"It was on these walks that "something" started shifting inside...  Something from Nature reached out, grabbed hold of me, entered my being...  I began hearing birds, tuning into their songs.  They sang to me as I walked along the trails.  I began hearing the colour of the leaves, tasting the smell of the air, feeling the changing of the seasons.          My senses came alive in new and different ways."
Leslie Shore

The Instructors 

 

Both Clair and Scott are just two individuals who feel passionately about what they do. They are combining their love of the natural world with their ability to pass their knowledge on by teaching others, to bridge the past with the present, for the benefit of everyone`s future. Through EarthCraftuk they hope to play some small part in helping to create a world where the gifts of nature are sustained and enjoyed for generations to come.

 

Scott has a wealth of experience in the world of bushcraft.  He has achieved the only professional qualification of its kind in the UK for instructors - the NCFE Advanced (Level 3) Bushcraft Leadership Programme for the Outdoor Industry.  This qualification enhances his extensive outdoor experience already gained to date, in rock climbing; sailing; archery and outward bound activities. Scott is also an approved Bushcraft Practitioner with the Institute for Outdoor Learning; Level 3 Forest Schools Practitioner and GNAS Archery Leader and holds a Basic Expedition Leader, Remote Response and Paediatric First Aid; Food Hygiene certificates. Scott also designs and creates stunning hand crafted, high quality bushcraft knives. For more information, click here www.skbushcraftknives.com

 

Clair`s commercial background is extensive with her career changing across the years to accommodate bringing up a young family.  She is currently studying for a degree in Environmental Studies with the Open University and has a love for any floral and rural craft -  making baskets; hedgerow and kitchen crafts; herbal soaps, earthy jewellery and stunning natural floral tributes. Clair is a qualified Adult Education Lecturer; Level 3 Forest Schools Practitioner and holds the relevant Outdoor Paediatric First Aid Certificate. 

Clair also designs and creates stunning natural floral tributes in her own country style.  All flowers, fruit and foliage for the tributes are grown locally within 20 miles - no flowers have been imported (a personal mission!) For more information about her natural floral tributes click here www.earthcraftfloraltributes.com

 

 


Guest instructors will be joining EarthCraftuk for several of the Bushcraft and Woodland Crafts courses to be held in Kent and have been chosen for their wonderful ability in their respective fields...

Nick Gallop

Nick led a fairly uneventful life in the Kent countryside until he discovered the world of budget travel and backpacking.  Trips to North Africa, the Middle East, India and Southern Africa, gave Nick a love of wild and remote places and lots of practical experience of lightweight travel and camping.  His experiences, also made him wonder what would have happened on the many occasions he was on his own in the middle of nowhere had something gone wrong.  This and the ever present desire
for comfort sparked a deep interest in survival and wilderness skills.

Since then Nick has been trained by some of the UK and Europe`s best known wilderness skills and surv

ival instructors.  After years spent learning new skills and applying them in the UK and abroad, Nick decided to take a leap of faith and started teaching others.  This led him successfully completing Woodcraft School`s nationally accredited NCFE aware in Bushcraft Leadership in 2008.  Nick firmly believes that regular contact with the natural world is essential for our well being.  He is passionate about giving everyone the skills and experiences which connect us to the earth and to something deep inside all of us.

 


Pat & Robert Moon
                               
Our Green Woodworking experts are Pat & Robert Moon - both from mining families at nearby former Tilmanstone Coillery.  Both Pat & Robert have strong interests in nature and the countryside, having worked in farms and orchards.  They are both very active in various types of green woodwork - woodland management and wildlife conservation came almost as second nature to them.  Perhaps having slight hearing difficulties made the practical and common sense procedures of farms, crafts and woodlands, easier for them to assimilate.  Pat & Robert, currently own and manage a small woodland which was once the coillery owners garden.  They have preserved the wood and kept it as a nature reserve and this helps to keep their ties to the former pit and countryside so dear to their hearts.

 

Val & John Lord

 Val & John Lord began their prehistoric technology research projects in 1975, when they were engaged by the Department of the Environment, (now English Heritage), to take custody of Grimes Graves, the Neolithic flint mining site at Lynford Norfolk.  During the period 1975-1988, both Val and John strove to master the art of flint knapping, and as they progressed, they willingly shared their newly gained knowledge with members of the public.  The time spent at Grimes Graves was a valuable and fantastic experience for Val & John.  They were continually exchanging knowledge and information with interesting visitors to the site, and in the late 1970`s they met Ray Mears, with whom they immediately began to exchange information.  This arrangement has developed into a firm friendship, and John is now the flint knapping instructor on Ray Mears Primitive Technology & Ancient Skills courses.

 in Kent, The Garden of England