Well I am home and unpacked after a great few days at this years Wilderness Gathering.

It had been something of a last minute trip after original plans fell through and new opportunities arose. Mainly the offer of free tickets in return for some work with Lone Scout bushcraft. Ian was organising the activities for the younger bushcrafters (the coyote kids.) and never seemed to be still for longer than 5 minutes so I spent a while manning his stand and pointing a lot of very enthusiastic Kids to the right bushcraft courses that had been laid on as part of the weekend.

As it was I barely got chance to do much more than empty my bank account and catch up with some old friends, but did have some insightful chats and listen to some interesting Bushcraft and tracking discussions. There was certainly plenty to keep me occupied and without being too much of a bore Ill recount some of the highlights.

I am sure I am not alone in wishing I had a personal papparazi whenever Im on the go, its always the way that when I am so busy enjoying myself that I forget to take any pictures for the blog, or even my personal albums. That can only be a testament to the weekends event and how much there was to see and do.

I spent a lot of my time between Lone scout and Shadowhawk stands but did manage to get away to make more purchases than I should, special thanks should go to Johnny Crocket who sorted me out with a first needs purifier when I had already spent more than I should.

The show provides a great mix of stands and activities for a real variety of visitors, from the hardcore bushcrafters that seem to spend their entire lives in the woods ( I know I may be a part of that clique but I need to come home to write Blogs and reply to emails.) right through to families who prefer to camp on the occasional weekend, all of whom seemed to have plenty to see and do.

There was a great interest in the Tracking Courses and all the workshops and masterclasses run by Shadowhawk seemed to be very well attended. the only one I wasn't helping on was the Dawn patrol which turned out to be the one not to miss. Max had seen the signs of a fresh kill and sent the group out, telling them to let him know if they found anything.)We returned later in the morning to look at the crime scene, which had changed considerably in the few hours between after the scavengers had taken their share of the kill.keep an eye on Maxs site Shadowhawk for videos and blogs.

It was also a great opportunity to catch up with the trackers whom I hold in high regard, and a couple of evenings around a firepit improvised out of an old gerry can provided plenty of tales and discussions about all sorts of elements of tracking. It was those evenings which truly made for a worthwhile trip and a reminder of one of my main enjoyments of bushcraft. That basic rewarding feeling of unity when you are all sat round a fire chatting, laughing and sharing.

I also met up with some new contacts and hope to be able to blog about new ideas for 2012 sometime in the near future.
Dave Roderick




The Wilderness Gathering has to be one of the best places to do a unique music event. I'm still buzzing from such a fantastic audience. Well done to Roger and Dominic for organising such an incredible wildlife, survival and bush craft festival. Wonderful! :-)
Fi_x




thanks to Roger Lisa Rowan and the gang for a great weekend - hope to see you all soon before we head off down under x
Morag




We had a fantastic weekend!! i had a go at making things, attending the talks and of course spending too much money on goodies!! whoo hoo! thank you for another fabulous weekend see you next year.
Charlotte




Hi We had a great time at the Gathering (apart from the knife injury whilst wooden spoon making!) Everyone was so lovely made some new friends and had a go at a few new skills Thank you xxxxxxx
Jo