Jonathon
has had a fascination for the British countryside from a very young age
and began his career working in forestry and horticulture. In 1997 Jonathon
started a Specialist Nursery growing native trees and plants part funded
by the Prince’s Youth Trust. It was an example of commitment to
environmental sustainability as he ran his business from a bike and trailer,
and used, for example, organic coir compost and local resources.
In
2001 he walked across South Wales with a handcart and an oak sapling to
give birth to a new project ‘WalkwithTrees’, its aim being
to bring together an understanding of our countryside with the ancestral
lore of the sacred land of Britain. In offering practical skills alongside
the stories and traditions long lost in this land, his unique style is
infused with enthusiasm and brought alive with voice, drum and natural
props and has been well received by groups as diverse as schools, horticultural
societies, the Wildlife Trust, church meetings, festivals and so on.
‘The children greatly enjoyed your trip around Kingley Vale and learnt not only a great deal about their environment but also British folklore.’ Andy Mackay,Head of R.E. Staunton Park Community School , Havant, Hampshire.
Growing up on a farm in Hampshire, Andy has had a love and respect for the countryside all of his life. His favourite outdoor activities are camp cooking, primitive archery, fishing, canoeing and wildlife tracks and signs. Andy has worked in the outdoors for many years in forestry, green oak carpentry, gardening and as a bushcraft instructor. Other sides of Andy have led him to perform his own music, study shamanic, buddhist and taoist meditational techniques, health and fitness, and herbalism. Andy also runs woodcraftsales.co.uk which supplies bushcraft equipment for the courses and individuals.
Antony Whitlock’s love for the outdoors began at an early age; he was always far happier outdoors and on leaving school did a Fine Art degree, drawing inspiration for his paintings from the hills and woodlands of Devonshire where he studied. He subsequently taught art for a year, before working with an outdoor education charity in Brighton. Realising that he wanted to connect with the countryside rather than just use it as a playground, he decided to formalise his interest in bushcraft by studying for a year with John Rhyder from The Woodcraft School, gaining an accredited Bushcraft Leadership certificate.
Since then, he has shared his passion for bushcraft with a variety of client groups: primary schoolchildren on forest-school programmes, teenagers with challenging behaviour, and adults in corporate activity sessions. He has worked for Woodsmoke in Cumbria, and Wilderness Survival Skills, based near Salisbury and in north Devon. Acknowledging that the term ‘bushcraft’ encompasses many lifetimes’ worth of knowledge and experience, he endeavours to develop his own skills-base, particularly in the area of ‘primitive’ technologies; this led him to study for a Masters degree in Experimental Archaeology, specialising in flint knapping. He was recently filmed by an American TV company making fire from flint, iron pyrites and horse’s hoof fungus – the fire-lighting kit carried by ‘Ötzi’, the Neolithic-dated mummy found preserved in an Alpine glacier.
Christina
Wellbeloved qualified as a shiatsu practitioner in 1994 and has since
built a thriving practise and a reputation for profound healing and inner
transformation. She is passionate about shiatsu and loves the way it can
be adapted to any environment, as there is no need for any special tools
other than her hands. Shiatsu is traditionally done lying on a futon but
on Bushcraft Courses she has treated people standing up, sitting on logs
or in tents on sleeping bags. No clothing need be removed and no oils
are used. It is a completely natural therapy and ties in brilliantly with
the natural environment, and is superb at easing aching backs and other
physical ailments sometimes the result of camping! She can also lead morning
sessions of energy-building, which are a wonderful experience in the awakening
woodland surroundings. She loves to start the campfire singing in the
evenings if this is part of the programme, and is happy to offer her counselling
skills should they be needed at any point.
www.awakenedheart.co.uk
www.youtube.com/shiatsu21