SURVIVAL SCHOOL IS ALL ABOUT YOU - NOT US!

Survival School was set up in 1997 by Jonny Crockett, to demonstrate survival skills and to provide opportunities to learn and practice those skills.  For the five years before that, Jonny had been teaching at schools, to cadets and working with the military.  Things have changed since those small beginnings and well over 12,000 people have attended courses with our instructors, who have decade upon decade of bushcraft and survival teaching experience between them with knowledge from the Arctic to the jungle and many environments in between.  Add to that the groups who attended presentations and lectures and who knows how many people have been involved with our schools.  Add to that the thousands of customers at our shop and that makes Survival School a market leader! All our instructors are 1st Aid Trained in Remote Emergency Care / Mountain & Outdoor First Aid, have been Criminal Records Bureau checked, are Food Safety and Hygiene Certified to Level 2 and hold the Level 2 Bushcraft, Survival and Wilderness Living Skills Award.

Preparing Pigeon without a Knife

Our instructors are in such demand that their services are requested by other organisations and schools in the UK.  Praise indeed for Survival School and the quality of its instructors!

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 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

 
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.

Alain Wright

Richard Mason

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.

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.

Growing up in a rural area, Brett spent his spare time in the woods building shelters, or by the river searching for signs or wildlife.  He can often be found walking the moors and woodlands of Yorkshire, oftern with no other reason than to not spend the days indoors.

A long suffering Land Rover enthusiast, he is a keen bush mechanic and has off-road driving experience.  he has climbed in the UK ( including a single rope abseil of 275' at Malham), France, Germany and the US.  An accomplished knife maker, Brett has completed several commissions on his homemade hand powered forge.

In addition to Expedition canoeing in Scotland and Husky Trekking in Northern Sweden, he has completed Temperate and Arctic Winter Survival, Wilderness Cookery, Tracking and Blacksmithing courses.

As he says, "While there is always more to learn about different facets of bushcraft, these apparently separate parts van be seen as a whole.  Perhaps it's the same for other people, but in the woods, I feel myself re-connecting with things that I had forgotten about."

brett always enjoys teaching, especially when helping and encouraging others to overcome their own boundaries.

He is a modest man and would never sing his own praises, but we are lucky to have him at Survival School.

Brett Selby

 
Scott Murray

Scott’s love of the great outdoors began at a young age, with his family’s annual holiday on the North West coast of Scotland, a place he still visits regularly. Although originally a Londoner, he now lives in rural Exmoor with his Wife and two young Sons.
Scott holds qualifications in; Summer and Winter mountain walking, open canoeing, tracking and bushcraft.

Work and play have led him to some interesting spots around the world such as wild camping in India and Africa, travelling in Canada and a Jungle Survival course in Borneo.
His time in the Reserve Forces eventually led him into instructing Army Cadets, and he now runs an Army Cadet Detachment. He regularly organises and teaches on Bushcraft courses for the Cadet Forces. He is also involved in training teams for Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions, and the Ten Tors Competition.
His areas of special interest are primitive technology, and wood carving.

Scott Murray

 
Dan Burdus

Dan was born a ‘Man of Kent’, with the North Kent Downs on his doorstep. He spent most of his teenage years roaming the ancient chalk downs and patchwork woodland with a bunch of likeminded friends, enjoying the adventures of youth. Set firmly on the idea of an outdoor life, Dan joined the British Army in 1986 and travelled the world, including Europe, Central America, South East Asia, Middle East and the Mediterranean. He has recently retired after enjoying a full career.

Dan has plenty of experience when it comes to teaching. He has been responsible for planning and delivering training since 1994 and gets no greater pleasure than seeing the fruits of his efforts in the smiles of success and understanding from his students. He has had a lifelong passion with Bushcraft, nature and the great outdoors; comfortable with his own company on a remote hilltop or enjoying passing on his skills and knowledge to family and friends. Notwithstanding his vocational experience and skill sets, he has completed courses on tracking, friction fire lighting and wilderness cookery, together with temperate and sub arctic survival training in Sweden.

An accomplished field sportsman and athlete, he is currently attempting to win the ‘worst one liner’ championship at Survival School, where in the face of such stiff competition, a sharp wit is as essential as a sharp knife…

Stacey Allsopp

Coming from a military family, Stacey's youth was spent mostley outdoors, wild camping all over the U.K. during the school holidays learning backwoods cooking techniques and other bushcraft skills from his parents.

 
As soon as he could he joined the army cadets where his thirst for knowledge on survival skills really took off. Eventually he joined the British Army serving in many environments both at home and abroad.

Now living in Cornwall with his young family, who are also keen bushcrafters, Stacey says you'd have a hard job finding them most of the time.  If he is not teaching with Survival School then they're out in the canoe, tucked away in the woods or holed up on Dartmoor.

Staceys special interest is in the vast array of wild, edible, medicinal and poisonous plants.  His methodical and disciplined approach to identification is perfect for passing on this knowledge.
Above all of this though Stacey says what ever you'rre doing if your not having loads of fun, you're doing it wrong.

Stacey Allsopp

Ian Moran

Ian grew up in Perthshire, where he would spend his school holidays in the hills of Blair Atholl and Crieff.  His love of the outdoors lead him to the army where he was posted both at home and abroad.  After leaving the army, Ian worked for the British Military Government in Berlin, until German Reunification.

He then spent a couple of years travelling around Europe, often living from a rucksack.  This is where he developed a great respect for Bushcraft and Survival skills, trying where ever possible, to live from the land.  After realising all rabbit tasted the same, he returned home to Perth, where he now lives with his wife and young son.

Over the last 10 years, Ian has tried just about every adventure sport, including caving, abseiling, climbing and canoeing.  He is keen on natural navigation and foraging and has also completed courses on friction fire lighting and map reading.  He has just finished a course on wild food.

Ian also has a passion for winter camping and can be found in the woods around Perth most weekends when the mercury plummets.  As he has said, if you can master bushcraft during the winter months in Scotland, you can do it pretty much anywhere.  Ian is always keen to learn new skills to pass on to others.  He gets great enjoyment here at Survival School seeing others achieving things for the first time.

Ian Moran

Born in South Wales, Dave grew up as a typical city kid until the day he discovered teh Venture Scouts.  Dave instantly applied his consderable natural abilities to all sorts of outdoor pursuits, from rock climbing, mountaineering and ice climbing to scuba diving and the inevitable 'old Land Rover' maintenance.

Along with his outdoor pursuits, Dave served a mechanical apprenticeship and became a professional toolmaker in the mid 1980's.  However, fitting and turning was not to be his final occupation.  Ever energetic and dynamic, he pursued a BSc and MSc in marine Biology and Oceanography and graduated in the late 1990's.

Since those early days of the Venture Scouting, Dave has spent many years exploring the British countryside practising and teaching bushcraft and survival skills.  Dave has also organised and led wilderness canoe expeditions to various countries including Norway, Sweden, France and the Arctic Circle.

In addition to teaching bushcraft, Dave is also a professional knife maker and has developed and produced his own range of handmade survival and bushcraft knives. Dave is a passionate teacher.  Always happy to share his expansive knowledge of survival and bushcraft, he has a quiet but humourous approach to his subject and can be relied upon for many a succinct quip in a crisis.

Dave Tavner

Born in Denmark, Ida spent her childhood either in the woodlands surrounding her family's smallholding, or at the log cabin in Sweden playing and exploring the forest, fishing, collecting wild fungi and berries.  She moved to the UK to study Marine Biology in Wales where she discovered a love for the wild Welsh coastline, woodlands and hillsides in various ways - whether scuba diving, mountain biking or walking.

Ida has a passion for wild plants, trees and living in the wilderness.  Fluent in Danish, English, Swedish and Norwegian, she has led several canoe expeditions to Scandinavia where her enthusiasm for the woods, outdoor living, foraging and fishing can all be combined.

Now working as a fisheries scientist and living in South Wales with her young family she is passionate about getting people interested in bushcraft skills.  She says, "For me, there is something fundamental about learning the basics of bushcraft and self reliance.  Inspiring people to have a go regardless of gender, age or ability is what really makes my day, I would want everyone to come away feeling that they have challenged themselves and found that bushcraft is something they can do."

Ida Tavner

Rob was born and raised in the city where he joined the London Ambulance Service.  The call of the wild was never far away and eventually he transferred his paramedic skills from the urban jungle and steeled for the green woodland of rural west Wales.

He has a very keen interest in archaeology and anthropology.  A particular ongoing project is to learn more on how our ancestral societies lived and relied on natural resources.  A big part of his drive is to help pass on these ancient skills.  He feels by applying these techniques we learn more of their reasoning and thought processes.  Also that survival is inherent within us all and to hone in on those instincts is to truly become part of the ancestral jigsaw. 

Rob is happy to be on his own either on top of a mountain, deep in the woods or walking by the sea.  Equally he is happy in the company of others, especially in a woodland setting around a warm campfire with a tale or two.

Over twenty one years of invaluable emergency frontline experience, enables Rob to pass on new learned skills in a calm and methodical manner.  At the same time, he believes a relaxed atmosphere provides the best approach to learning.  "One of my favourite noises out in the woods is the sound of laughter!"

Rob Muir

 
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.

JK in Staffordshire