Roundhouse Update

It has been a few weeks since much has been added to the Roundhouse down at Hams Hall however the team and myself got a fair bit done on Tuesday despite the heavy rain and the annoying biting insects. With two teams thatching and another team working on the daubed wall it was great to see clear results for our efforts. The higher up we go the slower and trickier it gets as each bundle of reed has to be slid into position without damaging the stems and spaced evenly so that the wooden rods trap the thatch evenly. It may sound straight forward and to some extent it is however in order for it to last a good few years it is necessary to put in the extra effort.

Lime Bark Day

Lime Bark Pots and String

Despite being a very wet day the Lime Bark Day this year was an outstanding success. Most clients this year were Professionals in the Outdoors in some capacity with 3 who were on my Instructor Mentoring Scheme. The sheer delight from people was clear as they managed to slide off the bark to create cylinders with a base of lime from the same piece of tree. Some even managed to sort out a lid too which was very effective indeed. The trick was to choose a suitable piece of wood this time of year when the sap is at its peak. By lightly pounding the bark it starts to separate from the wood allowing it to be slid off. We had a fantastic trunk of Lime to work with this year which added to the enjoyment. Peeling off the bark with a barking spoon was just great fun. The long pieces of bark were taken away to be soaked in a pond for about 5-6 weeks to ret. These will be rinsed off and used for rope making tasks or sold to Archaeologists reconstructing various pieces of uncovered treasures such as the Iceman cloak/shoes or the Lime Basket found in a Dartmoor Bog a few years ago.

String was made from some material I had in stock. Again everyone clearly enjoyed working with the smooth, silky layers of material. Lime is a pretty strong material if it is harvested efficiently and retted thoroughly. I have used it on a bow string for making fire as well as one for firing arrows. There will be another day of this early June next year.

Hams Hall Roundhouse

One of the developments over at Hams Hall Environmental Centre is the construction of a 6.5 meter thatched round house. Each week I have been working with volunteers from the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust teaching them the skills to build such a structure. As you can see from the picture the main frame is more or less up and when I get back with them we will be daubing and thatching. The volunteers are great and very keen and pick up the skills very well. This particular design has the support of GCA construction from Derby behind it. Having built other round houses before it is interesting working with a construction engineer calculating the stresses and diameters of poles etc in order to satisfy them it is sound. Having only a few hours each week means it will still be a while before we complete the project however it is clearly stirring up interest and enthusiasm to everyone involved and many others.

Industry Privileges

One of the great privileges of working in the Bushcraft world is when a couple of companies work together on a project. Last Monday I had some of the Woodland Ways Staff join with some of my staff to spend some time developing our understanding of less commonly used friction fire lighting methods such as pump drill, fire saws along with strap drill and fire thong. Our focus was more about being able to grasp what is happening, why and what we can do to improve efficiency. Everyone clearly gained from a professional look at these skills and it impressed me that everyone knuckled down to open learning without any need to have the right answers. Fires were generated on each of these techniques, some through teamwork, others by individuals. Seeing the smiles of success were really great to see and even myself took a great deal of satisfaction from working with others and creating an ember using a fire thong for the first time. Who says you cant teach an old dog new tricks hey!

Mentoring Scheme - String

This last weekend saw the Instructor Mentoring Scheme making String and rope out of a wide variety of materials and put them to a number of uses. Simple ties were made from Elm bark and quality string was made from Nettle, Lime, Reedmace, Horseradish and Palm fibers. It is interesting working with natural materials as the process for each is different. Some can then be used straight away where as others such as nettle benefit from being fairly dry. After making various lengths of cord and rope etc we applied several onto a bow in order to create fire. The most practical one for this was the nettle and each person made an ember individually as well as together with this. One of the pleasant surprises was the horseradish fibers which also worked successfully. As is often the case with natural cordage on a bow drill set the most effective way seems to be to wrap it around the drill two to three times. This distributes the wear on the cordage and increases the grip. Well done to everyone on such a successful couple of days