I run traditional skills courses in the Cairngorms National Park,  Alladale wilderness reserve, Torridon Estate and on the south coast Of Greenland.

The Greenland Course

This course is a unique once in a lifetime experience that’s located on the southern fjords of Greenland, some of the last untouched wilderness in the world.

This incredible opportunity will give you the chance to explore a wilderness that’s abundant with natural resources if you know where to look. You will be amerced in a land of pristine blue ocean, rolling green fjords, wild freshwater lakes, and wide open rugged valleys leading to blue ice glaciers.

You will learn skills that will make you feel a part of the land you walking on. Skills that go back hundreds of years and make you feel in tune with your surroundings.

Course skills

  • Making your own fish trap
  • Fish trapping
  • Carving a netting needle
  • Net making
  • Reindeer antler carving
  • Fish skin tanning (making leather)
  • Leatherwork
  • Meat preservation (smoking and drying)
  • Foraging
  • Glacier hiking
  • Camp out on the fjords
  • Cold water swimming
  • Learning different ways of bush cooking

Cost: £1,830

Please contact me for more information.

The Highlander

Join me and Patrick of Backwoods Survival School for an exciting and challenging 5-day course in the spectacular northern wilderness! This course will be held in the magnificent Cairngorms mountains, set amongst atmospheric ancient Caledonian Pines and birch woodlands adjacent to a beautiful freshwater loch.

You will begin your course with a short hike, navigating through the wonderful Scottish landscape, foraging along the way. When you reach the loch, you will be tasked with building a raft to transport you along with your kit across to the base camp.

Once there, you will learn the skills & crafts of the ancients in a unique environment. It will be an action-packed 5 days where you will learn a wide range of skills, including:

  • Fire Craft
  • Wild game butchery & primitive cooking skills
  • Foraging
  • Coiled containers & bark craft
  • Fishing techniques & net making
  • Natural shelter construction
  • Raft building
  • Fish skin tanning
  • and much more…

Course duration: Fri – Tue
Number of students: 5 – 10
Cost: £600

Please contact me to book.

Traditional Skills

You need to contact me to book a Course.

The courses vary from 1 to 3 days. 

Cost and equipment vary according to the group size.

You will be learning specialised crafts and skills that will make you feel more connected to the land.

Skills

Foraging
Identify plants, trees and fungi that have culinary, medicinal and traditional uses.

Fire Craft
Learn different methods of fire lighting by using sticks, stones and mushroom tinders.

Outdoor Cooking
Learn how to cook in the forest using natural ovens, smokers, meat dryers and steamers and how different woods impact flavour and heat for cooking the perfect meal.

Shelter Building
Build your own one-person or group shelter, learn how to waterproof and insulate it using the natural material around you and then spend a night in it.

Skinning and Butchering
Learn how to skin an animal and butcher the meat to separate it into cuts for roasting, mincing and making into haggis and cuts to be used for different curing methods, such as salamis, smoked jerky and biltong.

Tanning
Tan your own deer or sheep hide or fish skin, involving old techniques of turning hide into leather. You will be using tree bark or animal fat to preserve the hide or fish skin into a soft but strong leather.

Basketry and Bark Containers
Learn how to use heather to make a coil basket, which is useful for foraging, especially when picking berries on the hill. Use different barks to make containers for foraging, storing and transporting food.

Carving
Carve your own spoons, bowls, mugs, salt containers and other useful items using hand tools such as axes, carving knives and crook knives.

Duration: 1-3 days
Dates:  Courses run from April - October

Please contact me for more information.