I’m very excited about this year’s WILD WOODS experience in collaboration with Ben McNutt of Wild Human Bushcraft. 5 days of moving, eating, sleeping, learning and understanding human skills in beautiful woodland. But for those that perhaps are a bit daunted by living outside for 6 nights we believe we have the right balance of a few creature comforts too so that it doesn’t become a barrier for what we are confident will be a fantastic immersive experience. The woodland we will be working from is based on the beautiful and huge grounds of Armathwaite Hall and we have access to showers and their lovely Spa at the beginning and end of the day. So essentially we will be “Spamping”. 😂 A touch of our modern comforts we enjoy to help you explore and honor our human heritage.
"To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we ourselves are transformed… (Woods) have become the guardians of our dreams of greenwood liberty, of our wildwood feral, childhood selves" – Roger Deakin
Dates: 29 May – 4 June 2020, Fri PM – Thurs PM (6 Nights)
Location: Lake District, England
Price: £895 (£200 deposit option available)
Food & Accommodation: Fully catered and includes camping fees
Activity: Bushcraft & Natural Movement
Group Size: 14 places max
Venue: Armathwaite Hall 4* Hotel & Spa
Description
Highlights
Running forest trails
Vaulting
Branch balancing
Precision jumping
Limb crawling
Foot-pinch climbing
Toe-pinch climbing
Brachiation
Landing from height
Breakfalls
Joint integrity and mobility training
Natural Lifting
Breath training
Roughhousing
Natural Parkour
Friction fire lighting
Canopy camping
Axe skills
Knife craft
Making rope from bark
Tree Id
Wild food
Tracking
Baking and campfire cookery
Inclusions
This course is fully catered throughout.
It includes camping fees and any specialist equipment.
You will get a free sheath knife to keep.
We offer a complimentary pick-up and drop-off service from and to the nearest railway station at set times.
The Chinese refer to wood as the fifth element; join us for a five-day workshop celebrating this fifth element – living suspended in the canopy in Tentsile tree-tents for four nights and a final night in a 4* hotel, learning to move through the arboreal environment, from nimbly traveling on forest trails to actually climbing safely through the canopy, learning the art of shaping wood like axemanship and knifecraft, conjuring fire from wood by friction, learning to forage woodland wild food, dining on nutritious woodland based foods; like blossom tea to nut flour bread, cooking on wood fires, and banqueting on spit-roast venison, learning to recognise the tracks of woodland animals and most importantly, learning about the individual tree species themselves, from lore to uses. Evenings will be spent unwinding at the spa before retiring to the campfire circle.
“The Stone Age should more accurately be called the Wood Age, because most of the tools made by ancient hunter-gathers were made of wood.” Yuval Noah Harari
Our intimate relationship with wood and trees is as old as our species; after all for the majority of our time on earth ‘sticks and stones’ have been our highest form of technology; we are inextricably linked, our high tech lifestyle born out of sticks and stones.
Wood has even helped shape our belief systems – from the stone-age rituals at Wood Henge to the ancient lore of the hazel tree in Celtic creation myths, to deities, like Odin hanging from a branch of Yggdrasil and Jesus on his hewn cross, wood has helped to granted us wisdom and given us faith.
Working from a Robin Hood style forest basecamp, camping in Tentsile tree-tents suspended from trunks below a high canopy, Woodsmoke has access to some of the finest tree climbing locations in the Lake District National Park, from majestic mature oaks to twisting groves of rhododendron. We are thrilled to host Ben Medder from Evolve, Move, Play, who will be mentoring you in the art of arboreal locomotion from tree-running, climbing and vaulting to brachiation.
“ To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we ourselves are transformed… (Woods) have become the guardians of our dreams of greenwood liberty, of our wildwood feral, childhood selves” – Roger Deakin
The days will be equally divided to develop mind, body and spirit – with lessons on ancestral movement strategies with the focus on climbing, physical strength, skill and dexterity, craft and cooking, knowledge and learning, and time to yourself to reflect, think and be creative, where you will be encouraged to sketch, journal, meditate or simple be in the forest.
Natural movement training, in context… actually out in nature, is proven to increase wellbeing and personal growth, from mental focus and a calmer mind, to leaner, stronger, more agile physiques.
So join us to intimately re-connect with nature through trees; living suspended in them, gracefully moving through them, feasting on woodland food – and through wood – learning to shape it, craft with it, split it, stack it, warm ourselves and cook on it. This five-day workshop, celebrating our connection with trees is a great way to begin un-domesticating yourself, to grow and to revert and embrace that feral, childhood self that lurks within us all.
Hosted in the stunning grounds of Armathwaite Hall Hotel and Spa in the Lake District, you will have daily access to the spa for an early morning swim and again each evening for a relax in the sauna or to chill in outdoor hot tub. On the final night of the course you will be treated to a delicious meal and a nights stay in the hotel itself.
The course usually sells out, so secure your place by placing a deposit now or booking now.