1. Congratulations to Mac on passing the L4 Instructors Course

    Chris ‘Mac’ McNamara

    Congratulations to Mac on passing his Level 4 Instructors and Mentors Qualification. You’ve done yourself proud Mac. Well done from us all. We found this picture of you from Maine last year. Looking forward to seeing you next year too for some more tracking adventures!

  2. Congratulations to Craig Summers for passing the L4 Instructors Qualification.

    Congratulations to Craig Summers

    Well done to Craig for completing the Level 4 Instructors course.  A truly impressive show all round.  Hope to see you soon Craig.

  3. Congratulations to Kev Hughes on achieving his Level 4 Instructors Qualification

    Kev Hughes is congratulated by Stacey Allsopp on passing his Level 4 Instructors Course

    Well done to Kev Hughes.  A really strong and sound performance throughout and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

  4. Congratulations to Paul Tattersdill on achieving the Level 4 Qualification

    A big well done to Paul.

    Passing the Level 4 Instructors Qualification is not easy but Paul has done just that.  Well done Paul.  A superb effort all round!

  5. Congratulations Dave

    Congratulations to Dave Wright

     

    Well done on passing your Level 4 Instructors Course.  Top performance Dave.

  6. Congratulations to Ray Chin – Level 5 Diploma

    Ray Chin – Level 5 Diploma

    Well done Ray.  Thorough, methodical and professional.  Exceptional work Ray. Congratulations!

  7. Congratulations to Ted Weber and Welcome to the Fold

    Congratulations to Ted on completing the Level 4 Instructors and Mentors Award in Survival, Bushcraft and Wilderness Living Skills.  As is the custom, a new instructor is presented with an old instructor’s jacket with the coveted logo.  Thanks Graham for the presentation and well done again Ted.

    Ted Weber completing his Level 4 Course

  8. Congratulations to Carl Pedley

     

    Congratulations to Carl R Pedley on attaining his Level 4 Instructors and Mentors Certificate. Well done Carl. You have done extremely well.

  9. Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine – the effects of heat on the body

    Jonny in the BBC Radio Gloucestershire studio waiting to talk to Jeremy Vine.

    Jonny in the BBC Radio Gloucestershire studio waiting to talk to Jeremy Vine.

    Today, Jonny was talking to Jeremy Vine about the effects of heat on the body.

  10. Working with the BBC this weekend

    We’ve been working with the BBC this weekend.  Three different radio shows on Radio 2, Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Bristol in two days.  We had the pleasure of talking with Jeremy Vine, Dr Phil Hammond and Stephen Nolan.  It really was a pleasure.

    The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2

    The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2

    The Dr Phil Hammond Show on BBC Radio Bristol

    The Dr Phil Hammond Show on BBC Radio Bristol

    The Stephen Nolan show on BBC Radio 5 Live

    The Stephen Nolan show on BBC Radio 5 Live

  11. BBC Radio 2 Interview with Jeremy Vine

    Today, Jonny has mainly been on the Jeremy Vine Programme on BBC Radio 2

    Today, Jonny has mainly been on the Jeremy Vine Programme on BBC Radio 2

    Lots of fun today talking about Bear attacks on BBC Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine.

  12. Jonny Crockett

    Survival School was established in 1997 by Jonny Crockett, a Level 5 Instructor, 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 helped to make Survival School what it is – A place of good fun and good learning.

    Jonny graduated from the University of Exeter with a Masters Degree in Experimental Archaeology.  His dissertation was on Ötzi the Iceman’s curation and transportation of fire, in which he scientifically disproved a key theory.  He is now continuing his research for a PhD at the University of Exeter, specialising in Fire Lighting, Curation and Maintenance.

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  13. Brett Selby

    Brett Selby

    Brett Selby

    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.

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  14. Richard Mason

    Richard Mason

    Richard Mason

    Richard’s association with the outdoors began through the Army Cadets and the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, leading him to the many mountainous areas of Britain. He found himself increasingly drawn to the wilder and remote locations such as Dartmoor and especially the North West Highlands and Islands of Scotland, which quickly became favourite haunts.

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  15. Dan Burdus

    Dan Burdus

    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, he joined the British Army in 1986 and enjoyed a full career, serving 22 years; Dan travelled the world, including Europe, Central America, South East Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

    On leaving the Forces, Dan built on his passion for trees by working as an Arborist. He has recently graduated from Harper Adams University with a degree in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry. Dan is now a Course Manager at Askham Bryan College & University Centre in Yorkshire, and lectures in Arboriculture, Horticulture and Urban Forestry.

     

     

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  16. Scott Murray

    Scott Murray

    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 sons.

    Scott works as a full time Outdoor Skills Instructor and Vocational Assessor. He is an Accredited Outdoor Practitioner & holds the Mountain Leaders Award. He is also involved in training young people for their Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions and is an Accredited Expedition Assessor.

    Time in the Reserve Forces led him into instructing Army Cadets and for 8 years ran an Army Cadet Detachment. During this time he was involved in training teams for the Ten Tors competition. Scott is now part of the Exmoor Search and Rescue Team and their Assistant Crag Rescue Team Officer.

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  17. Ian Moran

    Ian Morgan

    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.

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  18. Andy Froy

    Andy Froy

    Andy’s love of the wilderness started at a young age and as soon as he could he joined the Air Cadets where his thirst for knowledge of survival skills really took off.
    Then whilst attending basic military survival training within the Royal Marines he fell in love with the art of wilderness survival, which in turn lead him into the fascinating world of bushcraft and wilderness living.  He attended a course with Survival School and the rest is history.

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  19. Paul Rose

    Paul Rose

    Paul became interested in primitive living and adventure during extensive travels around South East Asia after university – he spent many months living in small villages in the jungles of Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos trekking with local guides, learning about the beliefs of the indigenous populations, using the natural resources of the jungle and observing the uncomplicated techniques used to live successfully in these areas.

    Paul’s basic survival skills and love for the outdoors developed further through trekking, sea kayaking, wild camping & foraging around Australia, New Zealand, Borneo, North Africa, Norway, Nepal and the UK through both summer and winter months where valuable lessons were learnt on the importance of preparation before venturing into the wilderness and the psychological aspects of stays for longer periods of time during more extreme conditions. “They weren’t always intentional lessons but that’s the beauty of mother nature, she does like to try and catch you out sometimes….!”

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  20. Christopher ‘Mac’ McNamara

    Chris McNamara

    For as long as he can remember he has been drawn to the outdoors, from lighting fires and roasting marshmallows in the woods with friends to fishing and camping under the stars, and being a Hampshire lad put the great outdoors at my fingertips.

     

    He joined the British army at 16 years of age, which further fuelled his passion for the outdoors, serving all over the world from the jungles of Belize to the plans of Canada.

     

    It was during his time on the Falkland Islands that he decided to progress his bushcraft enthusiasm to the next level completing various military courses as well as the Level 4 Instructors Course with Survival School.

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