THE SCHOOL

 

SURVIVAL SCHOOL IS ALL ABOUT YOU - NOT US!

 

Survival School was set up to demonstrate survival  skills and to provide opportunities to learn and practice those skills. We saw 682 participants attend courses in 2007 (672 in 2006) with our instructors, who have over half a century of bushcraft and survival teaching experience between them with knowledge from the Arctic to the jungle and many environments in between.  All our instructors are 1st Aid Trained in Remote Emergency Care / Mountain & Outdoor First Aid. 

Preparing Pigeon without a knife

 

Foraging by the River Tale

 

Survival School wants you to have fun learning what few people in the 21st Century will learn. Anything is possible with the right blend of knowledge, skill and experience.  The missing ingredients for our courses are you and your enthusiasm. 

 

 The best way to learn is for you to get a hands on experience.  That's guaranteed at Survival School!

The subject of survival has many levels and Survival School aims to initiate beginners and encourage them to continue to broaden their knowledge. The instructors have varied backgrounds, but they all have the same goals.  

 

Axe and Knife Sharpening

Jonny Crockett of Survival School

 

Survival School was established in 1997 by Jonny Crockett to provide a place of learning for those who wanted to know more about bushcraft and the wilderness.  Jonny Crockett still runs most of the courses himself.  It is his personal attention to detail and his enthusiasm for the subject that has made Survival School the premier wilderness bushcraft school in the UK.
Jonny went on his first survival course when he was 14 years old and has been learning ever since.  He has frequently been invited to work with the Royal Marines, the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force.  However, his style is not military and he teaches with a common sense, logic and down to earth style that is not found in most Survival Schools in the UK.  A lot of his techniques he has learnt from around the world where the skills are still used as a way of life.  Jonny is a broadcaster, columnist for magazines and author, as well as appearing on television on a regular basis.

Jonny Crockett in Scotland

 

Karen Bentley

 

When Karen joined Survival School, in 2001, she immediately made an impact.  Karen is widely travelled and has spent time surviving in the Rockies, Australia, New Zealand and the Himalayas.  She gained her Jungle Survival Instructors certificate in the Indonesia rain forests which is her favoured environment.  She has also spent time in Tanzania, Borneo, Canada and the Sahara Desert.
Karen adds a different facet to the team.  Her calm temperament lends itself to teaching wilderness bushcraft and her teaching technique ensures everyone understands how and why results are achieved.  She is also a qualified massage therapist and personal fitness instructor and so is uniquely placed to prepare everyone attending courses and expeditions.  As a child she spent a lot of her time horse riding in the countryside around her home in Hampshire and has been a life long enthusiast of how nature shapes and moulds itself to its environment.

Making cordage out of inner Lime bark.

 

   

John Kelly

 John Kelly joined us in 2004 and has brought with him vast experience of hill walking in the United Kingdom and Africa.  His favourite areas are the Torridons, Cairngorms and Glen Shiel.  He brings together the worlds of hill walking and bushcraft.  His love for the outdoors is obvious and he excels in teaching navigation and combining that with bushcraft.
John's approach to survival and bushcraft is clear.  Life is meant to be fun and a sense of humour is evident with John.  Known to his friends and colleagues as 'JK' he has a unique way with words that makes all the lesson he teaches educational and thoroughly enjoyable.  Whether he's in the Sahara or Staffordshire, it's great to have JK as one of our staff.
 

 

 

JK in Staffordshire

 

Terry Hailwood

 Terry works full time in Outdoor Education.  He is a British Canoe Union level 5 coach.  His natural habitat is mainly rivers and woods, but careful observers can often spot Terry out at sea, on mountains and occasionally down caves in his native Yorkshire.  His brothers and his father are responsible for thrusting Terry into the outdoor world.  His childhood was centered either around messing about in small boats or hiking over the moors and dales.
Initially Terry used to canoe off on trips to watch bird and animal life before the love of canoeing and kayaking became an obsession.  He has now paddled in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Ireland.  He has also been Expedition paddling in North America, Turkey, India and the Nepal Himalayas.  He has also spent time trekking and mountaineering in America, the Himalayas, the European Alps and Morocco.  He is also an experienced Scottish Winter Mountaineer.

Terry in his element
   
Greg grew up in a small village in Somerset and has been fascinated by the British countryside since he can remember.  He made camps in the woods that ran along the river Brue and kept a tally of the wildlife he saw.

Greg joined the British Army and spent time in different environments including the desert, prairies and mountains.  These experiences have added different facets to his experience but Greg firmly believes the British weather and wild environment is as demanding as any due to its unpredictability.

Greg Power  
Greg was inspired by "A Cook on the Wildside" presented by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  In the series Hugh was seen to forage from the land and Greg was horrified by his own ignorance of the indigenous plants and their lore.  Plant identification led to the subject of bushcraft and Greg has been a keen student of the British countryside ever since.

Greg has been involved with adult education since 2001 and has qualifications in teaching groups and coaching individuals.  Greg understands education is a two way process and learns from the students of each course.  His passion for teaching and bushcraft come together when he trains Survival School students, an experience he finds totally rewarding.

Alain Wright

 

They say Alain was born with a fishing rod in his hand and this maybe true and may explain his passion for being outdoors.  His passion for fishing especially fly fishing has meant he has developed a vast knowledge of the wildlife around him, having spent 30 years on the river bank.  Being introduced at an early age to the wilder places of this country by his mother and father he became fascinated with every aspect of the natural world around him.  His play ground was the Borders of Scotland with its rolling hills and high moors, and armed with a first copy of Food for Free he was let loose to explore the land around him.
His holidays as a boy were spent working on farms and with gamekeepers, at every given opportunity he was outdoors honing his skills with traps and snares which led onto an interest in shooting and stalking and this has encouraged him to travel to places around the world hunting and tracking in places like Zimbabwe, Spain, France, Belgium and Canada.  To this day Alain spends some of his spare time on local estates helping as a Ghillie on the river and as a deer stalker on Highland estates.  Alain's knowledge of animal / fish behaviour, their preparation, usage apart from food and tracking skills are exceptional and he is never put out by passing on these skills and tips.  Skills and tips he himself has learned from the native and professional people from the places he has visited.

A natural talker, some say a professional in the art of talking the hind legs off a donkey, Alain can keep those around him amused with a great sense of humour and is always ready with a one liner.

Richard Mason

 

Richard Mason currently lives on the North Wales coast with his family.

His love of the outdoors started at an early age and continued through his teens and school life through involvement with Army Cadets and D of Es always preferring a bivvy bag in favour of a tent, leading to his Cert Ed in Physical Education, majoring in mountaineering, he gained plenty of mountain experience, including Norway,  the Alps, and all of the major British ranges.

Leaving his work in mental health,  he retrained as a sports therapist and moved from Snowdonia to Wiltshire where he worked as Programme Manager for Nutrition in a company specialising in military resettlement.

His expertise now covers sports massage, sports therapy and personal training as well as nutrition. Richard moved back to North Wales four years ago to renovate a rambling farm complex and joined the team at Survival School when he completed the Instructors course in less than a year.

He has a passion for all aspects of Survival and Bushcraft and has a particular interest in wild food and nutrition.    

Adam was born and grew up in rural Nottinghamshire, with Sherwood Forest close at hand where he spent much of his childhood developing a keen interest in wildlife and outdoor activities. With the peak district close by he pursued camping, climbing and kayaking whenever possible. At fifteen he began learning about living from the land so that he could spend more time outdoors without spending money on expensive equipment, developing his skills and knowledge along the way.

 

Following school he applied to St. Martins College in the Lakes to take a course in Outdoor studies. During his time at college every opportunity was taken to pursue bushcraft skills, taking them beyond a hobby and into a real passion for a subject he wished to spend the rest of his life studying.

 

Adam Logan

He is a keen climber and winter mountaineer having climbed in Scotland, Wales, the Peak and Lake Districts, Spain, French Alps and Central Norway. He is also a very keen water-ice climber visiting Norway once a year.

 

Overseas bushcraft experience: Norway (summer/winter), Spain (Picos mountains, summer) and Sweden (Canoe, summer).

 

He currently lives in Grizedale forest working for GoApe! And spending all his free time developing his bushcraft skills, with wild foods and green wood working being of particular interest.

 

Drew has lived and worked in the countryside all his life. His skills come from a background in agriculture and wildlife management supplemented by a strong personal interest in the ways of rural life. During his time with Survival School , Drew has learned and perfected many other skills relevant to living and working in wild places.

Drew

 

Drew is a familiar face to those who have been with Survival School for a few years.  His knowledge of all things farming, woodland and countryside make a fantastic addition to the Survival School team.

Sadie began her career by teaching environmental education to school groups who visited an environmental centre in Berkshire, during my work experience for my National Diploma. Since then she has taught in a wildlife park and environmental centre in Devon and done further work experience in Dorset. Finally she moved to Somerset to work as a School’s Liaison Officer at a falconry centre.  At the same time she was offered the chance to train as an assistant Falconer and this was a turning point of her life. She discovered her passion for Birds of Prey. During the next two years she flew, trained and hunted with a number of hawks, buzzards, falcons and owls.

Having received an excellent grounding in falconry, she decided to broaden her horizons and went to South Africa, where she volunteered at ‘African Dawn’ - a bird of prey and wildlife rescue centre. Here she was fortunate enough to work with Black Eagles and many birds of prey native to South Africa. She would have loved to stay but was offered a permanent position with one of the best falcon breeders in the UK and returned during 2006.

She loves sharing her knowledge of falconry with others and demonstrating the unique bond between hawk and human to people who may never have had an opportunity to get so close to these amazing birds.

 

Sadie, holding Tom.

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