounts of these tribes came from Julius Caesar himself who invaded in 54 BCE. Although he may have lumped many of them together for convenience, there is no doubt that there were identifiable tribal communities because of similarities in customs, traits, language and appearance. It is the Latin names given to these tribes that are familiar today: for example Trinovantes, Iceni, Silures, Cornovii, Selgovae. It appears (surprisingly) that the one thing they were not… is Celtic.

“…[Celts] was an invention of the 18th century; the name was not used earlier. The idea came from the discovery around 1700 that the non-English island tongues relate to that of the ancient continental Gauls, who really were called Celts. This ancient continental ethnic label was applied to the wider family of languages. But ‘Celtic’ was soon extended to describe insular monuments, art, culture and peoples, ancient and modern: island ‘Celtic’ identity was born, like Britishness, in the 18th century.”

So says Dr Simon James in Peoples of Britian. He goes on to say that the preceding bronze age did not arise out of waves of continental ‘Celtic’ invasions however there would be similarities in respect of culture, language  (called Brythonic language - the nearest is apparently like today’s Cornish) and connections; but to call the culture ‘Celtic’ as a whole is (and has been) misleading.

So, we leave ourselves at 43 CE just before the second (main) Roman invasion, which would immerse our tribal culture  into a Greco-Roman one but still without significantly changing the face of the population. This huge culture change would eventually swamp whatever culture the inhabitants of the Isles would have had. So I am suggesting we return to the pre-Roman “tribes” to look for our true ancestral “island” identity.

So, what tribe were you? Have a look here to find out.

The excellent drawings are sourced from:

http://www.framearch.co.uk/t5/

Has it been 32 days since my Achilles Tendon rupture? Seems like only yesterday. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?

Actually, the time is passing relatively well. I went back to work last week, which helped a little - although of course, I’ve been stuffed in a downstairs office and it’s far from ideal.

The last couple of weeks have been pain free although I did develop a little back pain I suppose from hopping about on one leg. It’s impossible to keep the leg elevated all the time as per doctor’s orders. But I rest it as much as I can.

I haven’t done all the craft stuff I intended to do, but I have busied myself by doing a lot of research, reading and writing a few articles.

I’ve also kept myself busy working on this website and the Woodlife Network. You can probably see a couple of new tabs at the top of this page.

The good news is that the trip to the hospital today was quite fruitful. They repositioned the foot and put another plaster on. Before they did this I could actually move the foot up and down a little bit. Even though I still can’t bear weight on the foot I’m able to steady myself on two feet a little easier as the foot is at a less obtuse angle.

In two weeks time I have to report back to the hospital complete with two shoes. This is a good sign. Two shoes are definitely good and provides a little light at the end of the tunnel. 

Thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

There are a few theories as to why we first became upright. The latest (and latest to be dismissed) is that we adopted the stance to carry children. Probably the most popular is that it was purely driven out of a neccesity to free up the hands for use as tools and to evolve into a more effective and efficient way of going from one place to another. whatever the reason, this left a strange effect on our body. It meant that the vertebrae that makes up the spine also had to adapt to carry the weight of our ever increasing upright stance. The result of this evolution is a strange series curves - the largest being a inward “lordosis” or inward curve of the lower spine. It’s certainly not the most mechanically perfect structure for walking or running, but it makes a pretty good shock absorber - great for jumping out of trees (or planes!)

“There’s wasn’t a lot going on was there?” said Mrs P as we drove Doris the Discovery home after a little outing today.

I thought about this and was just about to agree when I remembered what I had noticed looking out of the window. The drips of rain had caused interesting patterns of built up snow on the edge of the tarmac track where it had refused to melt. 

A row of this white snow pointed to an entrance of the badger sett where, judging by the tracks, there was some activity from last night’s excursions. There were no tracks in the snow itself. Bedding had been left outside but this wasn’t too fresh indicating that it had been a dragged out a couple of nights ago. Rabbit droppings were also around the entrance. The rabbit was possibly living in close proximity to the badgers if not in the same sett; but in a different and unused tunnel complex.

The meadow areas were a light beige colour contrasting with the dark brown of the ploughed fields, while some close cropped grassed areas were a deep manicured green. The wind was bending the larger, thin hollow grasses at a strangely obtuse angle.

We had spotted a single rabbit scooting for the cover of its burrow as we drove past it and a kestrel looked down from a tall lamp post before it decided enough was enough and headed home. I wondered if it had found enough to eat today or whether it was flying home still a little peckish.

The crows and rooks were preparing to roost in the wood, which looked magnificent in the low light as the sun began to dip down towards the horizon. The wood seemed to whisper… we’ll still be here waiting.

The build up of water on the edge of the paths had created deep puddles and we had had fun splashing Doris through them.

Finally, we had watched a dramatic purple sunset as the sun finally set in the western sky.

Not a lot going on? I’m not so sure of that.

Thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

Day 19

0800 - Get up. Endeavour to wash etc etc and get dressed
0900 - Commence hopping downstairs
0910 - Arrive downstairs. Make morning flask of coffee - Hop into chair.
0920 - Sit in chair - Watch squirrels in garden. Check time to confirm it’ll be another 8 hours before human contact

0930 - Access internet. Look at all useless kit sites
0932 - Promise self not to buy any useless kit
0934 - Promise self to buy any more useless kit
0936 - Look at all good and expensive kit sites
0938 - Promise self not to buy any good and expensive kit
0940 - Promise self not to buy any more good and expensive kit
0945 - Watch squirrels. Check time.

1000 - Have fun trying to extract apple from fruit bowl on coffee table using only crutches
1005 - Give up trying to extract apple from fruit bowl on coffee table using only crutches
1010 - Coffee break
1020 - Watch time and check squirrels

1030 - Hop over to hat stand.
1030 - Narrowly avoid tripping over apples on floor

1031 - Try on hats
1035 - Hop back over to chair.
1040 - Coffee break
1045 - Access internet. Check kit sites to see if anything has been added in the last hour and a half
1100 - Watch squirrels

 
1105 - Check blogs, web sites and other bushcrafft forums
1200 - Check watch. Wonder in amazement how time flies when you’re having fun.
1205 - Lunch. Examine the possibility of setting up Trangia in lounge.
1206 - Decide against setting up Trangia in lounge
1210 - Hop into kitchen and collect sandwiches and glass of juice
1215 - Decide against hopping back to chair with glass of juice in hand
1230 - Eat sandwiches - Watch squirrels - Check time
1300 - Start listening out for postman

1315 - Google “Cabin Fever”
1330 - Joy of joys - Postman arrives!
1335 - Curse at postman for not bringing any useless or expensive kit
1340 - Try on hats
1345 - Access internet. Check to see if any blogs or new posts have been added . Oh… check on new kit.
1400 - TV time! Access TV for good documentatries
1405 - Switch off TV
1410 - Postman asks if he can be released
1415 - Eat squirrels - Check sandwiches - Watch time

1420 - Decide to explore house - Commence crawling upstairs

1440 - Arrive in study and open bushcraft wardrobe - commence playing with bushcraft stuff
1535 - Check watch. Wonder in amazement how time flies when you’re having fun
1536 - Realise in horror that it’s time for exercises
1540 - Commence journey downstairs
1550 - Commence exercises
1555 - Complete exercises
1600 - Hop back into chair - Watch squirrels

1605 - Start watching dusk fall
1630 - Cease watching squirrels - too dark
1635 - Check watch - Realise human contact is now less than 1 hour away - Wonder where the day has gone
1645 - Hop into kitchen and follow Mrs P’s food prep instructions for dinner

1650 - Decide leg hurts - unable to complete dinner prep task - Hop back to chair
1710 - Check watch - Human contact now less than 30 minutes away - Worry about consequences of inability to complete dinner prep task.

1720 - Clear up sandwich debris - Remove apples from floor
1725 - Practice pretending to be miserable and in pain to extract maximum sympathy
1730 - Human contact! Commence describing highly eventful day. Fall about laughing when describing fun with apples
1732 - Cease describing eventful day and laughing about apples when confronted about failure to complete dinner prep task

1740 - Commence normal evening routine.

Day 20

0800 - Get up. Endeavour to wash etc etc and get dressed
0900 - Commence hopping downstairs
0910 - Arrive downstairs. Make morning flask of coffee
0920 - Sit in chair - Watch squirrels in the garden. Check time to confirm it’ll be another 8 hours before human contact