Come and spend a day or more in our newly planted woodland in Stapleford, near Tarvin, Cheshire, meeting others, learning bushcraft skills and participating in various Forest School activities.
We have increased availability due to popular demand.
We are able to take unaccompanied children from ages 7 to 12 inclusive.
Monday 13th February 2012, Tuesday 14th February 2012 and Thursday 16th February 2012.
Monday 13th February, Tuesday 14th February and Thursday 16th February.
Monday 13th February.
To make a booking, link to our booking system by clicking here.
The price for attendance at an open session is £17.50 including VAT.
The price for attendance on the 3 day course is £45 including VAT.
The price for attendance on the family day is £40 per family including VAT.
Payment can be made by cash or cheque on the day for open sessions and family days but we request advance payment for the 3 day course.
Each day comprises the following:
Our ultimate ambition is for parents to collect a buzzing, excited child who has a tall tale to share about repelling Viking hoards with a bow and arrow or perhaps commando crawling through long grass and securing a jungle clearing from the sneezing dragons. Who knows? Each participant on each day should have something they have made to bring home, we do, however, promise that the big stuff can be left behind and doesn't need to be squeezed into your boot although we do understand how protective some children can be of their pet twig or favourite rock.
There is plenty of scope for children who attend multiple sessions to advance from basic to intermediate skills.
Participants will learn about different types of wood and their main benefits as firewood. Then they will be shown the differences between tinder, kindling and fuel. Basic fire construction will be demonstrated before teaching the use of a flint and strike. The fire will be used to boil a storm kettle to make a hot drink and cook marshmallows. Participants will then scavenge from the brash piles and log piles to create their own fire pits and boil their own kettles.
Participants will learn to use bow saws, bill hooks, training knives and loppers to render brash and logs into useful sizes. Full safety instruction will be given in each tool, followed by an assessment before a participant is considered for allocation of a tool. Once the tools are allocated the participants will need to collect various sizes of wood and reduce them to useful pieces depending on their tool and the wood requirement.
Participants will learn some useful knots and lashings required to create useful items and connect pieces of wood together. We'll try making cord from nettles and under bark.
Participants will scavenge from the wood piles and log piles and using tools and knots and lashings will create items ranging from 3 legged stools through to beds and perhaps bows and arrows or spear launchers. The shelters will range from single person debris huts through to complicated cabins.
More advanced fire making with different uses and construction taught. Worksheet provided as aide memoir.
More advanced tool use along with knots and lashings to construct different shelters, useful items such as chairs and beds and utensils like spoons and pot hangers.
In three teams, selected on day 2, attendees must have completed an element of homework to contrive a menu of starter, main course and desert to be cooked over an open fire whilst constructing a team shelter and a luxury item.
The family day is a condensed version of the 3 day course based around the premise that adults will lead their children.
Each participant must bring with them the following:
At the moment, pending the building of our education centre, this is an issue that concerns some visitors of a more sensitive disposition. Our toilet facilities are rudimentary but not unhygienic. Boys are directed to pee on the compost heaps, perfectly reasonable and hidden. For the girls and boys requiring a seat we use compost toilets which are similar to caravan or camping toilets except that we don't use water or chemicals. Once the "wipe" is carried out, the "flush" is simply covering the evidence with sawdust. We provide disinfectant gel and hot water with antibacterial soap afterwards. When the toilet is full it is emptied onto the compost heaps for 2 years of thermophilic composting before being added to the vegetable patches. Many books are available as to why there is nothing wrong with this and our prime example, listed in the library, is the Humanure Handbook. Click here for a picture of our compost toilet, a shiny new "luggable loo".
Before lunch and any other consumption of food we always provide hot water and antibacterial soap and disinfectant gel.
Our preference is to use hot water and antibacterial soap because it gives a much deeper cleansing than just rubbing gel onto muddy hands.
Copyright © 2006 - 2012 Broomheath Plantation. All rights reserved.
Theme by Danetsoft and Danang Probo Sayekti inspired by Maksimer
