Survival School - Bristol

An amazing opportunity for a young person!

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It is with some sadness, but many happy memories, that I am announcing that the Bristol branch of Survival School will be permanently extinguishing the campfire and packing up the kettle after running courses in Bristol since 2014.

Although COVID was a massive blow I am happy that we are not a casualty of it and instead it has been my decision to cease trading as myself, my wife and the dogs will be starting a new adventure when we move away in the New Year.

I would like to thank everyone that has joined us for courses and events over the last 7 years, and it has been a genuine pleasure to teach people of all ages from all walks of life.

I must also thank our gracious landowners, Adrian and Alita from the Brown Rock Woodland Project who kindly allowed us the use of their wonderful woodland and also allowed us the freedom to grow, it had been great to watch the project develop into what it is today.

Thanks must also go to Jonny from Survival School Ltd who entrusted me with not only his name but also his hard earned reputation!

Finally I must thank all the other Survival School instructors who have helped me run courses that were bigger than me, in particular Carl who has been with me since day 1 and has been the best second in command that anyone could hope for, especially when he made sure I got up in the morning 😊

Survival School as a whole still continues as strong as ever and I will continue working for the other branches so I hope to see some of you again in the woods soon. Your next nearest branch of Survival School is in Devon so please visit www.survivalschool.co.uk for more information.

The photos are of our first Level 2 course in 2014, our various main camps at the Brown Rock Woodland Project including the roundhouse which we constructed in 2015, and the final photo is of the sun setting over our final camp on the day I finished packing it up.

Good times and fun filled memories!

Another beautiful morning to be out in the woods, a full day of greenwood working today after yesterday’s fire, shelter and water course

A great couple of back to back courses this weekend whilst the sun shined 😎

Firstly Jonathan’s Stag Do on Friday and Saturday with a fantastic group of gentlemen who travelled from far and wide to give him a proper celebration in difficult times, we wish you all the best with the upcoming nuptials and fingers crossed it all goes ahead as planned.

Today we hosted a one day fire, shelter, water course with brilliants skills demonstrated by all participants, the photo was a sneaky shot as the group caught a breather following a hot bow drill session! 😅

Happy days 😊

A couple more photos of this weekends Blacksmithing course, the group did fantastically well in grasping the techniques and walked away with a fire poker, hook, flint and steel striker and carbon steel neck knife hot cut from a leaf spring and then drawn out using 3 person teams with sledge hammers.

Blacksmithing is in essence about creating solutions to problems and Duncan realised he needed a quick access cradle to hold his billhook during hedgelaying competitions, he quickly knocked up this deceptively simple but perfectly practical solution to hold the billhook safely inline with the leg, he was even kind enough to send a photo of it in practice as soon as he got home!

A big thank you to everyone that joined us and a massive thank you once again to David from Cobalt Blacksmiths for travelling over from Reading to share his decades worth of knowledge and skill.

Busy weekend so far for our budding blacksmiths and charcoal burners, more pictures to follow tomorrow of some finished products 🔥🔨💥 😎 with Cobalt Blacksmith

Time spent in the woods is never wasted time, even if it is raining!!

Little bit of a head start for next weekends charcoal and blacksmithing course by splitting ash for the charcoal kiln, it is a bit of a hungry beast when it comes to loading quantities

We have two fantastic 2 night weekend courses coming up in August and September to tickle your fancy and get you away from the hoardes of people in every other outdoor space!

First up we have the Blacksmithing and Charcoal making weekend on the 21st-23rd August, learn axe safety and techniques, the charcoal burning process and mainly how to become a hot metal hammerer, we will cover forge setups (so you can do it at home), tools, techniques and everything you need to know to start making useful household items yourself, our professional full time blacksmith will be bringing loads of stock metal so you can make as many items as possible to take away with you.

Secondly we have the ever popular Weekend Bushcraft Course running from the 18th-20th September, it covers 15 different modules that will arm you with all the practical skills and knowledge you need to start or advance your journey into the world of bushcraft, survival and wilderness living skills (we will even show you the best leaves to use as toilet paper so you don't get caught out the next time there is a global pandemic!).

There is only a couple of places left on each of the courses so get over to the website and check out the full course itineraries for all the info. www.survivalschoolbristol.co.uk

NEW COURSE DATES FOR AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020!!

We are very pleased to be able to get back into the woods for some summer sunshine and to start catching up on the courses postponed due to lockdown.

We are also pleased to introduce our newest member of the team, Diggory, who was born in early April and is looking forward to getting shown around the woods by his mum, Elda.

We emailed everyone last week who had a course postponed earlier in the year to give first opportunity on the new dates but we are now opening the remaining spaces up to everyone.

Under the current restrictions the numbers are strictly limited so if you would like to get into the woods for an adventure this summer then don’t delay in reserving yours.

The new course dates are as follows:

- 8th August - Family Bushcraft Day

- 14th-16th August - Weekend Bushcraft Course (NCFE Level 2 Customised Qualification- 15 Modules)

- 21st-23rd August - Blacksmithing and Charcoal Weekend

- 4th-6th September - Expedition and Travel Preparation Weekend Course (NCFE Level 3 Customised Qualification)

- 13th September - One Day Fire, Shelter and Water Course

- 26th September - One Day Foraging and Wild Game Course

- 27th September - One Day Greenwood Working Course

All the information can be found on the website at www.survivalschoolbristol.co.uk Please give us a call or email if you have any questions.

Unfortunately due to the extension of the Corona Virus lockdown period we have had to postpone our blacksmithing course at the beginning of next month, but fingers crossed that our new Level 3 course will be able to proceed as scheduled at the end of May.

Regardless we are not resting on our laurels and we have been out this afternoon increasing our supply of shelter building ridge poles, fork sticks and thatching brash by moving it from where our lovely volunteers coppiced it in January over to the far end of the woods at main camp.

Although the woods is full of new life and growth our main camp is looking very sad with the tarp in its winter storage configuration and the leaves of last autumn gathered in the windless hollows. Hopefully this will all be over soon and we can breath some life into camp again by filling the woods with fun and laughter!

PICTURE FOR ATTENTION

Anyone booked on a course with us in March or April will have received an email from us last week regarding an update on COVID-19 and our operations, if you are booked on a course and have not received an email please check your junk folder or get in contact for details on the current situation.

Thank you and be like Elda and stay safe by the fire 😄.

Matt