Midlands Meet - 18-20 July 2008

[Wallenstein]

Hi all,

Here are a few pics from the Midlands Meet this weekend.

I had a fantastic time... the weather stayed pretty dry, the site was excellent as always, and the company was exceptional.

One of the best things about these Meets is the sheer amount of expertise in various woodland skills, as well as a fantastic willingness to share this knowledge with others.

Over the weekend I learned...

- how to split wood with a baton and my mora
- how to prepare a wood pigeon for the pot
- how to make cordage from brambles
- how to track rabbits with a rifle (theory only!)
- how to make feather sticks for firelighting

I'm really grateful for everyone who took the time to share their skills with me... I hope one day I'll be able to pass them on to others in the same way.

I also cooked my first bannock in the embers, supped some Dragon's Breath (yum... hic!), made a tripod for cooking over the fire, won some groovy stuff in the raffle, and ate the most delicious game stew you can imagine.

It was my first full weekend on a Meet - I only managed a single night last time - and I came home feeling totally chilled out, and with loads of new skills to practice.

As before, we were at Rough Close campsite near Coventry.

The BCUK logo shows where we were based... lovely mixed woodland with plenty of space to spread out.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/23.jpg

We were lucky enough to receive 17 freshly-shot wood pigeons on Saturday courtesy of Scrumpy and his mate, and we had a fantastic tutorial from Woodstock on how to prepare the breasts for the pot...

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We added some muntjac leg, neck of lamb, various bits of veg and spices, and some lovely woodland herbs foraged by Xylaria...

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/05.jpg

Scrumpy kept a careful eye on the pots as they bubbled away...

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I was dead chuffed with the cooking setup we made - wood gathered with my new Silky Pocket Boy and bound with twine, and then pots suspended over it (thanks to Wayland for the advice on the bindings)...

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/06.jpg

Wayland and Mesquite discussed the finer points of leatherwork and stitching...

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/07-1.jpg

One of the highlights was the "Yard of Flumps"... delicious but tricky to eat! Highly recommended!

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/08-1.jpg

We had a few intrepid explorers with us... they spent their time making dens in the forest and had a great time.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/09-1.jpg

Decorum did his best to counter the noise made by some of our junior bushcrafters, and crafted an exceptionally loud whistle... ably demonstrated by David (George's Dad)!

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/10-1.jpg

I got a chance to try out my new "bargain firebowl" - a colander and dog bowl from the pound shop, held together with an M5 bolt... excellent for off-the-ground fires, and perfect for a few sausages!

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/14-1.jpg

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There was plenty of time to sit around the fire and chat into the small hours... perfect way to end the day.

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Can't wait until the next Meet - roll on the autumn!

Thanks for looking.

Rob
(Wallenstein)

[wildrover]

Great photos
Looks like a fantastic meet.

[Mesquite]

Great set of pics Rob, I really must remember to take my camera next time and get some pics of my own.



Wayland and Mesquite discussed the finer points of leatherwork and stitching...

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm264/wallenstein2008/07-1.jpg


More a case of me learning the finer points of leatherwork from Wayland. I'm a complete novice when it comes to that. But thanks to Wayland I now have a slightly better understanding of it and I'll be sorting a couple things out soon :)

[Aragorn]

thanks for sharing, looks like a good time was had by all, but i think it's impossible not to have a good time at these meet-up's ;) realy gutted i have missed another, hopefully get along to the next one, been far too long now.

[xylaria]

The herbs were foraged from my garden.:o

The dried mushrooms were wild ones, they were orange birch bolete and bay bolete picked last autumn. I chucked the odd handful of fresh green stuff in; wood sorrel in the curry and hogweed shoots in the stew. They got a bit lost in the brew. Shame i couldn't find any sowthistle. i thought about chucking in some nettles but stewed game looks wrong if it goes green.

Woodstocks curry:nutkick: good stuff.

I liked the yam. really nice with butter on it. The crust held ember better than alot of fungi do which is the sort stuff you only find out if you cook around a fire. I took a bit lit it and placed some mugwort on it to keep the mozzies away from our camp.

Who made the chair? that was really good.

[decorum]

I liked the yam. really nice with butter on it.

Good aren't they :D . About as simple as it gets - lob it in the fire, wait a while, take it out, cut it open, eat.



The crust held ember better than alot of fungi do which is the sort stuff you only find out if you cook around a fire.

A little bit bigger than a cramp ball though :lmao: .



I took a bit lit it and placed some mugwort on it to keep the mozzies away from our camp.

I'd considered the benefits of the smouldering crust, what effect does the addition of the mugwort have?



Who made the chair? that was really good.

It was Bob's chair - it was good, wasn't it :notworthy.


EDIT:

I can't believe I forgot to say - Good pics of good memories :D .
What's with the title's date though - it's still only the 21st today :lmao:

[xylaria]

I don't think yam will light with a fire steel the way a cramp ball does, and it doesn't burn as hot, it is the rucksack size quality of the yam is where it wins the contest hands down. It fits so handy in those macro possiblities pouches, it feeds 20 people, and holds an ember, a man with yam is man with friends.

Mugwort and its relatives has been used globally as an insect repelant. It has a bunch of other properties as well. I got bit quite a bit on the face, but it was mostly standing chatting to georges dad. I need to make up some yarrow tincture that supposed to be good [it was tested by the us army and it has a pubmed citation].