December 2008

Quarrel,
Between nations,
Conducted by armed forces,
Hostile relations,
Between persons,
Rival, competing, antagonistic,
When do we stop,
Look in each others eyes
And say the words no more?

By Annette Stickler

Concrete Jungle Survival &
The Street Homeless

You may be wondering what does an article on the homeless have to do with this kind of magazine, but I wanted to look at a different angle on survival where I believe that many homeless people are carrying out their own outdoor skills albeit maybe in a different way to how most of the people who read this magazine would look at survival. They are not playing at it after all. Certainly anyone who has travelled abroad, passing through built up areas to get to the wilderness areas have seen extreme poverty, where street kids can be seen begging or shoe shining and families living in makeshift shelters along the outskirts of cities using only plastic sheeting in an attempt to get a roof over their head. It is something we could be seeing more of in the near future as environmental disasters occur, disease epidemics spread and war torn areas all contribute to mass migration, as populations and communities across the world take up a more nomadic lifestyle, just to survive.

Last year here in the UK people became homeless due to the flooding, and I found myself watching the news on TV thinking I was fortunate not to live in that area and so the flood was not effecting me personally. But as more people become homeless for various reasons both here and abroad, two questions stand out, where do they all go and how do they survive? I also had a curiosity to find out how homeless men AND women of varying ages survive sleeping rough on our own London streets in 2008. What also intrigued me was to discover how the homeless keep warm, do they gather any wild foods, what are their shelters like, how much kit do they carry and so on.

Full article »

September 2008

A stone with a hole in,
A deep puddle,
Some old driftwood,
Listening to the sea in a shell,
A couple of Hazel sticks carved into a
bow n arrow,
Or a Horse chestnut on the end of a worn
shoe lace,
Nature's autumnal toys.

Kicking up those rainbow leaves,
Rolling in those rainbow leaves,

A Badger sett mud slide,
Building a house made of sticks,
My golden rod of Willow,
A fish hook tied with Nettle string,
A forked stick makes a catapult,
Or blowing an acorn cup whistle,
Nature's autumnal toys.

Throwing up those rainbow leaves,
Catching those rainbow leaves.

By Annette Stickler

August 2008

Sitting still... what a skill

Some of the best sights can be seen when we are sitting quietly in the forest working on our crafts.

Not too long ago I was sitting under an old tree carving. I was sitting very still and quiet until something caught my eye, not thirty yards away from me in a clearing were two Fox cubs and their vixen mother near by. I sat still and watched them for quite some time before they disappeared back into the forest.

These memories are priceless...enjoy them!
 
By Danny Hart

July 2008

The smell of smoked canvas,
A mystical shape seen after dark,
With touching of wooden Cedar poles,
And tasting the campfire cooking,
The sound of happy people,
True feelings from the heart,
With the gift of balance,
Nature’s eighth sense awakens,
An anthropological link,
From our past,
Our tipi senses.

By Annette Stickler June 08

June 2008

“Reading aloud in the firelight”

“The Education Of Little Tree” By Forest Carter

People say you never forget the person who first introduces you to the following book.

I first heard of “The Education Of Little Tree” some twelve years ago by an unknown “Raymond Mears” at the time, he had read the following chapter aloud in the firelight. It was a special time, life was simpler then and not so serious- I remember.

The chapter is called “The Way” and is about an orphaned American Indian boy who lives with his Grandparents on a mountainside. The book is full of wisdom, laughter, sorrow and love with a message behind each chapter. In a time when we are now surrounded by modern day stresses this book takes you back in time when people had little money but in some way they were far richer in life, I believe.

The Way

“It had taken Granma, sitting in the rocker that creaked with her slight weight as she worked and hummed, while the pine knots spluttered in the fireplace, a week of evenings to make the boot moccasins. With a hook knife, she had cut the deer leather and made the strips that she wove around the edges. When she had finished, she soaked the moccasins in water and I put them on wet and walked them dry, back and forth across the floor, until they fitted soft and giving, light as air…

May 2008

Sketching Nature

Carrying a small sketchpad and pencil when I go walking in the countryside allows
me to sketch at any opportunity and is just something I like to do. Here I am
sketching a pair of dragonflies.

April 2008

Nature Books Inspire Young Minds

I would rather risk my nature books get slightly damaged, then them collect dust on the bookshelf never to be looked at. Within a few minutes of Keira, aged 6, drawing caterpillars and butterflies from David Attenborough`s book “Life In The Undergrowth” she was soon being inspired by the colourful images which ran through the book.

“A Flie's view”

Seeing nature close up by using binocular, a hand lense or through photography allows you to see the world in a very different perspective. This is an abstract image of the first willow buds, and allows you an opportunity to see the beauty of nature, in this case from a flie's view.

Fairy Writing . . .

I love this time of year, everything is slowly starting to warm up and come alive.

Whilst walking through the woods recently, I was reminded how I first got interested in nature.Certainly the term bushcraft was not around when I was growing up, but my natural curiosity as a child to experiment with nature`s materials was very apparent.

Ivy Hedera helix is an amazing climber.Although not a parasite, in recent years it has been regarded as a pest species and more often than not I have come across ancient sized Ivy (170mm diameter or more) having been hacked at its base with the intention to save the tree.Whilst the debate whether Ivy is good or bad continues, through my own observation one thing is for sure, Ivy has become more prolific across the whole of the British Isles.A sign of climate change?

But, least we forget the supporting role Ivy has on other woodland species, attracting a mass of wildlife.Over the winter months the berries become an important feed for blackcaps, thrushes and blackbirds, and butterflies like the brimstone and painted lady are wrapped up in the green foliage, waiting in hibernation for the sun to appear.

This is an activity I used to do when I was 7. I suppose it was my first field research into the subject, it certainly helped me to identify the two species: Ivy and Blackthorn and from that one activity I have not forgotten their identity.

An activity for young people, which combines imagination and knowledge to reach the desired result.

December's diary entry »